Look, when you’ve got a head coach like Dan Lanning (who was a phenomenal defensive coordinator in the Southeastern Conference) and an abundance of resources at your disposal to build a really strong roster like the Oregon Ducks do, chances are your defense is going to turn out to be pretty dang impressive in a number of ways.
And you know, that really seems to be the story with the Oregon Ducks this year. It really looks like they might just have a dominant defense that will be terrifying for opponents to match up against and to try to score points against.
This season, the Ducks are holding opponents to just 271.4 total yards of offense per game and 16.3 points per game. Oregon has one of the best defenses in the country and they’re very, very physically imposing.
And that could cause problems for Texas Tech as the Red Raiders try to move the ball up and down the field and to score points in the Orange Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal round.
Texas Tech offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich points out how the Oregon Ducks really don’t have any weaknesses on defense
Mack Leftwich, the offensive coordinator for the Red Raiders, was recently asked about just how impressive Oregon’s defense can be and the part of the Ducks’ defense that could give the Red Raiders the most trouble.
“I mean, they’re a really good defense at every level,” Leftwich stated. “I think probably the strength of their defense is their defensive line, I think they’ve got, especially those four starters that they roll out there, all really good players.”
And that could be a problem. Texas Tech’s offensive line is pretty good, but I don’t know that the Red Raiders have faced off against a defensive front that is as talented as this one is.
“Their defensive ends are a little bit bigger-bodied, play with a high motor, can get after the passer, and then they’ve got two pretty elite defensive tackles,” Leftwich continued. “That’ll be big for us, handling those guys up front.”
Luckily that’s the only part of Oregon’s defense that is really good. Right?
“And then to compliment that, I think they’re really athletic in the back end and at linebacker,” Leftwich said.
Oh. Well. Uh. That’s not great.
“So not really many weaknesses with their defense,” Leftwich noted.”
Yeah, well, not great! Thankfully there’s a fair bit of talent all over the place for the Red Raiders on offense. Hopefully that will help Leftwich and company figure out how to attack Oregon’s defense.