Ducks' win over Washington State built in trenches

Washington State was able to keep this game close but Oregon’s physicality on both the offense and defensive line eventually overpowered the Cougars.

It was a dominant effort from both of those groups and they’re both hitting their stride at a key time. 

The offensive line was downright dominant from the start of the game. They only allowed one sack and Anthony Brown was under pressure only a handful of times. Brown was able to execute in the passing game and ended up with a 17-for-22 passing line. But it wasn’t the pass protection that really stood out in this one, it was the running game that really flashed. 

Oregon ended the game with 306 rushing yards on 6.8 yards per carry. Brown ran the ball 17 times for 123 yards which were his first 100-yard game at Oregon.

True-freshman Byron Cardwell had a true breakout game as he ran the ball just nine times but was able to pick up 98 yards and two touchdowns including the game-clinching score late in the fourth quarter. Travis Dye also had a solid day and finished with 88 yards on 18 carries. These players combined for four touchdowns on the ground and they made it look easy while doing it.

Well, it looked easy because it was. The offensive line was doing a fantastic job at creating gaping holes on almost every single run play. When a team rushes for over 300 yards you may assume there was a couple of massive plays, but Oregon’s longest run of the day was only 27 yards. It was pure dominance from the O-line and you really have to tip your hat to this position group.

They’ve struggled at times this year and it appeared that this would be a solid group but not quite anything special. But it seems that players are finally healthy and they’re really hitting form late in the season. This is big for Oregon as they are really relying on their running game this season. If this group continues to dominate Oregon will have a great chance at running the table to end the regular season.

On the flip side of the ball, the defensive line had another stellar performance. They tallied three total sacks, but they were able to get constant pressure on Jayden De Laura all night. While he did have time on a handful of plays, that’s going to happen regardless of how great your defensive line is. De Laura constantly had his feet moving as he was afraid of being hit and that caused some inaccurate throws.

Kayvon Thibodeaux was great as he finished with 6 tackles and 2 sacks. You could tell that the Cougars were game planning to eliminate his presence during the game but Thibodeaux is just too good and still was able to get his. They were running away from him and throwing quick passes to try to take him out of the game as we’ve seen teams do all year. There’s just simply no stopping him, you can only hope to slow him down.

While Thibodeaux got the box score stats, the other player that really stood out was Brandon Dorlus. While he didn’t really pop up in the box score, he was getting constant pressure on de Laura and was doing a great job at collapsing the pocket from the inside. He was forcing guards and centers back into the pocket which made de Laura have happy feet all night. This may have been his best performance all season and his effect on the game is creating great opportunities for the other pass-rushers as well. 

Mario Cristobal has been emphatic on building the trenches through recruiting and development, and that was on full display as both groups had dominant performances.