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With the Oregon State football team (2-1) falling to Oregon 49-14 on Saturday afternoon, BeaversEdge writer Ryan Harlan goes opinion to give his thoughts on the blowout...
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How do you describe what happened between the Ducks and Beavers on the field at Reser Stadium today?
Anemic? Lackluster? Uninspired? Lethargic?
Looking back at the boxscore, you can also make a case for all of the above, but if I had to put it after this game simply, the Ducks outclassed the Beavers in all three phases today at Reser Stadium.
Where do I begin? The offense, defense, or special teams? They all were equally just as bad, so take your pick as to where the Beavers lost the game today.
However, if I had to pick a unit with the burden of blame today, it would be the defense.
They did not show up today against Oregon, and the team's supposed strength this year was missing in action against the Ducks through four quarters of play.
The Ducks kept Dillon Gabriel upright, and he took advantage, slicing through the Beavers’ defense for 291 passing yards to go along with a rushing and passing touchdown on the day. The running game for Oregon also gashed the Beavers' defense for 249 rushing yards, which further added insult to injury to an already atrocious performance.
The Beaver defense couldn’t even get a whiff of Gabriel in the backfield and when you have zero pressures or sacks, regardless of talent level, that’s simply unacceptable, especially for two coaches whose specialty is defense.
Outside of the zero pressure on Gabriel, the coverage from the secondary another strength of the defense wasn’t up to snuff either and was just not tight in coverage against the receiving core of the Ducks.
The defense was outmatched and out of position throughout most of the game especially schematically against what the Ducks ran offensively, which showed as Oregon scored points nearly on every possession they had.
