Making Grades: Two late touchdowns and a goal line stand equals a Duck win

Don Smalley
·4 min read
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Oregon is turning into a squad where the individual position groups are greater than the team as a whole. If you just look at the defensive line or just the receivers, one would think they’re a great team. But for some reason, the Ducks are just scraping by teams like Cal or Arizona.

You can’t argue with the overall results. Oregon is 5-1 and the only Pac-12 school that is ranked in the Top 25 as they sit at No. 10 and ESPN Gameday is primed for the upcoming game at UCLA. But this is college football where perception counts and style points are everything and despite the record, the Ducks are running low on perception and style points.

Now on to the latest report card.

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QUARTERBACK

Grade: C

Anthony Brown’s grade might be right on point. He’s average and unfortunately when the quarterback is average, so is the offense as a whole. Yes, he’s made some big plays towards the end of games, such as the Fresno State win and the most recent victory over California. But his tendency of checking down to open receivers and playing short of the sticks has led to too many empty possessions, allowing bad teams to stay in the game for way too long. Brown had a great fourth quarter against Cal, but it should have never come to that. We’re all still waiting for that guy that went to Columbus and upset the Buckeyes. It would be nice if he showed up in the Rose Bowl this week.

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RUNNING BACKS

Grade: A

Travis Dye showed that he has the capabilities of being the No. 1 tailback with CJ Verdell out for the season. Dye rushed for 145 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. But the Ducks are going to have to establish a No. 2 tailback down the road, whether that’s Byron Cardwell, Seven McGee, or Trey Benson.

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RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS

Grade: B

It’s tough to grade this group as they didn’t get many touches. Travis Dye led Oregon with seven catches, leaving the other 13 receptions to go to a handful of players. Devon Williams caught four passes for 67 yards. It was good to see him get into the mix because he has all the talent in the world to be that No. 1 go-to guy.

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OFFENSIVE LINE

Grade: B

This was one of the offensive line’s better games. They pushed California around and open huge holes for Travis Dye to run through. It’s the kind of effort this group needs to show each and every week, especially this coming week against UCLA. Brown was sacked twice, but both of those came on broken plays and can’t solely be blamed on the line.

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DEFENSIVE LINE

Grade: A

What can be said about Kayvon Thibodeaux that already hasn’t been said? This group was good in the first half without Thibodeaux but turned it up a couple of notches with him. He had 11 pressures in the second half alone and made Chase Garbers’ life a tough one in the last 30 minutes of the game. A completely healthy Thibodeaux makes this group one of the best in the country.

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LINEBACKERS

Grade: B

Noah Sewell led the Ducks with 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. Other than Sewell, the linebacker group was fairly quiet as they’re still dealing with injuries. But when the defense needed to make a play with a blitz, it was a group effort.

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SECONDARY

Grade: B

No interceptions and two touchdowns, but despite being on a bad team, Chase Garbers is a good quarterback and the Ducks did a good job holding him in check. The secondary bent, but didn’t break. They forced a couple of incompletions on Cal’s last possession that led to a fourth-down blitz and forced Garber to throw earlier than he wanted to. The secondary is going to have its hands full against UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

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SPECIAL TEAMS

Grade: A+

Camden Lewis is finally that reliable kicker we all thought he could be. He nailed a career-long 49-yarder in the first half that had plenty of distance. It’s been a while since the Ducks had a kicker that can boot long field goals. Hopefully, he’ll get the chance to do it on the big stage. Other than Lewis, it was a quiet day for the special teams.

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Predicting the remaining 6 games on Oregon Ducks 2021 schedule