While the Oregon Ducks offense largely looks like it did a year ago under Kenny Dillingham — which is a great thing — there have been times this season where the defense has unfortunately looked like it did a year ago under Tosh Lupoi.
While the sample size is far too small to write off Oregon’s defense as a “poor unit” in 2023, there have been some instances, both against Portland State and Texas Tech, where Oregon struggled to get off the field on third down, missed tackles, and allowed chunk-yardage plays.
There have also been a lot of improvements on that side of the ball, mainly in the pass-rush and the ability to get after the quarterback.
So where do the Ducks rank nationally on defense when it comes to some key statistics that tell us a lot about the games? Here’s a look after Week 2 against Texas Tech: