Cypress, Texas Edge Rusher Ashton Porter visited Texas, Michigan State, Clemson, Arkansas and many others, but in January on national television at the UnderArmour All-American Game, he chose the Oregon Ducks.
One reason stood out over all the others: family. His family trusted the Oregon coaches, he said, and Oregon itself felt like family. In a press conference at the All-American Game he told a group of reporters, “Probably the best community they have, my family,” Porter said. “My parents love them, love all the coaches. It’s one of the best decisions I could make.”
He'd visited Eugene on November 19th, the night the Ducks upended Utah 21-17. “It was an amazing game,” Porter said. “They’re always up, not really sitting down. During pregame, Oregon (fans were) like, ‘Ash-ton Por-ter. Come to Oregon.’ That was a great chant. I really liked that.”
The students made him feel at home.
NIL, he insisted, wasn't a big factor. “It doesn’t play a role at all,” Porter said. “… The money’s gonna be there, but I would just say I want to go to the league. That’s what I want to do. I want to go to the league. The money part (doesn’t) really mean (anything). I’m gonna make money in the NFL. I just want to have a coach that could develop me as a man, as a player.”
For his parents, the priorities were slightly different. Porter was a 3.85 student at Cy Ranch High. In an interview with Richard Davenport of the Arkansas-Democrat Herald he said, “My parents always talk about grades first.”
On the football field, Ashton is a pass rusher with awesome potential. As a senior for the Mustangs he earned District 16-6A defensive MVP and a first-team all-district pick at defensive line, finishing the season with 63 tackles, 24.0 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, a pick-6, a fumble recovery and a pass deflection.
National football scout Tom Lemming told Davenport, “He’s got size, he’s got an exceptional first step, work ethic and terrific leadership ability.”
6-3, 255, Porter is one of six new Ducks in the 2023 class that hail from Texas. Those young men have already bonded. They call it "The Texas Takeover." He and Terrance Green, Johnny Bowens and Tyler Turner could comprise the heart of the Oregon defense in a season or two.
Last night at the 7th annual Saturday Night Live event, Dan Lanning and the Oregon coaches hosted over a hundred high school recruits, and the most sought after among those is Williams Nwaneri of Lees Summit North High School in Lees Summit, Missouri.
Nwaneri is 6-6, 260, an UnderArmour All-American. On3Sports rates him the top prep prospect in the country, and nearly every recruiting service places him as the nation's best defensive lineman. He's scheduled to announce his college decision on August 7th.
He's a 5-star player, but that's not why the Ducks want him. Instead, Williams possesses three qualities that are essential to the type of team Lanning wants to build in Eugene:
1. Elite athleticism
2. Love of football
3. Leadership and extreme dude excellence
What is "extreme dude excellence?" Thank you for asking. It's a quality of drive, ability and determination that makes an athlete exceptional, one that elevates all the people around him. That's the common thread that runs through all the players DSH has profiled this summer, a blend of work ethic and ability that makes Jordan Burch, Matayo Uiagalelei, Ashton Cozart, Blake Purchase and all the others so incredibly special.
Here are a couple more examples. First, Xadavien Sims, a 2024 Oregon commit at Edge Rusher/linebacker:
Next, Brayden Platt, a 2024 inside linebacker prospect from Yelm, Washington. He announces his college decision on September 4th, and he's high on Oregon's list.
When Dan Lanning spoke at his introductory press conference in December 2021 he said, "Lastly, I want everyone to know one thing, don’t be afraid to chase your dream. There isn’t a dream too big. If you have a hunger and a passion to do something, don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it. In fact, let that fuel you."
The Ducks don't chase stars. They chase dreamers with hunger and passion. That's why the next few seasons are going to be such a remarkable story.
Wherever they're going, the Ducks are all-in. Dan Lanning just signed a contract extension that pays him $7 million a year, adds an additional year for each season he wins 10 or more games (up to three additional seasons) and pays him a bonus of $500,000 if he wins the national championship.
The contract is guaranteed, and it includes a $20 million buyout. Lanning will be coach of the Ducks through 2028.
