Resurgent Oregon propelled by defense
Another year, another new defense for Oregon.
This time, it’s under defensive coordinator Andy Avalos, who joined Oregon in the offseason after seven seasons at Boise State. The Ducks (21) are allowing opponents an average of 12 points a game and they lead the Pac12 with 10 sacks, paced by Mase Funa, one of the league’s standout freshmen this season.
No. 16 Oregon has allowed teams to score only field goals at Autzen Stadium. It is the first time since 198788 that the Ducks haven’t allowed a touchdown in backtoback games. And they’ve gone 27 consecutive drives without allowing a touchdown.
And one more stat: The Ducks are holding opponents to 272.3 yards a game, secondfewest in the conference behind Utah.
“Overall, I feel our defense and the way it’s being coached, the way those guys have taken it in, they’re hungry,” Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said. “They’re hungry for more and we’re going to give it to them.”
And yes, the Ducks’ D will get more Saturday when they open conference play at Stanford (12), which is back home after losses at USC and Central Florida. Tackles galore: Cal linebacker Evan Weaver is averaging 13.7 tackles a game to top the Pac12. He had 11 tackles in the Bears’ victory over North Texas on Saturday, extending a streak of games with doubledigit tackles to 10. He ranks ninth on the program’s career tackles list with 271.
“I think that a few ways we can get better, just knowing our communication, make sure we are talking out there, alignments are right and make sure that everybody — the ones, the twos, the threes — all know what they are doing,” Weaver said. “So when they get out there, the younger, more inexperienced guys know what they are doing. That is a huge part of building success and staying successful is making sure that the young guys, when they have their chance, still know what they are doing for the future.”
The week before the North Texas game, Weaver matched a career high with 18 tackles, including a careerbest 14 solo stops, in the Bears’ weatherdelayed upset of Washington.
No. 23 Cal (30) plays at Mississippi (21) on Saturday. Interceptions galore: Arizona’s defense leads the nation with eight interceptions. Jace Whittaker has three this season.
The Wildcats had just seven interceptions in all of 2018.
Arizona (21) is coming off a 2814 victory over Texas Tech, which was averaging 41.5 points per game. Linebacker Colin Schooler said the defense sought to answer critics after a shaky start to the season.
“We have a big sign in front of our locker room that says, ‘It’s about us.’ When we hear people talk and gossip and get on social media and talk about us, it doesn’t matter. I mean, outside of this building, there’s really not much that matters here. And I think we showed a lot of people that they could be wrong about how we play and how our future’s gonna look.” Utah rising: Utah left end Bradlee Anae might be the next mayor of Sack Lake City.
Anae is among four players in the Pac12 who have collected three sacks this season to lead the league, joining Oregon’s Funa, Colorado’s Mustafa Johnson and Oregon State’s Hamilcar Rashed.
Anae has 20 career sacks, ranking him third among active players. He needs 9.5 sacks to catch Utah career leader Hunter Dimick (201316).
Utah, which ranks eighth nationally in total defense, blanked Idaho State 310 on Saturday and rose to No. 10 in the AP Top 25, the team’s highest ranking since 2015.
The Utes play at USC on Friday night.