Oregon Defensive Players of the Game vs. Colorado

The Oregon defense allowed 29 points against a Colorado team that had only scored more than 14 points once throughout conference play, but did more than enough to help the Ducks win.

Author:
John Rustik
Publish date:
Nov 1, 2021 11:31 AM EDT

The Ducks pushed their way to a dominant win against Colorado on Saturday by a final score of 52-29. While 29 points is probably more than the Ducks' defense would like to have given up against a bad fairly poor Buffs team, there were still players that stepped up to make some big plays.

Mykael Wright-Cornerback

Wright runs with the ball on a kick return against Colorado.
Scott Boldt/Ducks Digest

Wright entered the Colorado game with 15 total tackles in his two previous games against California and UCLA. Against the Buffaloes, he continued to make plays and led the game with six tackles, four of which were solo.

The cornerback made plays when the Ducks needed it, especially on third down. He had a couple of big plays to slow the Colorado offense before they could reach the line to gain. He made a great play in the second quarter on third-and-goal when he hit Daniel Arias before he could cross the goal line. He also had a great open field tackle to stop a big play off a screen pass.

Wright is one of the most valuable players for the Ducks defense. He's been one of the few defenders that has been able to play every game so far this season, and he's racked up 49 total tackles through eight games.

Jeffrey Bassa-Linebacker

Freshman linebacker Jeffrey Bassa vs. Colorado.
Scott Boldt/Ducks Digest

Bassa also came off a career-high six tackles in the victory against UCLA. He followed that up with another strong performance Saturday. The safety-turned-linebacker has continued to impress in a position that isn’t even his preferred spot on the field.

While Mario Cristobal has made it clear that Bassa will be moving back to safety once the Ducks are able to recover from this season's massive wave of injuries, having him make plays for the Oregon defense has been crucial to their success thus far.

Bassa made six tackles against Colorado, which tied him with Wright and Noah Sewell for a team-high. The freshman also had 1.5 tackles-for-loss, which was the most in the game alongside Adrian Jackson.

Bassa helped hold Colorado to 117 yards on the ground, keeping them below the average of 131.6 rushing yards the Ducks have allowed this season.

Bryan Addison-Safety

Oregon Ducks safety Bryan Addison against the Colorado Buffaloes. — Addison vs. Colorado.
Scott Boldt/Ducks Digest

Addison is another player that found himself stepping up in any way to help the team. With Stephen Stevens IV sustaining a soft tissue injury against Colorado, the Ducks had to rely on their depth once again.

Addison, who was originally recruited to play wide receiver, had three solo tackles to go along with four total tackles against Colorado. He also made a great play on an attempted screen pass, knocking down the ball before the Buffaloes could make a play.

He also made a couple nice tackles to keep Colorado in long yardage situations so the Ducks could get off the field. While it seems like Stevens is okay, the Ducks proved once again that they have players that can do what is required to win.

While he still has a lot to learn in terms of positioning, Addison has potential to help the Ducks if they need him to step up later again in the season.