For two weeks in a row the Oregon defense has been exposed, though the final scoreboard may not show it. The Duck defense has a weakness in defending the run. Against Oklahoma State the Ducks gave up 144 total yards, which may not sound too bad as the bulk of Cowboys’ total offense came off only a few drives — ...

The Ducks Have a Problem With Run Defense

Thank you David for writing today's article for Our Beloved Duck Forum!

Tackling a running back, who often times can squat 400 lbs, is a hard task. Ordinarily a 300 lb defensive line versus a 200 lb running back is a no contest. But 20 plus years ago the rules were changed to allow Offensive players to aid and abet the runner by pushing from behind the runner. So in the tight confines of the scrum adding in a few Offensive Linemen changes the dynamics.

I believe it is necessary for the first defensive player to get as low as possible. General rule in football - Low man wins. Hitting the running back above the hips and trying to tackle him allows the scrum to continue the push forward giving more yards after contact (YAC). Someone must sacrifice their body and start grabbing ankles.

Watch our defensive backs make a tackle in the open field. They tackle the lower legs. This is a huge improvement that Dan Lanning and staff have improved.

Minus a 79 yard run in the closing minutes of the game against a lot of reserves, NW averaged 2.8 yards a carry. In the previous game NW averaged over 8 yards a carry.

It was a big ten game on the road, not a top half big ten team probably, but still it was 34-0 going into the fourth quarter.

I'm not worried about the run defense at this point. In fact considering the opponents I think Oregon's defense showed better than Penn St. did vs Villanova,

a DI championship subdivision team.

In the first 3 quarters of the Northwestern game, excluding sacks, Northwestern rushed for 94 yards on 22 carries. That is 4.3 average yards per carry. That’s not very good, especially against a team like Northwestern.

It would be interesting to hear whether this is a result of our defensive line play/execution, linebacker play/execution and/or scheme/play-calling.

I’m sure that Penn State’s OC is licking his chops watching Oregon’s run defense. The blueprint to beat Oregon might be to play that ugly B1G style - grind it out on the ground, limiting Oregon offensive possessions. Northwestern just didn’t have the personnel to execute this for four quarters.

Edited 42 minutes ago42 min by OregonDucks