What's less clear is where Oregon will play. Colorado ended thirteen years of futility and a year of uncertainty by agreeing to move back to the Big-12 beginning next year and the PAC-12 is reeling. With USC and UCLA already scheduled to move to the Big Ten in 2024 the conference is down to nine shakily-aligned schools:
Arizona
Arizona State
Cal
Oregon
Oregon State
Stanford
Utah
Washington
Washington State
Yesterday afternoon the PAC-12 issued another brave and meaningless statement:
Trouble is, it's well past the moment for statements. The only thing that will save West Coast football is decisive action. George Kliavkoff was hired two years ago to broker a competitive media deal that would bring the league into the 21st century but all he's produced are endless delays and promises.
Meanwhile the Big 12 and commissioner Brett Yormark plans to add 1-3 more teams, either PAC-12 schools or basketball powerhouses like Connecticut and Gonzaga. Arizona, Washington and Oregon might be the likely targets.
It's hunting season and Kliavkoff can't find his bow and arrow. The least he could do is pick up a big rock. Make a countermove. Add SMU, San Diego State, announce a media deal, do something. One hundred years of football history are circling the drain and the football future will be unrecognizable.
The really sad thing is that this brave new world of megadeals and realignment destroys a beautiful part of the game, the history and tradition and regional rivalries that made college football unique and special as a sport.
Sometimes the stars just line up, and what a story it would be if this were one of those times.
This week former Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert signed a contract extension with the San Diego Chargers. His new deal currently makes him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL at five years, $262 million.
A couple of miles away from Herbert's boyhood home, Dan Lanning got a new deal as coach of the Oregon Ducks. His new contract pays him over $7 million a season. Most importantly, it locks him up as coach of the Webfoots through 2028.
Saturday night in Eugene, Akili Smith junior is coming to Autzen Stadium to participate in Saturday Night Live, the school's annual recruiting event.
Last season Smith started as Vista Murrieta High School as a sophomore.
He's 6-5, 205, a four-star quarterback in the class of 2025. In 2022 he earned All-CIF Southern Section honors after throwing for 2,432 yards with 30 touchdowns and just four interceptions, completing 67% of his passes.
The arm talent, footwork and vision are all spectacular, particularly for a sophomore who is still growing into his body. Smith escapes trouble and finds open receivers. He's poised and smart, a 3.57 student who already understands the game at a high level.
His vision, balance and accuracy are stunning for a young quarterback. He shows incredible savvy in his ability to see the entire field, adjust on the fly when things break down and deliver the football to either sideline, over the middle or far down field. He throws receivers open, knows just where the football should go and how to get it there.
His father Akili sr. is his quarterback coach, and both his parents have done an exceptional job of training both the mind and the body.
— The Underclassman Report (@TheUCReport) June 24, 2023
In March he transferred from Vista Murrieta to Lincoln High School in San Diego, his father's old school, the place that brought the Ducks cornerbacks Jahlil Florence and Jalil Tucker, since transferred to San Diego State. Royce Freeman played 114 miles inland at Imperial.
His father starred for two seasons as a Duck and was chosen as the number three pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, a good enough athlete that he also played minor league baseball.
Neither sport worked out for the father at the pro level. He joined a downtrodden franchise that went 3-14, then bounced around to Green Bay, NFL Europe and the Calgary Stampeders before hanging it up.
He didn't get great coaching or guidance, and there were maturity issues. A few years later he told Sports Illustrated, "We had a 16-week program, and I would be in Cincy four days at a time; then I'd jet back to San Diego and party. I was a complete embarrassment off the field."
Already Junior, nicknamed KJ, seems to be the rare son who can learn from the mistakes of his father. He's taller and more accurate. Florida and Michigan are pressing hard. He's competed at the Elite 11 Regional, the Showdown Series 7v7 event and the Future 50 in June at IMG Academy in Florida. After every camp stop and 7-on-7 tournament more offers pour in, over 20 now. On3 Sports named him the best quarterback on the West Coast, top five in the country.
He came to Oregon for the Spring Game, made visits to Ohio State, UCLA and Arizona. Washington's offered, which would be the ultimate tweak on expectations. The Ducks offered on January 27th.
EXTREMELY excited and blessed to have received my 6th offer from the university of Oregon…@oregonfootball
He told Greg Biggins of 247Sports, “That was big since my dad played there and growing up, Oregon was the school I rooted for,” Smith Jr said. “Coach Stein (OC/QB coach) came to my school and watched my film and then offered.
“I’ve been up to Oregon a few times already and went to two games last season. I was able to meet coach Lanning and I like him a lot. He’s an amazing coach and I like where the program is going.”
Like many high-level recruits, he knows how this game is played. Browse through recruiting interviews for top prospects at a half dozen different schools, and they all know to sound enthusiastic about every program and every opportunity. Because, why wouldn't you be?
Ashton Cozart follows no one. His X/Twitter bio lists over 7400 followers, yet he doesn't follow a single account. You have to like that about him. It suggests he's focused, busy and independent. His tagline features a pirate flag and the slogan, "Burn all boats."
That draws a picture of a warrior with a single-minded focus, and the highlight film and training clips confirm that impression. 6-3, 193 from Flower Mound, Texas, Cozart is tall, fast and physical, very serious about his football future.
A 2023 recruit, he enrolled at Oregon on March 1st, in time for the second installment of spring practices. Going into fall camp he's listed as the number two X receiver behind Traeshon Holden. If he makes plays in practice, he could be in line for some early playing time in what may be a battle with another highly-touted prospect, Jurrion Dickey of Los Alamitos, California.
Cozart trains with former BYU star Margin Hooks. Hooks has molded him into a receiver with an advanced understanding of releases and route-running, great habits in looking the ball into his hands and wrapping his fingers around the football.
Flower Mound sounds like an obscure and out-of-the-way place, but in reality it's a town of over 76,000 just north of Dallas-Fort Worth, not far from the airport. It sits on the shoulder of Texas in Denton County, 193 miles from the Oklahoma border. Marcus High School boasts an enrollment of over 3000 students. The Marauders play Texas 6A High School football, 6-5 last season, losing to powerhouse Guyer 52-7 in the first round of the playoffs.
As a senior Ashton caught 33 passes for 582 yards and seven touchdowns, 17.6 yards per catch. He made First Team All-District for the second year in a row and was selected to the All-American Bowl.
What sets him apart is the way he trains and his attention to detail. He's a technician, clearly very coachable and smart about the game.
Frustrated Oregon fans couldn't be blamed for thinking that the Georgia boosters laid a gleaming golden fiddle at Justin Williams' feet, but the truth was way simpler than that. All Kirby Smart had to do was show him the shimmering trophy case, resplendent with four national championship trophies, then text him a link to the 18-minute highlight video of last year's 65-7 victory over TCU.
Then he took him past Nakobe Dean's Dick Butkus Award and showed him the photo from 2022 Draft Day, another of Dean collecting an oversized check for $965,162, his signing bonus for being selected in the third round.
Smart would've had to do some fast talking on that part. The 5-11, 232-pound Dean slipped a little in the draft that year, partly because of his height and an extensive history of injuries. Williams is 6-2, 210 and runs a 4.4 40. He'll have a Golden Ticket to the first round, Smart could whisper, just like 6 other Bulldog stars over the last two years.
Williams, from Conroe, Texas, is a charismatic middle linebacker with devastating agility and speed. He's the second five-star recruit the Ducks have finished second for this summer, the other being Elijah Rushing of Salpointe High School in Tucson, Arizona, who decided to stay close to home and announced for the Arizona Wildcats.
Recruiting is a slingshot, paint-swapping world, much like stock car racing in Talladega Nights. To quote the immortal Ricky Bobby, "If you ain't first, you're last." Only one school wins the hat ceremony. All the others have to regroup at Applebee's and pivot to other choices.
For the Ducks and Dan Lanning, they can console themselves with the knowledge that Dylan Williams and Kamar Mothudi are two terrific linebacker prospects, both committed for 2023. They could be joined in a few weeks by Brayden Platt, a 4-star All-American from Yelm, Washington, 6-2, 240.
Platt visited Oregon in June. He announces his college decision on September 4th, and this time the Ducks are favorites. He's a superb football player who doubles as a powerful running back and triples as his state's best track athlete: he heaves the hammer 157 feet, 11 inches, the shot nearly 63 feet and won the gold medal in the javelin at the Nike Outdoor Nationals with a toss of 228 feet.
Big as it is, there's little time to mourn the loss of Justin Williams. This weekend Oregon hosts an impressive array of talent at the annual Saturday Night Live event, including five-star defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri and five-star wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan.
In all, over 50 top high school recruits will be there, both from 2024 and 2025, a list that includes committed Oregon players like quarterback Michael Van Buren and safety Aaron Flowers.
You win the ones you can and keep coaching. Come September, you trust in Bo Nix and don't stop believing, never distracted by the devil or lost opportunities, maintaining relationships for the future.
Keep in mind, Lanning and his staff have won five-star battles for Matayo Uiagalelei, Josh Conerly and Jurrion Dickey. He's building a powerhouse in Eugene, one of sixteen teams with the raw talent to win a national title in 2023.
We're not giving away any secrets. A play similar to this can be found in the playbook of every team in the PAC-12, and if you reviewed the tape of Oregon games last year, you'd see the Ducks run something similar multiple times for big gains. The diagram comes from the website SpreadOffense.com, on Twitter.
It's a play-action pass with Bo Nix rolling right. Bucky Irving runs a wheel route down the left sideline. The Y receiver, usually Kris Hutson, Tez Johnson or Gary Bryant, runs a corner route. The Z receiver Troy Franklin breaks in at first down yardage while the X receiver, Traeshon Holden draws the safeties with a deep drag over the middle.
What makes this and most other plays successful is not that it's tricky or complicated or revolutionary, but rather it's the players that Oregon puts on the field.
Irving is a fast running back with great hands. He's a great runner who is tough to bring down, so the fake at the beginning holds the safeties for a moment. The guys the Ducks use at the Y are all fast and sharp out of their breaks, so the corner route stretches the defense. Franklin has good hands and terrific body control, able to use his long frame to shield the ball from defenders, while his speed drives his man off the ball and creates separation. At X, Traeshon Holden is 6-3, 214, tough to guard over the middle and able to use leverage on a 50/50 ball.
With the receivers spreading out the field and Nix rolling right, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Bo can take off and run or use his athletic ability to buy time and allow his receivers extra time to make a double move to get open.
It's a simple play that gets Oregon's great athletes in space. That's how it challenges the defense.
A few years ago Nick Saban told a story on ESPN. It might be the most important ever told about calling plays.
The important news is not only that Bo Nix is focused, but that he's focused on winning championships.
He's getting a lot of run as a future NFL draft pick and Heisman Trophy candidate, but that's not what's foremost on his mind as he prepares for his last season of college football. A week ago he spoke to Max Chadwick of the website Pro Football Focus and he said, "...One of my ultimate goals right now is to win a championship. It doesn’t matter what kind because championships lead to other championships. I owe that to my team and coaches to do what I have to do to help them win. Team success always ends up in individual success. Ultimately, I want to win a championship for Oregon and go out and do something in college football.”
At 23, he's mature enough to know that team success creates individual success, not the other way around. The leadership and perspective he brings to his fifth year as a college starter will help the Ducks as begin to climb in the polls and pile up wins. With every opponent you take down, the pressure and attention increases. Having a vision for the season and what you want to accomplish can only help.
Last season for the Ducks, Jeffrey Bassa played inside linebacker at 6-2, 214 pounds. He's gone to work this offseason transforming his body and the results are evident, showing up at PAC-12 Media Days at a robust, visibly yoked 228 pounds.
It's a delicate balance with linebackers. They have to have the strength and power to knock running backs backwards in the hole while maintaining the agility to avoid whiffing when a quarterback pump fakes, ducks and shuffles up into the pocket when they blitz.
