(10-13-2019, 07:56 AM)OutsiderFan Wrote: (10-13-2019, 07:49 AM)Goose Wrote: I am not yet sold on Oregon having a great defense.
What? Oregon is #3 in PPG allowed in FBS. They have allowed 6, 7, and 3 points over their last three games. What, exactly must they do to sell you?
Keep playing like that for the rest of the season. There is no question that Oregon's defense has exceeded expectations. Whenever that happens, one wonders if it is a statistical outlier or that the initial expectations were wrong. Against Stanford, as has been pointed out here many times, they faced a QB who couldn't throw the ball down the field very far, and couldn't throw with accuracy at all. That helps a lot. California, who is offensively challenged at the best of times, was using a backup QB that had very limited reps. Colorado isn't exactly an offensive powerhouse either, and was playing from behind the entire game. They had to throw, which really helps the defense. Montana and Nevada add little or no entropy to the measurement.
It is not that I can't be convinced that Oregon has a good defense. I just am not yet convinced. It also helps that the Oregon offense often puts the defense in a position where the other team is playing from behind and abandons the run. Auburn won against Oregon because their QB could scramble very effectively. It will be interesting to see what happens to Oregon's defense if they are behind or in a close game. Then we can see what they do against a "balanced" attack. Given Oregon's offense, that may not ever happen, but I for one sure hope it does.
