Oregon Defense Prioritizing Improvement, Development of Youth Ahead of Cal

The Ducks have taken several huge blows to their defensive depth due to injuries so far this season.

The Oregon Ducks' defensive performance against Stanford was the epitome of their season so far — some dominant moments, some game-changing plays, but yet quite a few improvements still need to be made.

It goes without saying that the Ducks were aiming to improve in every aspect during the bye week, but their defense may have needed the bye week more than any other unit due to the barrage of injuries that they've sustained on that side of the ball.

Bennett Williams, Justin Flowe, and Dru Mathis have all been sidelined for the year due to injuries, and multiple starters have been dinged up at times, including star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and outside linebacker Mase Funa.

The Ducks' defense wasn't necessarily dominant before any of those guys were injured, but losing three starters certainly won't help. 

Mario Cristobal said that the team used the bye week to improve from a health standpoint as well as tightening up areas that need to be worked on, especially coming off of an overtime loss to Stanford where plenty of those weaknesses were exposed in the game's pivotal moments.

"We didn't have enough bodies to go full pads every day, but we went enough where we got the right kind of work in," Cristobal said of the bye week. "Guys that needed some work but not in full pads still got the right type of work, whether it be conditioning, technical, fundamental. We worked on all our schemes, and of course, you're in a bye week so you always want to create your wrinkles, your evolvement of your systems as we like to call it, as well as tighten up the things that need to be better."

Cristobal and the Ducks coaching staff need plenty of young guys to step in and contribute. He highlighted Daymon David as a candidate to get playing time at the STAR position behind Jamal Hill after Williams' season-ending injury. Hill, according to Cristobal, "seems to be in football shape" and looks like the player that was nearly the Pac-12 Championship Game MVP a year ago. But having David return from injury and provide depth there is crucial.

"He is a guy that we feel very confident that could go in there and play," Cristobal said.

Converted safety Jeffrey Bassa is another freshman who is bound to see an expanded role due to injuries. He now plays on the weak side at linebacker, and Cristobal is impressed with his willingness and ability to learn the WILL position, which will be his home at least for the rest of the season.

"Jeffrey Bassa has been very unselfish and helping us by playing linebacker. He's a big guy, so he can handle it," Cristobal said. "We're glad that we have him with us because he's doing a great job. Every week he just gets better and better with the reps that he gets."

Defensive Coordinator Tim DeRuyter has had his hands full with handling all of the injuries while lining his unit up against some high-powered offenses. The Ducks sit at the bottom of the Pac-12 in defensive yards allowed per game (409). While it may not seem like the defense has struggled because of its ability to force turnovers, there are still a lot of problems to be solved.

The passing offense allows 275.2 yards per game, which is 19th-worst in the FBS, according to NCAA.com. More consistent pressure in the backfield will lift some pressure from the secondary.

Oregon averages 2.0 sacks and 5.6 tackles for loss per game, and with the talent up front, those numbers must rise, especially with the veteran quarterbacks the Ducks have yet to face in the coming weeks such as Chase Garbers, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and Chance Nolan who can pick apart defenses when they have time in the pocket.

DeRuyter said that the defensive play-calling has been somewhat restrained due to the influx of injuries and the amount of youth on the field, which may be a recipe for disaster against elite offenses down the road.

"We've been a little bit limited primarily due to injuries and so you have to go with the guys that are available," DeRuyter said. "When you're playing younger guys, you're not as apt to put a lot of stuff in. You want them playing hard and fast and playing effectively, and you put too much on their plate, they're gonna slow down.

"They're getting better rapidly," DeRuyter continued. "We feel that this last week was really good for us to have our guys understand football more and be able to get some guys back from injuries."

The Ducks have shown flashes of greatness at every level of the defense at some point in the year — the defensive line in the second half against Stanford, the linebackers against Ohio State, and the secondary against Arizona. They have a lot of high-caliber offenses left on their schedule, and for the Ducks to get back to the top of the Pac-12 and back in the hunt for a potential College Football Playoff spot, the defense needs to find consistency with the players that are available.

"A lot of the young guys and guys that have been waiting in line and waiting their turn are getting multiple reps, and the reps really added up," Cristobal said. "You saw some improvement in a lot of guys that we're counting on to step up that have played some or that have played very little if at all, but got multiple reps."

Defensive players that were waiting for their turn to get playing time are waiting no more. It's time for the young guys to prove why the Ducks' coaching staff recruited them and to prove why they are trusted to be on the field in big moments.

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