By Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

Venue: Outdoor practice fields

Format: Full pads

At his usual midweek meeting with media following practice Tuesday, UO coach Mark Helfrich was asked how Oregon's defense had responded to allowing 42 points and 438 passing yards by Eastern Washington on Saturday.

As he has the past few days, Helfrich deflected attention from the secondary alone. “Their response has been good,” he said. “As a whole defensively we didn't run to the ball well enough, we didn't tackle well enough. And it's not, 'Hey you, you did this,' it's, how do we fix this?”

If coaches are looking for a collective response to the tackling issues that cropped up Saturday, they saw some things to like Tuesday. With the Ducks back in pads for the first time since the opening game, gang-tackling was a notable point of emphasis in 11-on-11 periods.

During one of the first reps for the defense against the scout team, no less than nine of the 11 guys on the field had swarmed to the ballcarrier by the time one rep was blown dead. Joe Walker took matters into his own hands with a tackle for loss on a play soon after, but more typically there were six or seven defenders around the football once the whistle was blown.

Again in the final team period, the merits of gang-tackling were illustrated. Scout running back Jarret LaCoste slipped past both a defensive lineman and then a linebacker before being swarmed in the secondary. The D lineman in question, Tui Talia, did respond by making a solo tackle for loss on the next rep.

Granted, these were reps against the scout team, which was running plays the Ducks have spent the last 48 hours scouting on film. On Saturday they'll see a different level of athlete at Michigan State (5 p.m. PT, ABC), and an offense that figures to throw a bunch of new wrinkles at the UO defense.

“So far, so good,” Helfrich said. “Against the scout team today it was better, but when we get out there against Connor Cook and (Michigan State's offense) we'll see.”

Cook and the Spartans have scored 30 or more points in a record nine straight games. Cook is one of a few Spartans seniors who could have entered the draft this past spring but chose to return to school, harkening back to decisions by Marcus Mariota, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and others to return for Oregon last season. Cook's center, Jack Allen, is a contender for numerous individual honors, as is defensive end Shilique Calhoun, yet another fifth-year senior.

The Big Ten Conference has a reputation for smash-mouth football, but Helfrich said the Spartans will keep the Ducks on their toes. “Their approach could be to get in two backs and three tight ends and smash it; their approach could be five-wide, empty (backfield) and throw. And they can be equally effective. It's a huge challenge schematically.”

The Spartans are also more multiple on defense, Helfrich said, under new co-coordinators Harlon Barnett and Mike Tressel. “They still do a great job with a base four-man rush, and then a six-man pseudo, hybrid zone blitz where they get after you, and then a really difficult nickel package,” Helfrich said. “Like anything, you have to be balanced. You have to have answers to those pressures.”

Other highlights: The offense and defense went head to head during the first team period. Among the more entertaining reps featured Austin Maloata driving center Jake Hanson back, flushing Travis Jonsen – who still was able to get off a long throw that Zac Schuller hauled in. … Also during that period, Jake Pisarcik drove a linebacker all the way out of bounds. …

Usually during pass-rush drills, the travel squad and scouts are all together on each side of the ball and one-on-one reps are conducted. Today they were split up into two groups, doubling the amount of reps that could be taken. Tyrell Crosby got the best of Jalen Jelks and Cameron Hunt held off Talia early in the period. Alex Balducci gave Matt Hegarty fits on one rep, and then unleashed a wicked spin move to beat Hunt, to the delight of the other D linemen. For the scouts, Tanner Davies locked up Drayton Carlberg a couple times and Spencer Stark twice got good push against Zach Okun, who rallied to win their third and final rep head-to-head.

Other observations: There doesn't seem to be much movement around the depth chart this week, but it appears Torrodney Prevot could be pushing for more run at outside linebacker. … With “College GameDay” on hand Saturday, Big & Rich's “Comin' To Your City” has been added to the practice soundtrack this week. (To these middle-aged ears, it's a much welcome break from all the friggin' Drake.) … To Helfrich's point Monday about the urgency Rodney Hardrick brings to practice: Hardrick was taking a rep with the kickoff return team today, and the scout on the coverage team slipped as he was about to engage Hardrick. “Get up, get up!” Hardrick encouraged the scout. “Finish!” Guy got to his feet and managed to give Hardrick something of a look on the rep.