Tag: Kayvon Thibodeaux

Stock-up, Stock-down: Which Oregon players made the biggest impressions in Week 1?

It’s unfair to call these guys winners or losers, but who do we feel better about after the win over Fresno State, and who needs to show more?

We’d be lying if we said that the Oregon Ducks stock as a whole was through the roof after their Week 1 performance against Fresno State.

With the betting spread favoring them to win by three scores, it was disappointing to see the Ducks trailing by a field goal late into the game, needing a go-ahead touchdown from QB Anthony Brown with under three minutes left to keep their home winning streak alive.

Nonetheless, they won the game, and it will ultimately be a small footnote in what hopefully turns out to be a memorable season. But still, in order to learn and get better, we need to look at the individual performances and see what needs to improve, and where the Ducks are on the right track. Here is who trended up, and trended down on Saturday:

ESPN simulation predicts Panthers to land 2022 No. 1 overall pick

ESPN’s FPI simulation has the Panthers winding up with 2022’s No. 1 overall pick. It’s (very) early, but who are you taking?

Geez. Five wins doesn’t get you what it used to anymore, huh?

. . . or does it?

Results for ESPN’s Football Power Index simulation of the entire 2021 NFL season were released on Monday morning. The exercise went through the whole 285-game schedule a total of 20,000 times, aiming to nail down the most accurate forecast of the season.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the simulation has the Carolina Panthers finishing at 5-12. (Remember, there are 17 regular season games now.) That record was bad, or good enough to land them the first overall pick of the 2022 NFL draft.

ESPN sports analytics writer Seth Walder writes how the Panthers spoiled a hot 4-1 start to wind up at the very bottom of the league, with five other teams, that is.

“There was a moment, early in the season, when it looked like the Sam Darnold experiment was going to work out and that offensive coordinator Joe Brady had fixed the mess that Adam Gase (Darnold’s former coach in New York) had made,” he notes. “The Carolina Panthers opened the season 4-1, first beating Darnold’s old Jets team in Week 1 and then going on to earn wins against the Saints, Texans and Eagles (with a loss to the Cowboys). But those opponents were not that tough, and the 4-1 record was a mirage.”

Carolina has a very realistic chance at starting off 4-0, with the Jets, Saints, Texans and Cowboys—each with their respective early-season problems—all on deck. Walder, though, continues with the sharp regression of the sim.

“Coach Matt Rhule’s team would win just one more game the rest of the way (against the Falcons) and end the season at 5-12 and in a dramatic five-way tie for the NFL’s worst record. Carolina needed to lose in its final week to win the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker and earn the No. 1 overall pick — and it did, as the Bucs beat Carolina 33-7.”

Obviously, it’s far too early to start pinpointing which prospects would be their likely options in the event that they do earn themselves that honor. But, as it currently looks, 2022 is not a great year to be looking for a great quarterback in the draft.

Sup, Kayvon Thibodeaux?

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While offense falters, defensive stars shine against Bulldogs

The Oregon Ducks may not have played up to their capabilities on Saturday, but the team’s defensive stars looked as good as advertised.

It was an underwhelming first game of the season for coach Mario Cristobal and the Oregon Ducks, who escaped Autzen Stadium with a 31-24 win over the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday.

The offense struggled under quarterback Anthony Brown, who only threw for 172 yards on the day and was often in trouble thanks to a surprisingly inefficient offensive line, something that will need to change in a hurry against Ohio State this weekend.

However, Oregon’s new defense under Tim DeRuyter looked quite good at times, particularly the trio of five star recruits in Kayvon Thibodeaux – who had a sack-fumble early in the contest before exiting with an ankle injury – as well as linebackers Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe.

“That sack-fumble; you watch it on tape and that’s what you’re looking for when you recruit a player,” Cristobal said about Thibodeaux after the game. “A guy that can explode like that, because you change things. A guy tries to gap-hinge or tries to set him, but the set doesn’t get there, or the set line is cut off, and blow by him, all of a sudden you hit the quarterback and the balls on the ground.

“Same thing with Justin, they move at a different speed, so people have to adjust differently, and then all of a sudden the collisions are that much greater. All of a sudden, the opportunity to dislodge a ball, to close in a situation and get someone on the ground that may have broke for a first down or a touchdown. Those things are a reality with athletes of that caliber. Those are certainly two guys, them and Noah, and a lot of guys on the defense that are starting to play at a high level, and we just have to keep elevating the way that we play.”

Flowe in particular was excellent on Saturday, flying all over the field and finishing with a team-high 14 combined tackles, including five of the solo variety and one tackle for loss.

“He did a great job, and just plays with so much energy, so much passion,” Cristobal continued. “He’s a force. The more he plays, the better he’s going to get. We’re just really excited about the way he played today, and what he brings to this football team”.

Oregon’s offense will need to improve considerably if this team is going to beat the Buckeyes on Saturday, but at least the team and their fans can feel confident the defense will hold their own and keep them competitive.

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Oregon gets bitten by injury bug in season-opening win over Fresno State

It appears that Dru Mathis could be out for a while, and Kayvon Thibodeaux has some work to do in order to be back healthy against Ohio State.

From a big-picture point of view, the Oregon Ducks had two main objectives heading into Saturday’s game against Fresno State — leave with a victory, and avoid any major injuries that could change the course of the season.

They were successful in one of those ventures, coming from behind to defeat the Bulldogs by a score of 31-24 after a late fourth-quarter touchdown run from QB Anthony Brown. They were less successful in the other venture, however.

In the span of about two minutes, the Ducks defense lost a pair of their most important players, with both Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dru Mathis going down with left leg injuries. We have a semi-clear picture on the severity of Thibodeaux’s injury — he returned to the field of play after getting his ankle taped, but ultimately sat out the second half while sporting a walking boot — but there are some unknowns when it comes to Mathis, one of the team’s seven super-seniors.

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“Dru looks like he may have hurt himself a little bit more significantly than [Thibodeaux], and we’ll wait and see,” head coach Mario Cristobal said after the game. “We’ll wait and see until I get with the doctors — I’ve spoken with them briefly — we’ve just got to get him examined and get a picture of what that thing looks like. I don’t think it’s the real, real bad side, but I think he may have hurt it pretty good. We’ll see.”

Losing Mathis for any amount of time will be a huge hit to the Oregon defense, which is already thin at the inside linebacker position. Mathis was listed as a co-starter with Justin Flowe, who played the rest of the game once Mathis went out. The only other players listed at that position on the depth chart are Noah Sewell, Keith Brown, and Nate Heaukulani.

As for Thibodeaux, there is some optimism that he won’t miss too much time. According to Cristobal, the x-rays on his sprained ankle came back negative, and they think it’s nothing too serious.

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However, the momentum of the defense took a noted turn once Thibodeaux exited the game.

“It’s always a tough blow to see a guy that’s a true leader, a high-level competitor, and just such an unbelievable player with an unbelievable motor, to see him go down is just terrible, because he makes such a huge difference on our defense,” said Oregon center Alex Forsyth. “And not only on our defense but on our team, on the sideline, everything. He’s just such a difference-maker in the program that it’s always tough to see a guy like that go down, but I know he’ll bounce back.”

We likely won’t know more about either injury until Cristobal speaks to the media again on Monday afternoon, but until then, do whatever you need to do in order to put the good vibes on Thibodeaux’s left ankle. Lord knows we need him at full strength against Ohio State.

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5 takeaways from Oregon’s concerning 31-24 victory over Fresno State

Oregon’s offense was stagnant at times, and the defense struggled to stop Fresno’s passing attack. We discuss those and several other takeaways from Saturday’s win.

Short of the game ending in a loss, that was about as “worst-case scenario” as you can get for the Oregon Ducks in the season-opener against Fresno State.

Of course, a win is a win, and the Ducks will be traveling to Columbus next week with a 1-0 record, still in a prime position to shock the nation and take down the 4th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. However, I challenge you to find any fan who says they are just as confident in Oregon’s ability to win that game as they were on Saturday morning.

Quarterback Anthony Brown lacked the explosion and playmaking ability that fans desired to see from him through most of the game, and Oregon’s defensive leader, Kayvon Thibodeaux, exited the game with an ankle injury and spent the second half of the contest on the sideline in street clothes and a walking boot.

There were definitely some good moments sprinkled in there; the defense forced three turnovers and looked elite at the start of the game, and Oregon’s rushing offense finally got into a groove as the game came to a close. However, it’s hard to put things more precisely than Brown did after the game.

“As a whole, I would say that it wasn’t clean enough.”

That can be expected in the first game of the season, and the first chance to play in front of fans in 644 days. However, a performance like that a week from now in Columbus will have the Ducks standing as one of the laughing stocks of the nation against Ohio State.

Here are 5 of our biggest takeaways from the game:

Oregon star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux injured, status unclear for game against Ohio State

This is an interesting development for next week’s game against Oregon.

The matchup between Ohio State and Oregon in the ‘Shoe next weekend is going to be the marquis college football game of the week. The Ducks might be less than 100 percent though because of an injury to its biggest star in Week 1 against Fresno State.

Potential first-round defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux suffered an injury in the first quarter after being rolled up on from behind and had to leave the game. He returned later, but was later removed permanently and was seen in street clothes and a walking boot on the sidelines a little later in the game.

The extent of the injury is unknown, but it’s not generally a good sign to have a player placed in hardware on the sideline. After the game, Ducks’ head coach Mario Cristobal said he doesn’t expect the injury to be a long-term thing. X-rays were also reportedly negative, so that’s good news for the Oregon program.

Thibodeaux is widely known as the best defensive end in the country and could present a huge challenge for the Ohio State offensive line. However, an absent or less than 100 percent Thibodeaux would significantly hurt Oregon’s chances of coming to Columbus and springing the upset.

