Report card: Oregon defense/special teams turn in another failing grade in Corvallis meltdown
At one point Saturday afternoon, we were actually looking forward to writing up this report card. Oregon was up 31-10 in the third quarter and nearly every phase was playing well and on point.
Then the meltdown occurred and a nice day in Corvallis turned ugly quickly and the Ducks suffered a 38-34 loss that will be difficult to forget.
It would be easy to do a report card for the first half of the game and then a separate one for the collapse. But the report card is for the entire game as a whole and there are some good parts to what happened yesterday. We won’t ignore the 28-3 Oregon State run (quite literally) to end the game, but we won’t dwell on it either. The coaching decisions kind of speak for themselves, so we won’t dive into every questionable call made on the sideline.
Here’s the final report card for the 2022 regular season.
Quarterback
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: B
The month of November would have gone down so differently if Bo Nix hadn’t injured his ankle. Oregon probably would be preparing for the Pac-12 title and a College Football Playoff berth.
Nix was more mobile than he was last week, but he was far from 100 percent. There were several passes that fell short that normally would have been on target. Overall, he was 27-of-41 for 327 yards and two touchdowns.
Running Backs
Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK
Grade: C
Noah Whittington and Bucky Irving combined for 29 carries and 134 yards and a touchdown. Jordan James also played the most he has all season with nine carries for 27 yards and a touchdown. But there were a few times when the Ducks had a short-yardage situation and couldn’t convert. The goal line stand at the end of the game was a lowlight. The backs and the offensive line share the blame for not being able to push it in for the game-winning touchdown.
Receivers/Tight Ends
Brian Hayes / Statesman Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Grade: A
The receivers and tight ends were great in this game, especially Chase Cota. Playing in his first game against the Beavers as a Duck, the Medford native had his best day on the football field. Cota caught nine passes for 136 yards and a touchdown, which was a circus catch and definitely the highlight of the game for Oregon.
Troy Franklin solidified his all-conference status with eight receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Terrence Ferguson had one catch, but it was for 53 yards.
Offensive line
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: D
The offensive line is banged up, but those who are nursing injuries played, so we have to judge them accordingly. It wasn’t their best day. In the second half, the line had trouble pushing the Beavers off the ball in fourth down situations and on the goal line. Oregon had a first down on the 5-yard line and stacked the line and still couldn’t push it in. It forced the Ducks to go to a pass play on fourth down that went incomplete.
It’s disappointing to see it end this way because this group was great for the entire season up until this point. We have to think with some time to heal up before the bowl game, they’ll return to form to end the year.
Defensive line
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK
Grade: D
In the first half, this would have been a decent B or even a low A, but that second half … woof. The defensive line could not stop the Oregon State running attack even when they knew it was coming. The Beavers were getting to the next level continually. Even a couple or three stops would have forced OSU to throw the ball into a secondary that was playing great.
Linebackers
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: C
Jeffery Bassa finished with five tackles and an interception that nearly went for a touchdown. Noah Sewell also had five tackles and was credited with a half of a sack. But the Beavers’ offensive scheme took the linebackers out of the equation for the most part, especially in the second half when all they did was run the ball down the Ducks’ throat.
Secondary
Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK
Grade: B+
When the secondary was involved in the game, they were playing great. Christian Gonzalez had an interception and Ben Gulbranson had just 60 yards passing. Bennett Williams led the Ducks with eight tackles and Twikweze Bridges had a forced fumble.
Special Teams
Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK
Grade: F
Sigh.
The special teams were anything but special in Corvallis. Camden Lewis is still perfect in field goals, but punter Alex Bales fumbled the ball on his own 2-yard line and set up an easy Beaver touchdown. The kick return team also gave up a 48-yard kickoff return and Kris Hutson fielded a ball on his own goal line and was tackled on the 11 instead of calling for a fair catch.
It was just bad all around.
