The Oregon secondary was supposed to be a strength of the Duck defense in 2020.
But after two games, they’ve shown a lack of confidence and have struggled in coverages and schemes which older players like Brady Breeze and Jevon Holland would typically excel in.
Both Stanford and Washington State found a lot of success throwing the ball for medium and long gains and the task isn’t going to be any easier when UCLA comes to Autzen on Saturday. ( 12:30 PM – ESPN2 )
The Cardinal’s average completion was 13.5 yards and WSU managed 15 average yards per completion.
Now with the Bruins coming to town, quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is on par with 14.7 yards per completion.
In short, expect Chip Kelly to exploit an inexperienced secondary as much as possible.
“They use them in different ways,” explained Oregon defensive coordinator Andy Avalos when asked about the array of weapons the Bruins have.
“They used the tempo on Sunday. We’re gonna get a bunch of formations that we’re gonna have to line up to. We have to operate in the pre-snap with urgency and operate together.
“It’s about playing with urgency, winning our one-on-one battles, and everyone doing their job. We want to pick up on and lead off with how we played in the second half last week.”
The Ducks haven’t caused a turnover yet.
That’s very uncharacteristic of an aggressive defense. Oregon is minus 5 in turnover margin during their first two games.
“It’s year to year,… it happens that way,” said Avalos.
“They come in bunches. Good tackling will cause takeaways. Put yourself in position. Sharpening up our fundamentals and it always starts with attacking the quarterback.”
Another concern is that they haven’t pressured the quarterback as much as they’d like to in order to have a significant impact on the opposing offense.
So far, the Ducks have had one sack and just five hurries in two games.
True freshman Noah Sewell accounted for the one sack, but with players such as Kayvon Thibodeaux and Jordon Scott, Avalos is hoping those numbers will improve soon.
“We can’t get frustrated with the ball coming out quickly,” said Avalos.
“That’s going to happen. We have to continue attacking. Win the one-on-one battles in front of us, …make sure our eyes aren’t in the backfield on the quarterback. Keep it simple and not overthink.”
It also may be the opponents the Ducks were facing as Stanford always has a stout and talented offensive line to protect its quarterback and WSU’s offense consists of a quick passing game, so the defense doesn’t have the time to get to the signal-caller effectively.
Although the Bruins spanked Cal 34-10, they’re not expected to make a lot of noise in the conference this season. Oregon’s defense needs to show more of itself against UCLA with turnovers and making it tough for Thompson-Robinson in the backfield.
If not, Oregon might get away with it for a third straight week, but not for much longer.
OREGON DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR ANDY AVALOS DISCUSSES UCLA