One of the strongest parts of head coach Dan Lanning’s Ducks has been its defense, which isn’t surprising given his background dealing with elite defenses. The focal point of the Oregon defense in previous years has been the front seven, with elite talent such as Kayvon Thibodeaux and Noah Sewell being drafted in recent years.
This year, it seems as if the front lines of the Ducks’ defense have taken a step back. Guys like Brandon Dorlus, Jeffrey Bassa and Jordan Burch have stepped up so far in leading this defensive front, but the rest of the group has not channeled a higher level of play so far this season.
This is not to say that this D-line is a detriment to the defense or even the team, it is more of the outcome of having some really versatile playmakers in other parts of the defense. Oregon has some real stars in the defensive backfield with Khyree Jackson and Tysheem Johnson, who have helped the Ducks become eighth in passing yards allowed per game in the FBS.
Coming off a seven sack performance against Colorado in Week 4, the Oregon defensive line gained a lot of confidence. Those seven sacks currently account for almost half of the team’s 18 this season. This performance was the most dominant game the group has had this season, and they hope to build off this in the next few weeks.
The Colorado game was a great test for the entire team, but one of the Buffs’ main weaknesses is the strength of their offensive line. It seemed that throughout the entire afternoon, there was never a point where that line was in the game. Colorado was so overpowered in the trenches, quarterback Shedeur Sanders never even had a chance in the pocket and running back Dylan Edwards never had anywhere to run.
This was also a great game for Dorlus, Burch and even guys like Casey Rogers who got in on the sack action. For a group that had seen a tough run of form over the prior few weeks, this was huge for the D-line to regain confidence, pushing them to improve more and more every day in practice.
When asked about the current state of the defensive line and their outstanding Week 4 performance, Lanning said after practice on September 27th, “any time you have a performance where you perform well, I think that builds confidence.”
Lanning also expressed that in order to move forward and improve, the guys shouldn’t think about anything other than their next opportunity.
“We’re not playing last week, we’re playing next week, so it’s about what you do now,” Lanning said.
In the Ducks’ most recent matchup against Stanford, they tallied five sacks, but only one came from a defensive lineman. This was still an impressive performance for the linemen because one of the main game plans seemed to be to not let offensive linemen climb up the levels.
On run plays, Oregon’s D-line has been very effective this season at holding the guy in front of them on the line of scrimmage. This helps to ensure the offensive linemen can never climb and get to the linebackers and block them. This is one of the primary reasons that most of the leaders in tackles-for-loss or sacks aren’t defensive linemen.
This game, the defensive linemen had to do this a lot more due to the mobility of Stanford’s quarterback Justin Lamson and the need to always read the play and where he may be going. This meant that there were many plays where the linemen couldn’t try and attack Lamson directly, as they didn’t have the best angle and also had to keep contained so he wouldn’t scramble.
The Ducks’ defensive group is one of the most solid in FBS right now. It is a very experienced, disciplined and exciting group that seems to be finally hitting their stride after a rocky start. It is clear that they still have a lot more work to do, but the D-line will be a group to watch out for as the season marches on.
