After being dominated by the Georgia Bulldogs on Sept. 3, Oregon football fans could not have imagined their team would be in the position it is now. Now having won six straight, including a critical win against No. 9 UCLA last Saturday, the Ducks find themselves back on the brink of College Football Playoff contention. The spectacular play of Oregon quarterback Bo Nix has been a hot topic of discussion, but much credit is also deserved for his offensive line.
The Oregon offensive line features TJ Bass, Alex Forsyth, Ryan Walk and Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu. Bass recently repeated as the Pac-12 Offensive Lineman of the Week for the fourth time in his career. The group has only allowed one sack in seven games this season. For reference, Army led the nation with seven sacks in 13 games last season.
Against UCLA, the offensive line helped Oregon’s offense rack up 545 yards and rushed for more than 200 yards for the fifth time in seven games. The offensive line has not only done a stellar job at protecting Nix, but they have also opened holes for four ball carriers to average over six yards per carry. Their dominance has earned them a spot on the midseason honor roll for the Joe Moore Award for the most outstanding offensive line.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said a lot of credit goes to the senior leaders in the group. He said those players “are like coaches on the field” with the way they understand and study the game. One of those leaders is the senior center Forsyth, who won the Pac-12 offensive lineman award this week.
“If you watch Alex Forsyth work when no one else is working, you’d understand why that offensive line is like it is,” Lanning said. “We’re in chapel today, and Alex Forsyth’s carrying the football around with him in chapel.”
Lanning detailed how Forsyth is one of the first ones to practice going over plays and reviewing calls. It showed on the field on Saturday, as he pointed out the weak side and strong side linebacker before each snap, directing his counterparts to be in the right place. As a center with that responsibility, it could lead to an overload of roles.
Not Forsyth.
The passion and commitment that he embodies appears to be contagious across the offensive line and throughout the locker room.
Defensive lineman Jordon Riley shared his thoughts on how the closeness of the offensive line has led the team to holistic success.
“I don’t see no other offensive line play as hard as them, and you see it in how well the offense is going right now,” Riley said. “They play hard and physical and they play together.”
Through constant communication and dedication to getting better, the offensive line has helped Nix stay upright. Nix has rushed for 382 yards in seven games this season, to go along with a career-best eight touchdowns. He only had 168 rushing yards in the entirety of his last season with Auburn.The cohesiveness of the unit has created enough holes that the offense has scored more than 40 points for six straight games, the most by the Ducks since 2014. Oregon will hope for that trend to continue next weekend, as they look to improve to 5-0 in Pac-12 play.
Coming up, Oregon plays at Cal and at Colorado before playing Washington and Utah at home and ending the season at Oregon State. The No. 8 ranked Ducks play in Berkeley at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday on FS1.
