Based on recent history, if you had told me before the season started that Oregon leads the nation in fewest passing yards allowed per game after 8 games, I would have said we must be on our way to our first national championship. Pass defense when it matters most, has been our Achilles heel limiting many great seasons. Well, here we are at #1 in the country averaging a mere 124.6 passing yards per game.

Although it’s harder to follow backend defenders while watching on TV, I am relieved when teams choose to pass against us and nervous when they elect to run. In addition to our phenomenal corners and safeties, there are no better linebackers I’d rather have in pass coverage. They are playing outstanding football!

However, our run defense is still an area for improvement. We are not terrible by any stretch as we rank #27 in FBS at 114.8 yards per game. As good as our linebackers are in pass coverage, it seems to me they struggle against the run. But there are likely a number of factors at play. Analyzing plays over and over again, I came away with a real

appreciation for how quickly players have to diagnose and react to plays and how critical instincts are at game speed.

It’s a long two weeks between games, so I took some time to include a few key running plays below from our last game vs. Wisconsin for analysis. I’ve added some observations and would love to hear the thoughts of others as we seek to learn more.

Play 1 is 15:00 2nd quarter, 2nd and 5 from Wisconsin 28. Between the left end and left LB, we simply don’t set the edge, and the running back goes for close to 10 yards. D-Line holds their gaps well and this seems like a very preventable play.

Play 2 is 11:35 2nd quarter, 4th and inches at the Oregon 43. Seems like we’ve got this one well covered. Handoff goes to the fullback, and Boettcher just misses the tackle. Thieneman then holds on for dear life and another 9-yard gain.

Play 3 is 10:25 2nd quarter, 2nd and 20 at the Oregon 44, still the same drive. On this play, Wisconsin O-Line won their battles across the board. They hold our lineman in check and each of our linebackers are easily picked up by offensive linemen hustling downfield to block. First contact is 4 yards downfield, and the gain goes for 7 yards. I appreciated Uiagalelei’s discipline here to set the edge with the motion man and then check the QB before committing to backside pursuit.

Play 4 is 0:50 in the 2nd quarter, 3rd and 5 at the Wisconsin 38. We have a chance to get the ball back with a stop and a timeout, but Wisconsin gets a great push up front and our linebackers again are easily blocked downfield by linemen. Run goes for 6 yards and a first down.

Play 5 is 11:52 in the 3rd quarter, 2nd and 15 at the Wisconsin 31. Tight end #88 for Wisconsin crashes down on our defensive end and then kicks out our linebacker to open a perfect hole for a play that didn’t look like it was designed to go that direction. Thieneman again to the rescue and a massive gain of 18 yards.

Play 6 is 3:31 in the 3rd quarter, 2nd and 5 at the Wisconsin 10. I believe it’s Devon Jackson this time doing a very nice job of beating the block and filling the gap at the line of scrimmage for a very nice tackle.

Play 7 is 2:57 in the 3rd quarter, 3rd and 5 at the Wisconsin 10, very next play. This time it looks like Boettcher is on a run blitz. He’s way ahead of the lineman looking to block him and does a great job attacking the ball side of the ball carrier forcing a fumble.

Lastly, Play 8 is 12:32 in the 4th quarter, 1st and 10 at the Oregon 47. This run stop is brought you by our awesome defensive line, specifically, Bear Alexander. We are used to seeing this a lot this year, but unfortunately, if our DLine do not beat block and get the back early, we tend to give up a lot of yards.

I hope this is Ok. I love to look at X’s and O’s and I know I’m not as knowledgeable as many of you. What are your thoughts or observations?

I think part of it is the structure of the defense, the first priority as I have read it with the Mint defense is shutting down the short-intermediate passing game, we don't really stack the box quite as much as other teams do. Wisconsin has some decent O-linemen, they will win a battle or two, and I think their freshman RB had some juice.

Our run defense wasn't what I would term bad in this game, it was just a little inconsistent. The LBs can sometimes make the wrong read and get out of position. Our line is very good, I'm not quite ready to call it great, the LBs are simply good, but the secondary is elite imo, and it will get better next year even with replacing some guys as I think we have incredible amount of depth there.

I think it's hard to judge our defense, they haven't played many teams that have a pulse offensively. They played well against Indiana and Penn St. who despite their issues have NFL players on the roster and were in a much better head space during our game with them. Rutgers and Northwestern are difficult to judge compared to the rest of the nation.

