Oregon plays USC in just over a week. The Ducks need a lot more from their underachieving defensive line, as Ducks Wire explained:
"Regardless of your thoughts on the defense as a whole going into this season, there was a pretty undisputed thought that Eugene, Oregon, was home to the best defensive line in the nation. With four returning starters of Matayo Uiagalelei, Teitum Tuioti, A'Mauri Washington, and Bear Alexander — four players who could be playing in the NFL right now — many believed that the front four would dominate the trenches and be a game-changing unit for Oregon. Through two games, that has been anything but the case.
The Ducks had zero sacks on Saturday, and just three QB hits against a team that was missing its starting left
tackle and played much of the game without its starting center. They allowed the Cowboys to rush for 5.9 yards per carry and gave up over 200 yards on the ground. While a couple of players made big plays — D'Antre Robinson had a tipped pass that led to Devon Jackson's 96-yard pick-six, and Matayo Uiagalelei picked off a Mestemaker ball later in the 2nd quarter — the unit as a whole was forgettable and has largely been average this year. With so much talent on paper, this position group needs to step up if Oregon is going to have any hope of achieving the lofty goals it has set for itself. So far, it hasn't been close to good enough."
Contact/Follow @TrojansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of USC Trojans news, notes and opinion.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Oregon defensive line is dramatically underachieving before USC game
