The Oregon Defense is now in Rarified Air After Another Dominant Performance
Another week, another dominant performance from the Oregon Ducks defense. It may sound mundane at this point, but it's anything but boring.
With a 45-3 win over the Colorado Buffaloes — the most experience offense that Oregon had seen yet this season — the Oregon defense faced a tough challenge in bottling up and stopping senior QB Steven Montez, who gashed them for a big game back in 2016, totaling four touchdowns and almost 500 total yards. On Friday night, it didn't even look like the same player, as the Ducks constantly put him in tough situations and forcing risky decisions that resulted in turnovers. In the end, Montez threw a career-high four interceptions, and for the fifth straight game, Oregon held their opponent to single-digit scoring.
The star of the night was freshman cornerback Verone McKinley III, who had two interceptions on the night, one of which was almost returned for a touchdown. While the defense has hindered early on with the loss of safety Jevon Holland and linebacker Troy Dye, it was up to the rest of the Ducks to keep up the level of play without their stars on the field. Oregon's depth reared its head and proved to be formidable, as the defense didn't skip a beat.
If it wasn't obvious before, Friday's performance solidified this defense in historic air. After giving up 27 points to the Auburn Tigers in Week 1's heartbreaking loss, the Ducks' D has allowed just 25 points total in the five games since. They allow the fourth-fewest yards-per-play in the nation (3.94) and tied with Wisconsin for first in touchdowns allowed. The Ducks also have the best Red Zone Defense in the nation, with a TD percentage of just 16.7%.
Being forced to play with a short deck is never easy for any team, but the Ducks proved more than capable against a Buffs offense that had been averaging over 30 points-per-game. In the first five games of the season, Oregon's defense proved that they were really good while stopping mediocre offenses and keeping opposing teams out of the end zone. On Friday, they proved that they are great, and among the best units in all of college football. If things shake out the right way and the Ducks are able to find their way into a big-time bowl game, or even the College Football Playoff, it will be largely thanks to the playmakers on defense. The offense may get most of the glory for putting points on the board, but it's the defense that deserves all of the credit so far.
