Oregon Ducks look strong entering Pac-12 play, but should health be a concern?

EUGENE — And now, it’s time for the Pac-12 season.

Oregon’s football team beat Montana 35-3 on a late Saturday night at Autzen Stadium to wrap up the nonconference part of its schedule with a 2-1 record.

With two convincing wins at home, after the season-opening loss to No. 8 Auburn, the No. 15 Ducks now prepare for the Pac-12 season, beginning with a road game at Stanford next week.

Now is a good time to evaluate what we’ve seen so far from the Ducks.

The best place to start is the defense.

Defense has been much improved

Oregon’s defense is markedly improved from the past few seasons; it is allowing 12 points per game this season.

The Ducks didn’t allow a touchdown in either of their home wins against Nevada and Montana. They also held Auburn out of the end zone until late in the third quarter.

“Our defense, and the way it’s being coached, the way those guys have taken it in, that they’re just hungry for more,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said. “The amount of communication that takes place, the amount of learning and teaching that takes place has really helped our guys grow.”

With an experienced senior quarterback in Justin Herbert, the stout defense makes Oregon just that more dangerous as it begins Pac-12 play.

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Herbert has been strong

Herbert has looked strong this season, as NFL scouts watch and evaluate, passing for 868 yards, 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in three games.

There was a lot of pressure on Herbert coming into this season, not just to perform well given the hype about him and the NFL draft, but also to produce a conference champion.

A Pac-12 title is the one missing piece to Herbert’s resume that separates him from past Oregon quarterbacks like Joey Harrington, Darron Thomas and Marcus Mariota.

One concern for the Ducks heading into the conference season is health.

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Injuries piling up

Senior transfer wide receiver Juwan Johnson again did not play against Montana on Saturday because of a calf injury. He has not yet played this season after transferring to Oregon from Penn State.

The Ducks also were without defensive lineman Austin Faoliu and linebacker Bryson Young, both starters, as well as tight end Cam McCormick. Then during the game, cornerback Thomas Graham Jr., center Jake Hanson and running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio all suffered injuries.

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“A couple guys were held out of this game. Later in the week, we felt they weren’t healthy enough to contribute at a high level. Juwan was really close, but we held him,” Cristobal said. “Thomas Graham, we feel, had a minor tweak in the game. Jake Hanson is being evaluated. Cyrus was having some back spasms, so he was held out as well.”

Mykael Wright, who started the second half in place of Graham, had an interception. After the game, Graham went to Twitter to praise Wright.

“I meant it when I said (Wright) will be a Freshman All-American… y’all better wake up!!” Graham said in a tweet.

Ducks chances in the Pac-12?

Looking around the Pac-12, the conference appears down once again, which would play into the Ducks’ favor.

Perennial conference contenders Washington and Stanford already have conference losses. Stanford has two losses overall. USC also has a nonconference loss already.

In the Pac-12 North, both Washington State and California are 3-0 overall. The Cougars appear to be strong again, while Cal looks vulnerable on offense.

Game recap:Oregon Ducks dominate Montana

The highest-ranked team in the conference is No. 11 Utah, which also is 3-0. They were the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 South, while the Ducks were the favorite to win the North.

None of the games Oregon has played yet this season will count toward the Pac-12 North title, but that changes next week.

“We can’t deny the fact that Justin Herbert, well I think we all know he is one of the best players in college football, and we’ve got to be aggressive with him,” Cristobal said. “We just want to be productive on offense and keep scoring points.”

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Pete Martini covers high school and college sports for the Statesman Journal. You can contact Pete at pmartini@StatesmanJournal.com, 503-399-6730 and follow @PeteMartiniSJ