In a night that Oregon coaches, players and fans alike would like to forget, the Ducks secondary was gashed for 227 yards and four touchdowns through the air by Utah quarterback Travis Wilson. Prior to the game, Wilson had yet to throw a touchdown pass this season. He added another 100 yards and a touchdown on the ground against a struggling Oregon defense.

Oregon tried to shake things up in the secondary last night. Juwaan Williams and Glen Ihenacho were given starting roles at safety and cornerback respectively. This came as a surprise to many, but is something defensive backs coach John Neal said was earned.

“I gave him a chance because he earned it. In practice he was our best guy and most consistent. He seemed to know the most, so I gave him a chance,” Neal said regarding Glen Ihenacho.

In the first three games, the secondary made multiple mistakes in coverage and blew assignments that led to big plays by opposing offenses. That was the reason Neal said he decided to go with Juwaan Williams at safety to start the game.

“Over the course of the first three games, can we limit some of our mistakes and easy plays we’ve been making? I wanted to put guys in there I felt would be more consistent and deserved a chance. Obviously we didn’t get any better right now, so we gotta go back and figure it out again. There’s nothing else to do but find some answers,” Neal said.

Oregon will need to find some answers and try to put together the right combination of players in the secondary to figure this out. Neal seemed like a defeated person when speaking to the media postgame. He sat down and slumped himself into a chair inside the Hatfield-Dowlin complex and struggled to find words and explanations. Yet, he also seemed like a guy who is going to be resilient and to continue to work until he finds a solution.

“It’s just a big challenge, a constant deal...I’ve known it for awhile. When you’re in this kind of situation you find inner strength...and I have that. I’m gonna pass that on to our guys. We aren’t gonna give up, we’re gonna strive and be strong.”

This is unchartered water in recent memory for the Oregon football program. Lots of soul searching is needed and motivation has to be found before heading to Colorado on Saturday to face an improved Buffaloes team.

“After the game we all feel awful, but there’s a lot of hugging going on and reassurances we’re not gonna quit. We haven’t been in this position at Oregon in a long time, so we’re gonna see what we’re made out of and all I’m gonna do is keep trying to get better,” Neal remarked.

Neal seems to believe in the players he has recruited and thinks he has the tools to put a good product on the field. He’ll need to push the right buttons quickly for Oregon to get ready for some of the offensive juggernauts coming up on the schedule. However, the night is always darkest just before the dawn.

Oregon retakes the field Saturday in Boulder for the first conference road game of the season against the Buffaloes. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7 pm PT and will be televised by ESPN.

