EUGENE — Oregon’s pass defense numbers are gross through the first two games, but the small sample size, against two explosive offenses, doesn’t tell the whole story.
The No. 4 Ducks enter Saturday’s game (4:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network) against Stony Brook ranked 127th nationally in pass defense (391 yards allowed per game) after giving up 484 yards through the air in last week’s win at Ohio State.
There’s a lot of context missing from the raw numbers though. Case in point, Washington leads the country in pass defense but is 0-2.
For instance, OSU’s 62 yards before halftime were meaningless as the defense’s only goal was to prevent a score against a long field and go into the break with a 14-7 lead. Most importantly, Ohio State has the most explosive passing attack in the country and allowing nine passes of 20-yards but just one for 40-plus was a major factor in Oregon winning the game.
“The big thing we talked to our guys about last week was Ohio State was effective at getting explosive plays, they were getting chunk plays of 50, 60, 70 yards and not having to drive,” defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. “We thought if we could keep it in front and make them go the long, hard way that we would have a better chance to win the football game. I think for the most part we did that. We didn’t let them get the ball thrown over our heads.
“Give them credit, we had some pretty tight coverage, guys draped all over them and they made good throws and catches. Take nothing away from them; it wasn’t just us. We played a good football team and I was pleased with the way our guys competed, particularly on third down and when it got down tight to the red zone of making them go for it on fourth down and getting those stops.”
By not allowing any passes to sail over the top of the coverage, Oregon achieved what it was aiming for. It was a similar approach to the strategy against Fresno State a week earlier.
No team has faced opponents that rank as high in volume of explosive plays through the first two weeks and though Oregon has given up 14 plays of 20-plus yards through the first two games, just three have gone for over 30 yards, illustrating how the defense has prevented the game-breaking play.
“The yards might not necessarily show it right now but this secondary is improving fast and I think we’re a force to be reckoned with,” nickel safety Bennett Williams said. “We’ve been talking about it all week. That’s still not a ranking that we’re OK with, having so many passing yards given up, but at the same time you look at the plays that they came on it’s a lot of underneath stuff. We didn’t give up much of anything over the top, which is what Ohio State’s bread and butter was. You limit the big plays like that and you give our offense a chance to get back on the field and score and it results in wins.
“Sometimes it’s not how we want it to (look) and we want to limit those plays and tighten down that yardage but we’ve been 1-0 for the past two weeks now. We’re working, improving, got to keep those big plays off the board and tighten down on the underneath coverage.”
RELATED: Oregon Ducks making defensive adjustments after they weren’t ready on big plays against up-tempo
When Oregon was hit for longer plays tempo was usually involved and the Ducks are making changes to get plays in faster on defense.
That shouldn’t be a problem this week against Stony Brook, which has stated that ball control will be part of its gameplan. The return of DJ James at boundary cornerback, less up-tempo to defend and an FCS opponent could allow Oregon to pad its stats in a positive direction this week.
“We want to be a little bit more aggressive and I think that we can,” field safety Verone McKinley III said. “I think we have a really good secondary and we need to challenge receivers a little bit more from inside and outside. Of course, the mission is you want to stay on top at all times, not give up explosive plays but I think we need to continue to build our confidence and challenge guys. Definitely some good receivers at Ohio State for sure but I feel like we’ve seen probably some of the better ones in the country so we should be able to build off that. We can play with anybody and I feel like we showed that.”
Ad Choices