Oregon’s offense is really, really good.  Their defense is almost a perfect inverse of that, as they’ve been largely poor over the first two games against putatively overmanned opponents.  When you’re 82nd in total defense and you’ve played UC Davis and Virginia, things aren’t going too well for you.  That’s not altogether surprising, as the Ducks finished last year 117th in the country in total defense, though they were slightly better in the pace-adjusted YPP allowed (98th).

The new man in charge of the unit is a familiar face to Husker fans:

I suspect by the end of this year Oregon fans may wish he had stayed where he was.  As for what the Ducks defense will bring into Lincoln for Nebraska, the short answer is not much.  But because we’ve got to fake a meaningful scouting report this week, let’s take a closer look at Hoke’s squad.  Let’s also throw in Oregon’s special teams, as they’re an exceptional group that deserves to make the rare special teams appearance in our scouting report.
Continue reading “Scouting Oregon – Defense and Special Teams” →