Defense Continues To Come Of Age In Win At Stanford
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
STANFORD, Calif. — Over and over, Mark Zelhart wrapped his nephew in a bearhug, then leaned back and held Joe Walker at arm’s length while soaking in the moment.
Somehow, Zelhart had worked his way from the stands inside Stanford Stadium to the tunnel that led to Oregon’s locker room. Walker was coming off the field after breaking up a potential game-tying pass on a two-point conversion with 10 seconds left, when he came upon his uncle.
Between embraces, few words were spoken. There were simply smiles. And a lot of hugs.
“He was just happy,” Walker said a few minutes later, after the Ducks celebrated their 38-36 victory over No. 7 Stanford in rousing postgame locker room scene. “He was just happy.”
Oregon’s rise from the ashes of a 3-3 start continued Saturday against the Cardinal. Vernon Adams Jr. and the big-play Ducks are suddenly playing vintage UO offense. Walker and the defense, meanwhile, continue to come of age. Their development hasn’t been without growing pains, but the Ducks may be maturing at exactly the right time.
Saturday at Stanford, Oregon employed a new defensive package called “Giant,” using five linemen and four linebackers to largely contain Heisman Trophy candidate Christian McCaffrey. The FBS leader in all-purpose running finished with 244 yards, but they were hard yards, tough yards.
McCaffrey averaged 4.5 yards per rush, nearly two off his average, and didn’t break loose for a rush longer than 14.
The Ducks forced the Cardinal to settle for four field-goal attempts, one of which missed. They provided a three-and-out during a third quarter in which Oregon went ahead 35-23, the only lead by either team of double digits. They pounced on two muffed exchanges by Stanford in the fourth quarter. And ultimately, after allowing a touchdown with 10 seconds left, they denied the Cardinal on the two-point attempt.
Don Pellum called for man coverage on the play. A running back went in motion, so Walker passed him off to a cornerback and took over responsibility for a tight end — the sort of communication and cohesion the young UO pass defense struggled with earlier this season.
Walker was beaten to the inside off the snap. But he made a diving play on the ball to clinch the win with a pass breakup, just as Ugo Amadi, Arrion Springs and Khalil Oliver did with their interceptions against Washington, Arizona State and Cal over the previous three weeks.
“It felt great,” Walker said. “This defense has worked so hard together. We’ve been criticized, but we’re just one big family.”
Of all the moments that decided the outcome Saturday night, among the biggest took place in the defensive line meeting room inside the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex five days earlier. It was Monday when DeForest Buckner and his linemates learned that coaches decided to enhance their “Jumbo” package, which featured four down linemen, by adding a fifth man.
In short-yardage situations Saturday, the Ducks put Henry Mondeaux, Austin Maloata, Alex Balducci, Rex Manu and Buckner up front, backed up by four linebackers, a safety and a cornerback. The Cardinal converted a couple of third-and-short situations against the front, but they didn’t consistently overpower the Ducks the way they did back in 2009, or 2013.
“It’s Stanford, you know — they like to run it,” Buckner said. “We just had to get big bodies on their big bodies, and when we did that we did pretty good.”
For all the Ducks did well Saturday, the Cardinal still had chances late. The UO offense sputtered to just 32 yards on three fourth-quarter possessions. But with the ball and the chance to take the lead while trailing 35-30, Stanford muffed an exchange. Oregon converted a field goal, to lead 38-30.
Again, the Cardinal began to drive the field. It was third-and-one at the UO 14-yard line, with the “Giant” package on the field for the Ducks. Safety Reggie Daniels crept toward the line, and did all he could to distract and disrupt the Stanford snap count.
“After the first fumble, it looked like they had bad communication between the center and quarterback,” Daniels said. “On that third-and-short I was trying to do whatever I could to make them flinch, and it worked; I hope that’s what it was.”
Perhaps no player’s season is a better microcosm of the Oregon defense’s as a whole than that of Daniels. Expected to be the veteran rock of a secondary that lost its other three starters, Daniels instead struggled over the first few weeks, and lost his starting job.
But he persevered, and on Saturday contributed 10 tackles, tied with Buckner and Walker and one behind the UO leader for the game, another maligned veteran, Rodney Hardrick.
“We’ve faced a lot of adversity this year, especially early in the season,” Daniels said. “For us to come out here and get a big win against a great team like that, it feels great.”
