On Tuesday, the Ducks defensive coaches and players spoke to the media as Oregon practiced during its bye week following a 38-3 loss at Washington this past Saturday.
The discussion primarily focused on the loss to Washington, but a lot of talk revolved around the team’s preparation for the final two games of the season against Arizona and Oregon State at Autzen.
“Get a helluva lot better than we were the week before,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “Really focus on the fundamentals and techniques — those are the things that really kill us. We made improvements for the Utah game and kind of reversed back to what we were doing before.”
In a week’s time, Oregon’s defense will be in full focus for stopping Arizona’s young quarterback Khalil Tate.
“He’s really good,” co-defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt said. “Look what he’s done. Nobody’s really stopped him much and he’s very talented and their scheme makes it very difficult.”
It won’t be easy to stop Arizona, but the Ducks will have the luxury of seeing how teams faced up against the Wildcats in weeks’ past.
“First from a defensive standpoint, kind of looking at teams that do a similar things that we do and see how they try attack them because chances are they’re gonna try attack you the same way,” Taggart said. “Ultimately, you gotta be sound in what you’re doing. You have to be really disciplined when you’re playing a team like Arizona.”
Justin Herbert threw well in Monday’s practice and could be available for the game against Arizona.
After Washington, Troy Dye and Kani Benoit left with feet in boots, but according to Taggart, Dye “will be fine.”
In the loss at Washington, Brady Breeze earned his first career interception, and for Taggart, that was the highlight of the game.
“We hadn’t seen that all year,” Taggart said. “For the first time all year our deep safety got over there and intercepted the ball.”
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow