Event: Outdoor driving ranges
Format: Full pads
As the Ducks looked to get over last week’s loss to Georgia, head coach dan lanning he said Monday that he appreciated seeing his team was made up of guys who “didn’t point with their fingers, but with their thumbs.” That attitude was on display again on Wednesday.
Defensively, the Ducks struggled in their first game to contain plays on the perimeter of the field and on third down. When asked Wednesday how the defense could improve in those areas in the future, defensive linemen Casey Rogers Y Taki Taimani he could have pointed fingers at teammates lining up on the edges of the defense. Instead, each of them pointed a thumb at themselves.
“I’ll take care of it,” Taimani said, when asked about defending on the third down. “My way of contributing to that is getting to the quarterback. That’s a big thing as a room that we have to work in, getting to the quarterback and not forcing (the secondary) to cover for so long … As a leader of the team, I can take responsibility for that.
Rogers, who like Taimani joined the Ducks as a transfer this offseason, didn’t make any excuses either.
“As a defensive lineman, you have to find a way to make plays,” he said. “That’s chasing the ball outside or getting to the quarterback, getting your hands on the passing lanes as fast as you can. It was a tough game being a D lineman, just because of how much they ran the perimeter and rushed passes. But we’ve got to find better ways to execute and participate in plays.”
Rogers said he appreciated that the Ducks’ attitude after last week “wasn’t a ‘shitty’ thing after we lost, it was ‘how can we fix this? What can we do better?'” do so as they look ahead to Saturday’s matchup with Eastern Washington at Autzen Stadium (5:30 pm, Pac-12 Network).
The Eagles’ offense opened the season by scoring 36 points last week in a win over Tennessee State. Quarterback Gunner Talkington threw for 348 yards and five touchdowns, also leading the rushing game with 60 yards.
“He can run and throw,” Rogers said. “… We have to take the things that we did last week that maybe we didn’t do well, and we have to be able to do it this week. I’m really excited about this challenge, and I’m excited to be in Autzen.”
Unable: Lanning told the media Wednesday that catcher caleb chapman, a transfer from Texas A&M, is recovering from some thigh injuries and hopefully can make his UO debut soon. … Based on the heat forecast at kickoff time Saturday night, the athletic department encourages fans to wear yellow for the game. The original schedule for this season called for fans to wear black this week.
Quotable:
Coach dan lanning
On having the opportunity this Saturday to play at home for the first time this season
“Personally, I’m excited to see our fans show up. Everyone is talking about the experience at Autzen Stadium; I want to see it first-hand on Saturday. I want to see our fans here, because they can certainly impact our game. That said, I don’t I’ve focused on that for our players. Wherever the field is placed, that’s where we’re going to go play the game. It doesn’t matter if there’s 100,000 people watching or just us watching. We want to go perform when we play in the East.”
junior defensive lineman Casey Rogers
Kicking off the season opener on the line alongside his transfer partner from Nebraska, jordan riley
“We’ve known each other for a while and we’ve played together for a while. To get through camp and line up with him to start, I think it was his first college start, so to share that moment with him – because I’ve seen everything he’s been through. and the work he’s put in – it was a pretty special moment for us. But the moment is just as cool as the result. It would be cooler to share that moment and win. That’s what we want. You’re (trying to) live up to this weekend”.
Post-Practice Interviews:
Coach dan lanning
junior defensive lineman Casey Rogers
junior defensive lineman Taki Taimani
