With a surprising 30-28 win against No. 11 Utah under their belt, the Ducks now turn their attention to their final game of the 2016 season — Saturday’s Civil War at Oregon State.
Even though Oregon has defeated Oregon State for eight straight years, the Beavers not a team that should be underestimated. After losing five games in a row, the Beavers steamrolled Arizona 42-17 last Saturday.
“We got our hands full with what they do,” Oregon secondary coach John Neal said. “They got a lot of different weapons.”
Oregon State’s main offensive weapon is sophomore running back Ryan Nall. He currently ranks seventh in the Pac-12 with 796 yards and nine touchdowns.
“I don’t think the kid has any weaknesses,” Neal said. “He’s one of those guys that if you underestimate, you’re dumb because he can really run.”
Neal sees a lot of similarities between Oregon State and Utah. Both teams are defensively-minded with an emphasis on running the ball. Utes running back Joe Williams ran for 149 yards on 23 carries, and Nall runs with a similar downhill style.
“Utah’s a defensive football program; their offense is based on ball control and running the clock down and possessions,” Neal said. “I see the same thing [with Oregon State].”
Oregon State head coach Gary Andersen was previously the defensive coordinator at Utah. Andersen spent three years with the Utes from 2005-2008, before he became the head coach at Oregon State in 2015. One year of his tenure at Utah overlapped with that of current Utes’ head coach Kyle Whittingham.
Because of that, Andersen has been greatly influenced by the same Utah strategy that Oregon was able to crack in last week’s game.
Neal believes some of the Ducks’ success has to do with the fact that before Utah, Oregon had faced two teams, USC and Stanford, who shoved their running game down the Ducks’ throats. In those games, Oregon’s defense wasn’t as effective, and the other teams were able to rack up 270 and 282 yards, respectively.
When asked what made the defense better against Utah, Neal said, “Consistency. Period.”
“We were knocking them back and creating a stopping point, and we hadn’t done that very much or very well,” Neal said. “We fit the puzzle for the first time maybe all season.”
Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03