In general I struggle at times to compare B1G teams with the rest of the nation, there is such a divide between the haves (Indiana, OSU, Oregon) and everyone else. The Iowa game will tell us a lot I think about where we are as a team since that team is starting to figure it out it seems, I'm hopeful we'll put in a B+ or above effort.

WOW!

Thank you, Mike. Even I, with limited Xs and Os knowledge, 'got' this.

Wisconsin has not quit on its coach, and the weatherman was kind to a Badgers team with a solid run defense.

As is often the case with suspect teams in mega-conferences, Wisconsin, especially, and Rutgers and Purdue were handed tough schedules. And Wisconsin played a road game at Bama and Purdue at Notre Dame. When the 'down teams' have difficult 9-game conference schedules, it exacerbates the weakness of the conference, especially in the final season of an ACC and SEC 8-game confrence schedule.

Great comment Spartan, but seven B1G teams are ranked in the Massey Poll's top 25: Ohio State, Indiana, OBD, Michigan, Iowa, UW, and USC, plus No. 29 Illinois and No. 31 Nebraska. I believe the B1G is the 2nd strongest conference in CFB, and that the gap between the Big Ten and the SEC is not what ESPN would have you believe.

For example, I don't think Texas' 38-point comeback against Mississippi State last Saturday means both teams are terrific. A Kentucky team that Texas also defeated in OT is not a good team. And Arkansas, Auburn, and South Carolina are not all that.

OBD fails to cover against Wisconsin in a monsoon and is, of course, overrated. Ole Miss defeats Wazzu by three points in Oxford, crickets. UVA is No. 15 with OT wins over an FSU team that is 0-4 in ACC play, and a UNC team that has not won a football game. The Cavaliers defeated Wazzu at home by two points.

Conference wins in the B1G just mean less. Conference losses just mean more.

Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean that ESPN isn't following me!😁

The Establishment is going to push back against the over-the-top love for the B1G because of back to back titles. And I get this. But I also believe that B1G is experiencing pushback as the result of the Tony Petitti's AQ Playoff format. The B1G adulation disappeared when Tony's plan was revealed. And disappeared further when Greg Sankey stabbed Tony in his PO back.

A pathetic Penn State does not help the B1G Cause. Cincinnati's loss to Nebraska seems to matter little. Iowa's 3-point walk-off field goal loss at Iowa State matters, as does Iowa's 5-point loss to the team ranked second in the Coaches' and AP Polls. UW lost to the No. 1 team at home and to a ranked Michigan team in the Big House. The Athletic's Stewart Mandel says this means UW's schedule is 'tainted.'

The Clemson meltdown does not appear to have hurt the nation's perception of Georgia Tech, Miami, UVA, and Louisville.

Mike, I apologize for drifting away from your most excellent post, and Spartan, especially based on the human polls before the committee's first ranking release Tuesday night, your take is certainly not wrong.

I believe, like last season, the B1G will show up in the postseason and we'll see more of a 3-loss Illinois defeating 3-loss South Carolina, a five-loss Michigan without a passing attack and half of the starting defense sitting out defeating a 3-loss Bama, and a marginal USC team defeating A&M. I also note that Iowa lost by 3 points to a favored Missouri team and TOSU defeated two highly ranked SEC opponents.

Thanks again, Mike, for a super informative post.

Thank you Mike, for all the work you put into this.

The MINT needs fast linebackers who can cover side to side well, an elite edge rusher, and a freak at the STAR position...Safety with Linebacker/run stopper skills, that can cover like a corner. Georgia (Lanning's last season there as DC, blew out Alabama in NCG) had a roster full of early round NFL draftees. Mateo fits that but not sure the others, though really good, are quite at that level.

As Spartan said above, shutting down the short passing game is a goal, and the talent assembled in the secondary should be exciting for Duck fans, they are all very young. Our 5 star frosh Safety is out this year with a broken leg. So, it's somewhat of a bend-don't-break in the run game. Lanning and staff get elite interior DLine and LB's where a 4-man rush can create QB pressure, it will work better.

For now, my bigger concern...the offense needs to improve against the better teams...Dante needs to grow and recognize the pressures, which will come with experience as others have noted on this forum. Nix and Gabriel were the most veteran college QBs in history. But...Dante makes throws many NFL QB's can't, and pro scouts have noticed! This season has room to grow and could yet be special. Next year could be even more so with a big recruit class finish and continued portal use, which Lanning has done as good as any team. Offensive tackles need to be more consistent.