DUCKS DEPENDING ON THEIR DEFENSE

With eight Pac-10 games in the books and one to go, the Oregon football team is down to cold reality.In the aftermath of QB Dennis Dixon’s season-ending ACL injury, and subsequent symmetric ankle sprains suffered by backup Brady Leaf, the Ducks are down to redshirt freshmen Cody Kempt and Justin Roper to get them through Oregon State and a yet-to-be-determined bowl game.As evidenced by last week’s disaster in Westwood, the productivity of the Oregon offense has been sorely compromised, so the performance of the Duck defense will be the major factor in determining which direction the Ducks fly from here.This graph shows the yardage given up by the Oregon defense in each Pac-10 game so far this season.

The Ducks have surrendered an average of 113 yards on the ground and 227 yards through the air in compiling their 5-3 record.

Fans looking for a sign that would give hope to Duck Universe should take heart in the fact that Oregon’s defense had its best game of the year against UCLA. With any kind of scoring help from the offense or special teams, the Ducks would have won the game easily.One could easily imagine a 56-7 victory with a healthy Dixon at the helm.

But fantasy will not help the cause against the Beavs this week. At this point Duck fans can hope that after its baptism by fire in L.A. and a week of practice, the new Oregon offense will improve 50 percent. That may be enough to complement the rock-solid Duck D and lead to a hardfought Oregon victory. May The Force be with Us!

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