On Oct. 29, after 742 yards of offense through regulation and two overtimes, the Arizona State offense found itself three yards away from tying Oregon at 61 with a chance to win the game. The Oregon defense had its back against the wall.
“We came together and said, ‘Someone has to make a play,’” senior Oregon linebacker Tyson Coleman said. “And that’s exactly what Arrion did.”
Sophomore defensive back Arrion Springs intercepted a pass from Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici to end last Thursday’s triple overtime thriller, 61-55. Springs’ interception was the second Oregon had against the Sun Devils — fellow cornerback Tyree Robinson had an interception in the fourth quarter— and the team’s ninth of the season.
“We were struggling in the run, so we had to step up and make a big play,” Springs said. “We had to get a pick, and we did. We could’ve had four.”
For last season’s National Championship runner-up team, taking the ball away, while not giving it up, was a key factor. Last season, the Ducks had a +23 turnover margin (+1.53 per game), taking the ball away from their opponents a total of 34 times in 15 games played. Eight games into 2015, Oregon (5-3, 3-2 in Pac-12 play) has a +4 (+0.50 per game) turnover margin while forcing a total of 15 turnovers.
A part of the smaller turnover statistics for the Oregon defense has been a marginally less number of fumble recoveries. Oregon has six through eight games after recording 22 through 15 games last season.
“Every year is different,” Oregon defensive coordinator Don Pellum said. “Obviously there have been some balls on the ground we haven’t got, and then maybe we haven’t done as good of a job at stripping, but that’s hard to say […] We work on stripping and on tips and that stuff regularly.”
Forcing fumbles, in particular, isn’t something that just happens through the course of the game, Coleman says. “We have to go out there and take the ball. A lot of times, we wait for it to come to us, but the reality of the situation is you have to go out and get it.”
One statistic that Oregon looks at internally each week is “disruption rate.” The statistic records on how many plays the Ducks’ defense disrupted the opposing offense. Hurries on the quarterback, tipped passes, fumbles, interceptions and even disguising coverages, forcing a quarterback to call a timeout, are all labeled as disrupting a play.
“All that stuff matters at the end of the day for our defense,” Pellum said.
This Saturday, Oregon welcomes the California Golden Bears and quarterback Jared Goff to Autzen Stadium. Goff, who has thrown 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions through eight games, averages 38.6 passes per game.
Springs, who said he’s looked forward to playing Goff all year, is looking to add to the team’s turnover numbers.
“[Goff] is going to test me and I’m going to give him some work,” Springs said. “So we’re going to see how good he is and how good I am.”
You already know we’re trying to go get [interceptions]. We just got to make sure we catch them. He’s going to give us a couple opportunities, so we have to make sure we execute.”
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt.
Oregon defense looks to force more turnovers against Cal
Joseph Hoyt
November 4, 2015
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