Xs & Os: Ducks set to face a physical, understated Utah

The ghastly pall permeating the air in Eugene after the Ducks’ crushing loss to Washington persists, as Oregon fans gird themselves for Utah’s invasion Saturday night in Autzen Stadium.

Coach Dan Lanning had his world turned upside down with the Ducks’ 37-34 loss and it went sideways from there: injuries to Bo Nix, who is the gas that makes the offense go, other related injuries, and glaring defensive weaknesses exposed in dramatic fashion by Husky quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Worse, there were missteps and gaffes from Lanning and his staff in game management that absolutely need to be addressed to prevent a second straight loss.

Utah is coached by Kyle Whittingham, who is the toughest, most resilient head coach in the Pac-12 Conference: a tactical genius who has spent 18 years building the Utes’ brand into premier status in Salt Lake City.

Once a gimme on the schedule, a game with Utah is now foreboding and a challenge to any team in the conference. Like Utah, Oregon’s record is 8-2, and this clash of titans will determine who can’t go to the Rose Bowl. Utah, whose only losses were to Florida and UCLA, has risen to number 10 in the College Football Playoff rankings, of which the Ducks were number six before their loss.

Utah’s offense can do it all, led by Cameron Rising, who owned the Ducks last year in Salt Lake and later in Las Vegas for the conference championship, outscoring Oregon 76-17. Lanning describes Rising as a “linebacker playing quarterback” - in coach-speak: a stud. He is the catalyst to a high-yield offense, runs with abandon, and throws a soft-touch pass when necessary. Rising has an excellent group of receivers and tight ends to throw to, but you haven’t heard about most of them because Utah is not a showy program. Suffice to say, they usually score what they need to, when they need to.

The defense has Whittingham’s fingerprints all over it: physically tough, aggressive, and they don’t just defend, they attack. If Nix is not ready for this game after suffering a knee injury against the Huskies, this could get out of hand. If he’s OK to participate, it’s still a play-by-play ordeal: the Utes are oppressive and vindictive and if you can’t match their mojo, you’re in for a long, losing day.

To emerge victorious, Lanning’s Ducks will need to play their best game of the year. Utah is so physical. It will be important for Oregon to match that and not repeat the errors they made against Washington - they will have to be stronger, longer, on both defense and offense. It was apparent in their loss to the Huskies that both sides of the ball were running out of gas as the game wore on, evidence of preseason predictions the defense was young and average and the offense was dependent upon an offensive line that had questionable depth.

Lanning pointed out areas that needed improvement. The defensive secondary was absolutely torched by Penix Jr.: cornerbacks were isolated on receivers faster than them in wide-open areas that lacked backup help from linebackers or other underneath defenders. The Ducks gave up several deep-ball scores in part because of the lack of safety help - it’s apparent that Oregon has yet to replace big-play defenders such as Brady Breeze, Mykael Wright or Verone McKinley III.

Oregon’s linebackers have been caught between a rock and a hard place and have not been much help in pass defense, lacking the speed to cover a back out of the backfield or the intuitive sense to cover a short-yardage receiver or help deeper in the middle of the secondary. As Lanning explained, certain secondary positions require certain physical dimensions: to defend against quick screens, you need good-sized corners who can fight off blocks, but at the same you want corners who have the speed to defend a burner who can beat you deep.

The Ducks have worked hard in practice this week. As you watch this game, judge the pursuit and tackling of the defense and the pad levels of both the offensive and defensive linemen. As the Husky game wore on and fatigue became a factor, those pad levels came up, and in a rare instance in Autzen Stadium, Oregon lost the battle in the trenches. This might come as a surprise to some, as the Ducks gained over 300 yards rushing. The battle was lost on three running plays: one that ended in a fumble, a fourth-down attempt that failed, and a botched third-down attempt deep in Husky territory that resulted in a field goal rather than a touchdown.

Coach Lanning constantly talks about “learning opportunities” that if mastered through hard work, result in improved performance. There were several serious opportunities exposed in the loss to Washington, for both players and coaches. Much has been said about Lanning’s decision to “go for it” on fourth-down with 1:26 left in the game. He explained the Ducks had been successful in the past and by getting the first down, they could go on and win the game. What was left out of the thought process was: “If it fails, where does the ball lie, and how much time is left in the game to recover if Washington can score?” Those answers make the decision to punt much easier.

An interesting part of being a football fan is to watch how those learning opportunities play out in real-time game action. This Duck ball club has a lot of character and it was impugned last Saturday - look for the rebound.

Ken Woody coached college football for 18 years as an assistant at Oregon, Washington, Utah State and Washington State and head coach at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He conducts a free Duck Clinic at 6 p.m. Wednesdays in the 6th Street Grill during the season. Stop by to learn football and why the Ducks win or lose.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks will face the physical, understated Utah Utes at Autzen