Bo Nix. Troy Franklin. Bucky Irving. Michael Penix. Rome Odunze. Ja’Lynn Polk.
Those will be the names most talked about before and during the Pac-12 Championship Game (5 pm PST, Fox) between the Ducks and Huskies.
Each of the above play on the offense and are prolific in their own right and most certainly deserve their marque billing and headlines.
But after the lights go down, and the fans have left Allegiant Stadium Friday night it could very well be the defenses, on both teams, that could be the topic of the conversation at the water cooler come Monday morning.
Legendary coach Bear Bryant once said,…”Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.”
While the marquee offensive stars will shine, it’ll likely be the defense in this game that will go a long way to who actually gets to take the Pac-12 trophy home.
And both of these teams have a defense good enough to win.
And not just a Pac-12 title but also a national championship.
Oregon’s defense has been stellar all season long.
Duck defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi’s players might be the best defense Oregon has put on the field since the 1994 Gang Green defense.
But there’s no song or t-shirts celebrating Lupoi’s guys. They just get on the field and stop the opposition.
For the first time in school history, Oregon led the Pac-12 in scoring defense, allowing just 15.9 points a game.
The Ducks also led the conference in pass defense (214 ypg). There’s NFL talent all over the place with defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus, linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, and defensive back Khyree Jackson, just to name a few.
Oregon’s defense has held the opponent to 10 points or less in six games or half of its schedule. Ironically, the “worst” game came against the Huskies in the 36-33 loss in Seattle.
Speaking of those Dawgs, their defense isn’t too shabby either.
Although they do give up 400 yards per game, Washington allows just 23 points a game, and in today’s world of college football, that’s more than good enough.
But when it’s time to get off the field, the Huskies do a good job. They are fifth in the Pac-12 in defensive third down conversions (41 percent) and third in the Pac-12 in fourth down stops (40 percent).
It was those three fourth-down stops that helped propel them to the win over Oregon.
The Ducks were 10-of-16 on third downs in the first meeting and in most cases, that would equal a victory.
If Oregon is able to equal that one stat against the Huskies, the College Football Playoff should be next on the horizon.
OREGON SAFETY EVAN WILLIAMS DISCUSSES WASHINGTON AND FACING THE HUSKIES A SECOND TIME