Autzen Zoo
Fansided

Oregon Football: 3 storylines to follow in spring 2021

By Connor Muldowney

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 02: Quarterback Anthony Brown #13 of the Oregon Ducks celebrates with Johnny Johnson III #3 after scoring on a 16-yard rushing touchdown against the Iowa State Cyclones during the first half of the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium on January 02, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 02: Quarterback Anthony Brown #13 of the Oregon Ducks celebrates with Johnny Johnson III #3 after scoring on a 16-yard rushing touchdown against the Iowa State Cyclones during the first half of the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium on January 02, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – OCTOBER 26 : Tim DeRuyter defensive coordinator of the California Golden Bears walks on the field during warm ups before their game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – OCTOBER 26 : Tim DeRuyter defensive coordinator of the California Golden Bears walks on the field during warm ups before their game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images) /

2. New-look defense under Tim DeRuyter

Tim DeRuyter was Mario Cristobal’s “guy” all along and when Andy Avalos left to take over at Boise State for Bryan Harsin, the Oregon head coach jumped at the opportunity to pursue the Cal defensive coordinator.

After watching what his Golden Bears have done to the Ducks over the past couple of seasons on the defensive side of the ball, Cristobal was sold. DeRuyter’s defenses held Oregon scoreless in two out of the four halves over the past two seasons which is impressive given the amount of offensive firepower the Ducks have had.

Now that DeRuyter is on the good side, Cristobal is hoping he brings that same energy and intensity to Eugene.

DeRuyter has some nice new toys to play with as the Ducks have a much more impressive group of guys than the Golden Bears had (outside of Evan Weaver) and if he could get Cal to dominate on that side of the ball with those guys, imagine what he can do with a unit of four and five-star players.

According to NBC Sports, DeRuyter has led some really quick turnarounds at previous stops. At Air Force, the Falcons went from the 78th-ranked scoring and total defense in 2006 to No. 10 in scoring and No. 11 in total defense in 2009. Texas A&M went from the 104th scoring defense the year before him to 21st in his first year. He did the same with Cal as they were ranked in the 100-range and he got them to the top-35 in both categories.

Let’s see what he can do this spring with this group of guys.

Home/Oregon Ducks Football