The Oregon Ducks woke up on Oct. 11 realizing they’re now unranked. The No. 12 UCLA Bruins knocked the previous No. 13 Ducks out of the top 25.
Such a loss leaves fans wondering if there’s internal friction inside the Ducks’ locker room. Or if, somehow, Oregon players end up dealing with a disconnect between practices and games amongst the team. Well, edge rusher Teitum Tuioti addressed that possibility with reporters postgame.
Teitum Tuioti on Apparent ‘Disconnect’ Between Practices and Games
Fans are wondering if the Ducks have a sudden change in mindset once they step inside the stadium. And not in a good way.
Tuioti addressed that potential problem with honesty.
“I feel like sometimes that throughout the games, whether it’s good, whether it’s bad, I think sometimes we get too honed into our own selves. When we got to really, like, bring everyone along with us, and that starts with me as a leader,” Tuioti said.
But this responsibility doesn’t solely fall on Tuioti.
“Starts with all of our vets here,” Tuioti added. “We’ve got to bring people along, and I think we gotta do a better job in practice and in the game.”
Where Oregon Struggled the Most Against UCLA
Fans will look at the stats and immediately believe Tuioti and the defense delivered a great game. But that’s not necessarily the case. Even the stats don’t tell the entire story.
Oregon’s pass defense bottled the UCLA air attack to 205 passing yards. Even starter Nico Iamaleava struggled to generate explosive plays before leaving with a lower-body injury, hitting 162 yards and getting picked off twice. Backup Ty Dieffenbach threw 43 yards and didn’t necessarily threaten the Ducks down the field.
But the latter took great care of the football. Plus leaned into UCLA’s strength: The ground game, with the Bruins hitting 140 yards and playing the ball-control game with Oregon.
The Ducks’ run defense has struggled in their two losses. Even Oklahoma State, once known for air raid approaches, found success off quarterback keepers and by taking advantage of poor eye discipline, with Oregon fueling the upset.
Tuioti and the defensive line did all they could handle against the now higher ranked Bruins. Oregon delivered four tackles for a loss among its defensive line room. But the offense didn’t help matters much with the inconsistency. Oregon’s ground game settled for 73 yards only while the passing game changed quarterbacks between Dylan Raiola and Brock Thomas, the former getting benched.
Oregon’s offense managed to finally get one late touchdown before the two-minute mark and got the ball back. But a fumble ended the chance to prevent the upset.
How Teitum Tuioti, Oregon Plan to Move Forward
The nation wrote off Oregon following that disastrous two-point home loss, including for the Big Ten title race and the College Football Playoffs.
Tuioti is more focused on “the next” as he described it.
“I think we’ll focus on the next. Like, every week is going to be a new opportunity for us,” he explained. “Obviously, this is not the way we wanted our season to go, for sure. A lot of guys came back to this program. A lot of guys came to this program, you know, to get a sneak peek at what Oregon has to offer, and I truly believe that we can still be a great team no matter what if we really put it together.”
Oregon still holds a high Football Power Index by ESPN at No. 9 overall. But their chances of winning the conference are under four percent now, while their CFP probability is under 10 percent.
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