Tim DeRuyter Addresses Oregon's Defensive Struggles on Third Down
Fresh off the worst loss of the Mario Cristobal era at the hands of Utah, Oregon is faced with a gut check. The Ducks struggled in every phase of last week's game, but one that sticks out prominently is third-down defense.
Almost every time the defense had an opportunity to slow down the Utes' attack on third down, Cameron Rising and Utah's dominant group of running backs pounded ahead or sliced through the Oregon defense to move the chains and keep humming along--converting 11 of 14 total third down attempts.
When the offense was as stagnant as Oregon's was in Salt Lake, any defensive stop would've served as a small victory, but Utah got what it wanted and a blowout ensued.
On Monday, Defensive Coordinator Tim DeRuyter was asked why it's been such a problem for the Ducks throughout the season.
"On Saturday the bigger problem we had was first and second down defense," DeRuyter said. "We had way too many third down and shorts and third and mediums. When you do that, you've gotta really bow up in the run game."
Going into the game, Oregon's run defense had developed to the point of being a strength, leading the Pac-12 at 119.9 yards per game. The front seven struggled to get push most of the night and was dominated by the Utah offensive line to the tune of 233 rushing yards.
"A couple times we had guys at the point of attack and didn't didn't finish with running our feet," he said.
But the lack of execution didn't only allow Utah to run wild, it allowed Rising to get out of the pocket and extend plays with his feet keep the offensive attack fueled all night.
"Other times we let the quarterback out on third and mediums scramble for a first down. We have a third and long where we jump offsides, make it a third and medium where in the area of the field where they run the ball, and we don't set an edge."
DeRuyter took full responsibility for the defensive shortcomings and knows third-down defense will need to be a major focus moving forward. However what complicates the matter is that improving third down defense consists of multiple moving parts.
"There's a multiplicity of reasons. There's no excuses. We've gotta get it fixed. We make any one of those plays we get the ball back to our offense and we change the trajectory of the game. And we didn't do it. So it's something that's obviously an emphasis for us and we have to fix this week."
Oregon State's offense has excelled on third down this season, converting 71 of 139 third downs it's been faced with, good for 51.08%.
You may also like
2022 JUCO OL Percy Lewis de-commits from Oregon
Join the Community
Follow Max on Twitter: @mtorressports
Subscribe to our free newsletter to get the latest Oregon Ducks news sent to your inbox
Listen to the latest episode of the Ducks Dish Podcast HERE
