Going into Week 9, it was known that the Oregon Ducks would have their hands full with the Northwestern Wildcats
' offense. The Wildcats, ranked 20th in the nation, are led by former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly as their offensive coordinator who's infused plenty of his creativity into a surprisingly strong unit. Quarterback Aidan Chiles is as elusive as it gets, creating a potential issue for the Ducks defenders.In the first 30 minutes, all of the concerns were realized. The Wildcats had put 20 points on the board, orchestrating multiple long drives mixed with explosive passes down the field. Oregon looked lost at times, especially on Northwestern wide receiver Griffin Wilde's 64-yard touchdown in which he was wide open right in the middle
of the field.
But coming out of halftime, the Ducks made some adjustments and tightened the screws, limiting the Wildcats to just six second-half points. Chiles, after amassing over 200 total yards and two total touchdowns in the first half, was finally stymied, leading to an Oregon victory after the offense came alive.
Let's take a look at where Oregon's defense and special teams rank nationally in various statistical categories after Week 9.
Scoring Defense: No. 47
Points allowed per game: 21.4
Passing Defense: No. 61
Pass yards allowed per game: 208.0
Rushing Defense: No. 58
Rush yards allowed per game: 133.8
Total Defense: No. 52
Total yards allowed per game: 341.8
Third Down Defense: No. 20
Third down conversion percentage: 31.4%
Red Zone Defense: No. 80
Red zone conversion percentage: 38.5%
Sacks: No. 46
Total sacks: 19
Tackles for Loss: No. 105
Total tackles for loss: 36
Turnovers Forced: No. 35
Total turnovers forced: 12
Punt Return Defense: No. 1
Average yards per opposing punt return: -0.9
Kickoff Returns: No. 93
Average kickoff return yards: 19.1
Punt Returns: No. 88
Average punt return yards: 7.9
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Where Oregon's defense, special teams rank after Week 9 win
