Throughout the early part of the season, the Oregon Ducks offense has looked disjointed at times, while still obviously oozing with talent and potential to put up points at a moment's notice. More impressively for Oregon as they aim for hardware at the end of the season has been the play of their defense .
Oregon's defense did it again on Saturday, absolutely locking down UCLA's offense.
Oregon's defense was able to register four sacks and seven tackles for loss. They got pressure on the quarterback all night long, and constantly blanketed the Bruins' wide receivers.
UCLA never got a touchdown on offense, were held to 1-10 on third down, only got 172 total yards of offense, and quarterback Ethan Garbers completed only 12/20 passes while throwing two interceptions. The Ducks defense held UCLA to only 3.58 yards per play on the game.
For a time early in the second half, it looked like Oregon was coasting a bit. They were up 28-10 at the half, and didn't come out with much fire. The ULA running backs got a little traction going, gashing Oregon for a couple decent runs, including carries of 21-yards and 18-yards by T.J. Harden.
"I thought after the first series, we kind of figured out the rhythm and kind of figured out what they were going to be doing and guys did a good job of attacking them," Lanning said following the win. "Obviously being able to control the run game early in that first half was really big. They had some more successful runs in the second half. I thought they came out saying they had to establish it and we were playing a little bit more for 'don't give up a freebie.' So, I thought the defense played their best game yet."
Crucial to Oregon's success on defense was the return of a fully-healthy Jeffrey Bassa at linebacker. Bassa was credited with three tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one pass defensed.
"I think this is the first week that Jeff's really felt healthy," Lanning said. "He had a great week of practice. And because of that, I think his performance really showed up. It's hard to be able to go out there and play on game day when you're not able to practice. He was able to practice this week. Bye week was really big. Certainly a leader for us, understanding what opponents are trying to do, and did a good job of that tonight."
The defense has shown to have guys that can win along the defensive line, linebackers that can tackle and cover, and a tenacious secondary that plays sticky coverage and is opportunistic when the ball is in the air. How this defense can hold up to better competition as the season wears on will be crucial, but for now, all signs point to Oregon having one of the stronger defenses in the country.
Related: Ducks playmaker proves to be key to Oregon's success in first Big Ten victory
Follow along all year for more Oregon Ducks coverage on A to Z Sports. You can find me on X @JonHelmkamp , as well as follow our main page @AtoZSportsNFL for all the latest news.
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