In my last article, Oregon’s New Edge on Defense, we went over the importance of setting the edge in run defense. Building on that, I am creating a mini-series on how to improve run defense, to give people a look at the fundamentals necessary to play the run well, and at the same time, examine the fundamentals missing from the …
It was April 6, 2012. The Oregon Ducks football team had finished a spring practice and defensive line coach Jerry Azzinaro met with OregonLive reporter Aaron Fentress. Fentress was interested in hearing about a heralded four-star high school recruit and incoming freshman: Arik Armstead. Azzinaro quipped, “Arik who?” It did not take long for Armstead to make a name for …
In 2013, the Arizona Wildcats and Head Coach Rich Rodriguez tore through the Ducks and the nearly non-existent Oregon defense that day raised a lot of questions among Ducks faithful. But I’m here to tell you, Duck fans, that the future is bright. The Oregon defense can shut this Arizona offense down in 2014, without any major changes. And that’s good, because …