When discussing Oregon’s pass rush this season, defensive line coach Ron Aiken is quick to to describe the areas of technique he often stresses to his group in practice about getting to the quarterback. “Flip your hips,” “get skinny” and don’t rush “the passer with your shoulders square to a blocker.”
“Flipping the hips” and “bursting to the quarterback” is what Aiken preaches most often, and despite a lack of quarterback pressure in the first couple weeks, Oregon has enjoyed an increasing level of success from the defensive line in that regard as of late.
The unit ranks second in the Pac-12 in sacks with 21, and the combination of nose tackle Alex Balducci and defensive end Deforest Buckner has recorded 12.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks alone.
But Aiken sees a group with plenty of work left to be done.
“There’s still more sacks that we’re leaving out there, contact on the quarterback [in which] we need to make sure we take him to the ground,” Aiken said on Sunday, before describing the technique that many of his players need to become more consistent at.
“It’s technique that we do in practice, but we need to make sure we bring it to a game.”
It seems to be a defining phrase for not just the defensive line, but the entire Ducks team as it gets set to face Arizona State on Thursday night. The talent runs deep — against Washington State, the Ducks used nine players in their rotation on the defensive line — and the potential is clearly there.
“But we just need to finish,” Balducci said. “There’s a lot of tackles outside the box and a lot of sacks that we could’ve gotten (at Washington.)”
It is all part of a larger emphasis on getting to the quarterback that the Ducks defensive coaches instilled this past offseason. And it has translated to Balducci becoming the “biggest plus” for the defensive line this year, according to Aiken.
“Alex has done a great job flipping his hips and getting on the edge of guys to give us additional pressure,” Aiken said. “We’ve upgraded what we do with our nose tackle on pass rush.”
Balducci, who used the offseason to work on that facet of his game, appears to be pleased with the personal results too.
“Last year, we really focused on dropping eight guys and containing the quarterback,” Balducci said. “This year, we’re letting the front go more and do our thing. I feel like I’m getting there.”
It’s a modified role for Balducci compared to previous seasons, but his success has become the perfect complement to Buckner, who is described as one of the most dominant players in college football, according to Pro Football Focus. Buckner currently has 36 tackles, nine tackles for loss and five sacks.
“He’s the No. 1 interior pass-rusher in the country, and ranks second at his position in run-stop percentage. Just ask Colorado’s offensive line how much fun he is to block,” the analytics site writes.
In addition, Buckner is a semifinalist for the Ted Hendricks Award, given to the nation’s best defensive end, and projected by multiple media outlets to go in the first round of next year’s NFL draft. He’s garnered all this acclaim while taking on as many as three blockers on a given pass play.
“Deforest is doing what’s expected and more,” Aiken said.
Balducci’s output has become even more beneficial then, because of the certain times in which Buckner is double or triple teamed. But, it’s not just him. True freshman Henry Mondeaux has recorded three tackles for loss and three sacks, and Jalen Jelks and Tui Talia have each added a sack of their own, which has translated into the Ducks’ rotation including as many as nine players.
“It’s nice because you know you got guys going in that can apply pressure,” said Balducci.
Now, as Aiken said, Oregon will continue to try and translate the technique they consistently work on at practice into a game situation at Arizona State. The defensive line will face a quarterback in Mike Bercovici, who averages 39 passes per game and likes to sling it downfield.
And for the Ducks’ defense to be successful, the defensive line has to be an integral part, which means defenders will have to flip their hips and burst to quarterback. But it also can be simplified.
“You want to measure what you do by winning ball games,” Aiken said. “So we have to do what we can to win ball games. We have to figure out how to get the quarterback.”
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise
“Flipping the hips” and “bursting to the quarterback” is what Aiken preaches most often, and despite a lack of quarterback pressure in the first couple weeks, Oregon has enjoyed an increasing level of success from the defensive line in that regard as of late.
The unit ranks second in the Pac-12 in sacks with 21, and the combination of nose tackle Alex Balducci and defensive end Deforest Buckner has recorded 12.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks alone.
But Aiken sees a group with plenty of work left to be done.
“There’s still more sacks that we’re leaving out there, contact on the quarterback [in which] we need to make sure we take him to the ground,” Aiken said on Sunday, before describing the technique that many of his players need to become more consistent at.
“It’s technique that we do in practice, but we need to make sure we bring it to a game.”
It seems to be a defining phrase for not just the defensive line, but the entire Ducks team as it gets set to face Arizona State on Thursday night. The talent runs deep — against Washington State, the Ducks used nine players in their rotation on the defensive line — and the potential is clearly there.
“But we just need to finish,” Balducci said. “There’s a lot of tackles outside the box and a lot of sacks that we could’ve gotten (at Washington.)”
It is all part of a larger emphasis on getting to the quarterback that the Ducks defensive coaches instilled this past offseason. And it has translated to Balducci becoming the “biggest plus” for the defensive line this year, according to Aiken.
“Alex has done a great job flipping his hips and getting on the edge of guys to give us additional pressure,” Aiken said. “We’ve upgraded what we do with our nose tackle on pass rush.”
Balducci, who used the offseason to work on that facet of his game, appears to be pleased with the personal results too.
“Last year, we really focused on dropping eight guys and containing the quarterback,” Balducci said. “This year, we’re letting the front go more and do our thing. I feel like I’m getting there.”
It’s a modified role for Balducci compared to previous seasons, but his success has become the perfect complement to Buckner, who is described as one of the most dominant players in college football, according to Pro Football Focus. Buckner currently has 36 tackles, nine tackles for loss and five sacks.
“He’s the No. 1 interior pass-rusher in the country, and ranks second at his position in run-stop percentage. Just ask Colorado’s offensive line how much fun he is to block,” the analytics site writes.
In addition, Buckner is a semifinalist for the Ted Hendricks Award, given to the nation’s best defensive end, and projected by multiple media outlets to go in the first round of next year’s NFL draft. He’s garnered all this acclaim while taking on as many as three blockers on a given pass play.
“Deforest is doing what’s expected and more,” Aiken said.
Balducci’s output has become even more beneficial then, because of the certain times in which Buckner is double or triple teamed. But, it’s not just him. True freshman Henry Mondeaux has recorded three tackles for loss and three sacks, and Jalen Jelks and Tui Talia have each added a sack of their own, which has translated into the Ducks’ rotation including as many as nine players.
“It’s nice because you know you got guys going in that can apply pressure,” said Balducci.
Now, as Aiken said, Oregon will continue to try and translate the technique they consistently work on at practice into a game situation at Arizona State. The defensive line will face a quarterback in Mike Bercovici, who averages 39 passes per game and likes to sling it downfield.
And for the Ducks’ defense to be successful, the defensive line has to be an integral part, which means defenders will have to flip their hips and burst to quarterback. But it also can be simplified.
“You want to measure what you do by winning ball games,” Aiken said. “So we have to do what we can to win ball games. We have to figure out how to get the quarterback.”
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise