Surprising Oregon position group shows dominant upside that could propel Ducks back into elite status

The Oregon Ducks were largely without their vocal leader on defense, linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, who played minimal snaps. In his stead, Bryce Boettcher, an Oregon native, stepped up and played a tremendous game.

Boettcher led the team in tackles with 10, while adding two pass breakups to his impressive day. He was flying to the ball as part of a linebacker group that essentially shut down an Oregon State Beavers team that had been averaging 237 rushing yards per game.

Outside of one scramble by Gevani McCoy where he broke off a 37 yard run, the Oregon State offense railed to log a run play that went for more than eight yards the rest of the day. They attempted to do what they do, which is pound the ball early, but only were able to muster 84 rushing yards from their two-headed backfield of Anthony Hankerson and Jam Griffin.

It wasn't entirely without merit – Hankerson was able to find the end zone for both Oregon State touchdowns in the first half, but he and Griffin combined to average only 3.81 yards per carry. The Oregon defense did their job, not allowing the run game to keep the Beavers in the game.

With Oregon pulling away in a big way, Oregon State was forced to get away from the run. Hankerson carried the ball 12 times in the first half, and only had three carries through the rest of the game.

On the other side of the ball, the Oregon offensive line put forth an elite performance. On defense, the linebackers were flying to the ball, stayed gap sound, and stopped any chance of a comeback by the Beavers. It was a truly terrific performance that will have Ducks fans smiling and taunting their Beaver fan neighbors for the rest of the season.

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