The Duck Defense Flies In Sync

It is amazing what a week after a tough loss can do, as the Ducks didn’t let Rutgers get close to handing them a second loss. Sure, Rutgers doesn’t sit atop the Big Ten rankings; they aren’t even a ranked team, but they are certainly a better team than Oregon State and Oklahoma State (which Oregon disposed of with relative ease during the non-conference slate), though you wouldn’t know it by the box score.

After a rocky start where the Ducks coughed up a fumble on the third play of the game, the Ducks proceed to absolutely demolish Rutgers. Even off that fumble, the Scarlet Knights gained zero yards before kicking a 51-yard field goal for the first points of the game. Our own Mr. FishDuck took a break from his gaming fun at Winna.com to discuss with me how impressed he was by our defense.

Rutgers isn’t a top team in the country, and actually now ranks among the bottom of the conference. The announcers were so kind to remind us the entire evening that Rutgers’ quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis has one of the highest completion percentages in the conference — in the high 60s — and this is a Rutgers team that has one of the best passing offenses. Rutgers had averaged over 300 yards passing per game this season, and the Ducks held Kaliakmanis to 79 yards passing and a completion rate of just 32%.

This was a dismantling by the Duck defense, and it was accomplished because they played as a unit in lock step with each other. The pass rush put pressure on Kaliakmanis and the defensive backs contested every single pass thrown. On every single reception, there were no yards after catch and the receiver went down on the spot — that is, if the ball wasn’t broken up in the process.

Oregon’s secondary made quick stops against Rutgers’ receivers, not giving them any room to run.
(Photo By: Evan Bernstein)

There was one open throw that would have gone for a touchdown if it had connected. It was a deep route, and the Rutgers receiver managed to beat his Duck defender in a defensive breakdown, which had him running down the sideline wide open. However, the pass rush put enough pressure on the quarterback that the pass was a little early, and lacked the touch required to get it to his open receiver. The ball fell incomplete and the best opportunity Rutgers had to put a touchdown on the board against the Oregon’s starters was lost.

The chaos didn’t stop there, as the defense forced three turnovers. The first interception was a team effort, as a pass was blocked and pushed into the air before Blake Purchase came down with the ball. A fumble from Rutgers was recovered as the Duck defense swarmed the ball, and then the final interception by Aaron Flowers was a result of pressuring the quarterback to make a faster throw and Kaliakmanis not seeing Flowers reading his eyes. All turnovers were a team effort.

This is what the Duck defense is supposed to look like.

The only touchdown given up in the game came with the clear backups out on the field for the Ducks late in the fourth quarter, and it came after a punt was bobbled and recovered by Rutgers, putting them in the red-zone. This means the only points Rutgers managed to get on the board were when the offense or special teams failed at their jobs and gave the ball to Rutgers in scoring range. It’s hard to ask any more from a defense.

Wisconsin is up next at home, a chance for the Ducks to build on their recent success and maybe deliver the third shutout in as many games to the Badgers.

David Marsh 
Portland, Oregon
Top Photo By: Evan Bernstein

Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in financial technology in SLC, Utah.

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David Marsh

David Marsh is a high school social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher he is known for telling puns to his students who sometimes laugh out of sympathy, and being both eccentric about history and the Ducks.

David graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with Majors in: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. David began following Ducks Football after being in a car accident in 2012; finding football something new and exciting to learn about during this difficult time in his life. Now, he cannot see life without Oregon football.