Oregon Football: 3 takeaways from road loss at Arizona

2. Arizona defense stepped up big against Oregon offense

For the past decade, Oregon has been known as one of the most prolific offensive teams in the FBS. The Ducks entered the Week 9 showdown in Tucson against the Wildcats ranked 14th nationally in scoring with an average of 39.7 points per game. They also ranked 28th in total offense as the Oregon skill players averaged more than 460 yards per outing.

Against Arizona, the Ducks struggled to manage even half of those season averages. The Wildcats played a perfect game against Oregon’s offense, as they came up with an answer for everything the Ducks brought to the table.

Justin Herbert went just 24-of-48 for 186 yards with two scores and one interception. He added a half-dozen carries for 31 yards, which led the team in rushing and proved way too little when compared to what Tate was able to do to the Oregon defense. The ground game struggled more generally for Oregon, especially after right guard Dallas Warmack went out injured. The Ducks finished with only 84 net yards.

It was a disappointing way to fall out of the rankings, as the Ducks struggled to put up any fight at all against a stingy defense. They ended the game with only 270 total yards on the stat sheet.