Home US SportsNCAAF How Oregon’s growth on offensive line propelled Ducks to Rose Bowl: ‘Calm in the noise’

How Oregon’s growth on offensive line propelled Ducks to Rose Bowl: ‘Calm in the noise’

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LOS ANGELES — The Oregon football offensive line on Monday didn’t sugarcoat issues it had at the beginning of the season ahead of its Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff quarterfinal tilt against Ohio State on New Year’s Day.

The No. 1 Ducks gave up seven sacks through the first two weeks of the season against FCS Idaho and No. 3 Boise State, with both being too-close-for-comfort wins at Autzen Stadium. Before that, the Ducks had given up just 10 sacks over the last two seasons combined.

Several players and coaches at Oregon’s Media Day said they didn’t play up to their standard. Extensive conversations were had on how to quickly correct their mistakes.

With fans, pundits and outsiders weighing in on the group, Oregon’s offensive line didn’t waver.

“When the house was burning, for us there was calm in the noise,” said offensive line coach A’lique Terry. “All you can do is go back to work. When everyone else has an opinion, we’re going back to work.”

Oregon offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. speaks during media day on Monday in Los Angeles ahead of the Rose Bowl.

Oregon offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. speaks during media day on Monday in Los Angeles ahead of the Rose Bowl.

Oregon football says it had full faith offensive line would make adjustments after early issues

The Ducks gave up just six sacks over the next 11 games and outrushed every opponent except Penn State in the Big Ten championship.

Oregon once again has one of the top offenses in college football with a Heisman Trophy finalist at quarterback and an 1,000-yard rusher at running back in no small part because the offensive line immediately corrected mistakes from the first two weeks.

“Obviously we weren’t playing our best, and we knew that and we owned it,” left tackle Josh Conerly Jr. said. “That’s what we put on film, that’s what we were. It was just our job to go out there and fix it from that week on.”

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel took accountability after both games, saying he needed to be better at seeing the field and operating within the offense. Leaders like Conerly, right tackle Ajani Cornelius and guard Marcus Harper II said the entire unit could play much better in the following weeks.

On Monday, offensive coordinator Will Stein said he needed to do a better job of making it easier for Gabriel and the line to operate.

Heading in to the season, Indiana transfer Matthew Bedford was expected to be a starting guard but has been unavailable almost all season after an injury in fall camp. That set in motion weeks of adjustments the Ducks had to make across its line, including experimenting with different groups against Boise State along the interior.

While Conerly and Cornelius were bookends at the tackle positions, Oregon’s interior rotated almost every drive against the Broncos.

In Week 3, the outside noise went away.

The Ducks manhandled Oregon State in Corvallis, sticking with a lineup that featured Conerly, Nishad Strother, Iapani Laloulu, Harper and Cornelius. That two-week stretch to start the season is now firmly in the past.

“We say facts over feelings here,” Terry said. “It wasn’t good enough and we had to continue to improve. It was no special potion it was just going to work every single day. We went to the doctor.”

Oregon offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu celebrates a touchdown by Oregon running back Noah Whittington as the No. 1 Oregon Ducks host the No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini Oct. 26 at Autzen Stadium.Oregon offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu celebrates a touchdown by Oregon running back Noah Whittington as the No. 1 Oregon Ducks host the No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini Oct. 26 at Autzen Stadium.

Oregon offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu celebrates a touchdown by Oregon running back Noah Whittington as the No. 1 Oregon Ducks host the No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini Oct. 26 at Autzen Stadium.

Oregon football offensive line named a Joe Moore Award finalist for third time since 2019

Terry and Stein said each of those first two performances look a little better given that Boise State ended up earning a bye week in the College Football Playoff and with Idaho being a quality FCS program. They said it took time for Gabriel and a new-look offensive line to adjust to playing together.

After early season adjustments, Oregon experienced no drop off when veteran Harper went down toward the end of the season. After being unavailable for most of the year, junior Dave Iuli stepped in and played the bulk of the snaps over the ensuing weeks to help the Ducks finish the season with a Big Ten championship.

Sophomore Kawika Rogers got worked by future first round NFL Draft pick Mason Graham of Michigan on his very first snap before filling in nicely when needed against the Wolverines and Maryland.

Along with Strother, those two were instrumental to Oregon being named a Joe Moore Award finalist for the third time since 2019. The award is given to the nation’s top offensive line.

“They’re kind of the muscle,” Conerly said of the interior. “We have to work inside out. I feel like them always being ready and being able to step up and perform to the best of their abilities is what makes not just our offensive line great, but our offense and our team better.”

Oregon’s offensive line will once again be key in Wednesday’s 2 p.m. matchup against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon football’s offensive line growth key to Rose Bowl run



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