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While offense gets attention, Ducks' defense plays surprisingly well

By Ted Miller
Special to ESPN.com

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

When most folks saw the score from Oregon's 53-7 victory over Washington State, they focused on the 53 instead of the 7, because the Ducks are known for their high-scoring offense. But the defense, which lost five key starters from its 2006 unit, has played surprisingly well most of the season. Coach Mike Bellotti called it a classic "bend but don't break" group, meaning it surrenders yards (392.2 per game) but not many points (20.7 ppg). Why? Two reasons: It's forced 15 turnovers and it ranks N ...

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