Know the Opponent: Ducks catch Stanford defense at end of tough stretch of games
Whoever makes the Pac-12 schedule didn’t have the Stanford defensive players in mind.
First, it was USC. Then it was a road trip to Seattle. Now it’s a voyage to Autzen Stadium as the Cardinal will face their third straight dynamic offense this early in the season.
Of course, the schedule makers didn’t know about the Trojans bringing in transfer after transfer, or Michael Penix, Jr. changing the Huskies into a Pac-12 darling. Chalk it up to bad luck, and the Ducks hope to continue that streak.
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USC put up 41 on the Cardinal and Washington scored 40. Given the fact that Stanford’s offense isn’t made for high-scoring affairs, the defense needs to be better or the Cardinal is in for a long year. After seeing what the Oregon offense can do, Stanford could be in big trouble on Saturday night.
The Cardinal doesn’t boast a huge defense, but they are big enough and definitely fast enough to cause some havoc. Linebacker Levani Damuni is out of the best out there. He leads Stanford with 19 tackles through its first three games.
Cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly was a second-team All-Pac-12 player a year ago and defenses are showing him the proper respect by throwing to the other side of the field most of the time.
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At the back of that defense is safety Patrick Fields, a transfer from Oklahoma. He already has 16 tackles and two sacks. The other safety, Kendall Williamson, also has 19 tackles so far.
According to Oregon coach Dan Lanning, the Cardinal defense is better than what the stats say.
“There is a lot of experience. It’s a team that plays with great discipline,” he said. “They don’t give up big explosives. “I think that shows when you look at their penalties … they’re one of the lower-penalized teams in the nation as well. There’s some experience that certainly shows up and you can see it on film.”
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