We’ll keep an eye on what comes out of the Pacific Northwest in regards to how Thibodeaux is doing. However, don’t expect much. It’ll likely be a game-time decision with a ton of gamesmanship thrown in for good measure.

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Cristobal: Team is ‘very optimistic’ that Kayvon Thibodeaux ankle injury is nothing serious

An ankle injury knocked Kayvon Thibodeaux out of the game, but the Ducks believe it isn’t too serious.

There was a moment late in the first quarter of Oregon’s game against Fresno State where a player went down on the field, followed by an audible gasp from the crowd when they found out who the player was that was injured.

It was Kayvon Thibodeaux. He got rolled up on by a teammate and eventually walked off the field under his own power, returning to the field before halftime, where he ultimately changed into street clothes and came back on the sideline in the third quarter, sporting a walking boot.

Oregon’s star wouldn’t play again on Saturday, but the Ducks got some relatively good news after the game, with head coach Mario Cristobal offering an update.

We don’t yet know if Thibodeaux will be able to play next week against Ohio State, but this is much better news than had we found out Thibodeaux’s injury was worse. We will continue to monitor the situation going forward.

Instant Reaction: Oregon escapes Autzen with a 31-24 thrilling victory over Fresno State

It was closer than the experts thought, but Oregon was able to escape with a 31-24 win over Fresno State.

For the first time in 644 days, the Oregon Ducks football team was able to celebrate a victory in front of the Duck faithful inside Autzen Stadium.

But it definitely wasn’t how Mario Cristobal would choose to draw it up.

Oregon was able to win their 2021 opener with a 31-24 over Fresno State in a game that was way too close for comfort. Quarterback Anthony Brown converted a 4th-and-2 on the Bulldog 30-yard line and scored the game-winning touchdown with just 2:57 remaining.

Before that run, no one would consider it to be a stellar day for Brown (15-of-24, 172 yards) or the offense as a whole. The Ducks had trouble moving the ball down the field against a stout Fresno State defense that pitched a shutout over UConn last week.

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After Oregon scored the eventual game-winning touchdown, it had to stop a Bulldog offense just one more time, but that was easier said than done. Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener had all the momentum in the second half but took a couple of big shots from Duck defenders that hobbled him some.

He still almost completed a 4th-and-15 to keep their drive alive as receiver Jalen Cropper was two yards short of the first down marker and the Ducks regained possession with 2:19 to go. Oregon was able to convert one first down and that was the ball game.

Haener was a thorn in the Duck defense’s side as he went 30-of-43 for 298 yards and a touchdown. Fresno State’s downfall turned out to be three key turnovers which Oregon was able to convert into touchdowns and that was the difference in the game.

The last turnover was Haener’s fumble when the Bulldogs were ahead 24-21 early in the fourth quarter and everyone on the Oregon sideline and in the stands was sweating it out. Jordan Happle stripped Haener on the Fresno State’s 19-yard line, which set up an eventual Camden Lewis 25-yard field goal to tie the game with 7:41 left.

Oregon regained the momentum and held the Bulldogs without a first down on their next possession to set up the Ducks’ game-winning touchdown.

Unfortunately, this game was played without Kayvon Thibodeaux for the last three quarters as the Duck defensive end had his ankle rolled on and was out for the remainder of the game. Cristobal said the injury was a sprain, X-rays were negative and hopefully, he’ll be able to play next week.

That game next week is a big one as the Ducks travel to Columbus with a date with No. 4 Ohio State scheduled for a 9 a.m. PT kickoff.

Kayvon Thibodeaux out for the game, in a walking boot on the sideline

Kayvon Thibodeaux hurt his ankle late in the first quarter and was seen in a walking boot for the second half of the Fresno State game.

It’s a picture no one in Eugene wants to see. The players, the fans and especially the coaching staff do not want to see defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux out of uniform and in a walking boot for the second half against Fresno State.

But here we are.

Oregon’s star defender, destined to be a Top 5 NFL draft pick in 2022, had his ankle rolled up by his own teammate late in the first quarter after a play was over. It’s unfortunate in a number of ways as Thibodeaux was absolutely dominating the Bulldogs offensive line. He had two sacks and forced a fumble that led to Oregon’s first touchdown.

Thibodeaux did try to give it a go after having his ankle taped up, but that usual explosiveness just wasn’t there and that’s when the Ducks’ training staff decided to call it a day.

Hopefully, it’s just a minor ankle injury and Thibodeaux will be able to play in Columbus as the Ducks will need him against the Buckeyes.

Kayvon Thibodeaux in walking boot after injury in season opener

Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, one of top prospects in the 2022 NFL draft, left Saturday’s season opener with an apparent leg injury

Oregon edge defender Kayvon Thibodeaux left Saturday’s season opener against Fresno State with a leg injury, and has been spotted on the sideline in street clothes and a walking boot.

The potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, Thibodeaux has been one of the most dominant pass rushers in college football since his freshman season. He showed off that ability earlier in Saturday’s game with an impressive strip-sack.

It remains to be seen how serious this injury is, or how long it might keep Thibodeaux out of action.

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