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When Dan Lanning was hired as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks in December of 2021, there was an idea that he would bring the dominant Georgia Bulldogs defense with him to Eugene.
As the defensive coordinator of the Bulldogs’ historic 2021 championship team, fans conjured up ideas of hard-hitting, SEC-style fronts that could punish opponents and dominate the trenches up here in the Pacific Northwest.
In reality, the 2022 season saw an Oregon defense that struggled, giving up 27 points per game. Things got a lot better in 2023 as Lanning got more of his players into the system, but it’s in 2024 that we are truly starting to see that dominance on the defensive front take hold.
Through eight games this year, the Ducks have already pitched one shutout, and are giving up just 15.6 points per game. They’re allowing 173.8 yards per game through the air, 123.5 on the ground, and are sacking the quarterback at a rate — three times per game — that we haven’t seen since 2011 in Eugene.
Here’s a look at how all of those things rank nationally in 2024:
Points Allowed Per Game: 15.62 (10th)
Pass Yards Allowed Per Game: 173.8 (17th)
Rush Yards Allowed Per Game: 123.5 (40th)
Total Yards Allowed Per Game: 297.2 (12th)
It’s clear that the Ducks have one of the best defenses in the nation this year, led by Jordan Burch, Derrick Harmon, Jeffrey Bassa, and Jabbar Muhammad, among many others.
After watching this unit for eight games, though, I wanted to dive in and see how it stacked up against some of the best defenses in program history.
There have been some historic defenses to set up shop in Eugene. Most recently, the 2019 unit led by Kayvon Thibodeaux and Jevon Holland put up some impressive numbers. There have also been dominant units in 2013, 2012, and 2010.
Of course, you can’t talk about defense at Oregon without…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/2024-oregon-ducks-defense-best-202403253.html
Author : Ducks Wire
Publish date : 2024-10-31 20:24:03
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