In his first game as a collegiate head football coach, Dan Lanning will face a Georgia Bulldogs team that Lanning not only called defensive plays for a season ago, but also won a national championship behind one of the best defenses in college football.
Last year, Lanning’s defense was one of the best seen in FBS history as the Bulldogs averaged 10.2 points scored against per game. Lanning’s defense also produced five first round picks, including the 2022 No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, Travon Walker.
Bringing his defensive prowess from the SEC to Oregon and hiring NFL-experienced defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi, the Oregon defense will look to be as havoc-wreaking as possible in hopes of causing turnovers.
“We want to be extremely aggressive and confrontational,” Lupoi said during spring camp. “We want to be the dictator at the end of the day.”
The Ducks last season led the Pac-12 in interceptions with 17 on the season. However, they lost All-Conference safety Verone McKinley III, who led the team with six picks on the season.
McKinley is not the only notable loss to the Oregon defense. The Ducks will also be without First Team All-Pac-12 and finalist for the Chuck Bednarek award Kayvon Thibodeaux, who led last year’s squad with seven sacks.
In the wake of Thibodeaux’s departure, defensive line coach Tony Tuioti has since called rising junior Brandon Dorlus the alpha of the Oregon defense.
“He’s just done a great job of setting the tone,” Tuioti said. “The rest of the guys follow after him.”
On the defensive front, Dorlus is joined by Nebraska transfers Casey Rodgers and Jordon Riley, as well as coach Tuioti, who coached last year at Nebraska himself.
Perhaps the most exciting prospect for the Oregon defense is the addition of a healthy Justin Flowe.
Ranked as the second highest recruit in program history when he committed in 2020, Flowe only took the field once in 2021, as a foot injury limited his availability. In the one game he played against Stony Brook, Flowe had 14 tackles, earning him Pac-12 Freshman of the Week.
Paired with returning first Team All-Pac-12 inside linebacker Noah Sewell, some predict Oregon to have the best linebacking corps in the country.
“If I look to my left and I see Justin looking scary, I know he’s going to do his job,” Sewell said. “His playstyle is like there’s food on the table… he’s the one to go get it.”
Throughout camp, coaches have raved that Flowe’s energy cannot be overstated.
In the secondary, where the Ducks lost DJ James to the transfer portal, as well as Mykael Wright to the draft and McKinley, the Ducks have rebooted, especially at the corner position with Christian Gonzalez.
Coming from Colorado along with new defensive backs coach Demetrice Martin, Gonzalez — one of the fastest players on the team — now has an opportunity to play a leadership role in a budding defense.
The Ducks kickoff their season September 3 in Georgia.
