Oregon Football: Ducks Stay Motivated During Bye Week

Oregon Football has a bye this week and Head Coach Willie Taggart has two homes games left in the regular season.

Right now, the goal is not to get to a bowl game, but to finish strong. For the week off, the Oregon Ducks are working heavily on fundamentals which has been the theme the entire season. The team will also begin working on some schemes for the Arizona game next week.

Defensive Coordinator Jim Leavitt said tackling leads the Defensive Charge, “it doesn’t matter what scheme you run there’s a lot of different schemes out there…unless your a really good tackling team your not going to be a really good Defense.” Injuries have played a big role this season.

Starting Quarterback Justin Herbert went down vs Cal with a fractured clavicle which is healing well according to Taggart. The extra week should be good for several other Ducks as well including Troy Dye, who sprained his Achilles against Washington. Word is he will be fine.

Motivation is high for Oregon to finish the season on a high note, especially for the Seniors including Royce Freeman, Tyrell Crosby and Henry Mondeux. If the Ducks can pick up one more win they will be bowl eligible, but they would rather have two, of course. Bowl Eligibility means mre opportunity to build chemistry with extra practices, and the possibility of facing a challenging opponent to close out the 2017 season.

Next: Sabrina Ionescu Will Be In The Spotlight In 2017

The Ducks next opponent, Arizona hosts Oregon State this Saturday at 7 pm PT on ESPN2. Oregon will find out when they play the Wildcats on Sunday.

Quotes obtained firsthand at Oregon Football Practice