Kayvon Thibodeaux delivers stellar second-half performance, wills Ducks to victory
Kayvon Thibodeaux missed the first half against California due to a targeting call against Stanford. The defense and the team as a whole really lacked any sort of energy in the first half. The game was tied up at 10 and overall it was a pretty ugly showing for Oregon on both sides of the ball.
Thibodeaux started slowly in the second half and had a handful of pressures, but he didn’t really make his presence felt until the fourth quarter. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a trend with Thibodeaux and it’s that when the lights are the brightest he tends to step up in the biggest way possible.
He had dominant performances in the Rose Bowl and both Pac-12 championships, as well as multiple other key games for Oregon. He’s a player that loves the spotlight and plays his best football when the team needs him the most.
It was no different Friday as late in the fourth quarter Thibodeaux really started to get going. He had a massive sack on second down on a play in which he was held by a Cal offensive lineman. I can’t remember many players being capable of that, but that’s the type of player he is.
If he’s determined to get after the quarterback then quite frankly there’s not a lot an offensive tackle can do.
As the fourth quarter went on, Thibodeaux continued to wreak havoc on almost every single play. For some reason, Cal chose to not double-team him and instead left him on an island with the LT.
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Thibodeaux had an incredible play on fourth down where he got past the offensive lineman so fast that he lost his balance and it looked like he would have the game-winning sack before Chase Garbers was able to make an incredible throw to keep the game alive. Oregon ended up making the stop on fourth down to close out the game.
I’m not saying Oregon wouldn’t have been able to win this game with Thibodeaux, but it’s obvious that outside of the quarterback he has the single biggest impact on the game for any player. He can take over games and make life a living hell for any opposing quarterback and it was on full display once again Friday.
Thibodeaux is currently the favorite to be drafted first overall in the upcoming NFL draft, and tonight was a great reminder as to why. It’s obvious that he is playing at a different level from anybody else on the field and he may not even be 100 percent healthy after he suffered a sprained ankle earlier in the season.
As he continues to get healthier he’ll only get better.
Oregon still has a path to the playoffs but it’s going to require the Ducks winning out. If they want to run the table in the Pac-12, Oregon will need Thibodeaux to play like he did tonight in every game the rest of the season.