In the last couple of years the Oregon linebacker crew did a lot of whiffing and being dragged in the wrong direction.
Bassa's power boost ought to add some teeth and finish to the defense, something to watch in the season's early games.
This spring Dan Lanning said of the junior from Salt Lake City, "He's a guy that can be sideline to sideline," Lanning said of Bassa. "He has the athleticism of a defensive back but has the physicality of a linebacker. All good linebackers nowadays can run, and Jeff has that trait."
At Media Day Bassa told the press, "I think the guys did a tremendous job this off-season putting weight on their bodies, but also coming in with the right mindset every day, coming in ready to work. We all got one goal on our mind, and that's just to be the best every day. I think the guys are taking one day at a time. We're focusing on heading into camp healthy and ready to grind in camp."
Bassa continued, "I think it adds a lot of versatility to the defense. With me coming in from the linebacker room, I think I can do a lot of things that not your traditional linebacker can do."
His improvement and versatility should be a major key to the success of Tosh Lupoi's defense, a big reason why the Ducks will be better and tougher on defense this season.
Friday at PAC-12 Media Days in Las Vegas, Dan Lanning was asked about Spencer Webb and what his memory still means to the team.
Webb died last summer in a climbing accident on a cliff above Triangle Lake in a remote part of Lane County. He was 22 years old, a gifted tight end and a warrior of light and life.
Lanning said, "There’s really not a day that goes by that you don’t think about it. Tomorrow we’re actually — we finish every summer workout with the climb up Spencer’s Butte. That’s going to be a big capstone to our season. Guys will go on that walk that didn’t know Spencer, guys that climb the hill that didn’t know him personally. A lot of people that were impacted by Spencer every day when we climb that butte.
Something that means a lot to me. Opportunity to express the importance of life, taking advantage of the time while you’re here on earth for our guys."
Spencer overcame difficult circumstances to become a scholarship football player at Oregon, a four-star tight end in the recruiting class of 2018. As a young boy both of his parents deserted him, hopelessly lost in drug addiction. Spencer was raised by his grandparents and then later his half-brother Cody, who became his legal guardian.
By middle school Webb had failing grades and was already getting into trouble. Cody and his wife Alicia provided structure for him, helping him to raise his grades to a 3.4 average as he emerged as a football star at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento.
Webb told the Sacramento Bee, “I grew up faster than a lot of kids. I never really had a mom or dad in my life. They chose to do other things, bad things, so it’s been me and my brother. I had a dream, he had a dream and we’re making that dream happen. It doesn’t really bother me now not knowing my mom. She missed out. I’ll see my dad every once in a while. I tell him I love him, but he understands the role my brother has in my life, that my brother is my everything."
On the football field, Webb played 20 games at Oregon. He caught 31 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns.
But his lasting impact came in the vibrance and joy he expressed every day. Former Duck softball star Haley Cruse Mitchell wrote in a Twitter tribute, "I know many will remember Spencer for his talent on the football field. But he was one of the most genuine, kind, and compassionate people I’ve ever met. He left his mark on everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him. Tell your loved ones you love them."
On Saturday as Lanning promised, the team concluded their summer workouts with a hike up Spencer's Butte, six miles south of Autzen Stadium.
Took our annual Spencer's Butte Hike today, in tribute to our teammate, friend and brother.
The Oregon defense needs a new script, one with more mayhem and less suspense.
The lingering and potentially sticky question for the Ducks is just how effective and decisive Tosh Lupoi is as a defensive coordinator. Last year's numbers suggest the Ducks underperformed their talent. With even more talent in 2023, that can't be allowed to happen. The havoc rate and defensive efficiency have to improve, or it falls solidly on him.
In 2022 Bo Nix and the Oregon offense were stellar, 4th in the PAC-12 in scoring at 38.8 points per game, a full touchdown better than the Mario Cristobal offense of a year ago.
The defense, however, was another thing. Nationally, they fell solidly into the category of dismal and disappointing:
74th in scoring defense
31st in rushing defense
102nd in passing defense
71st in total defense
115th in sacks
123rd in 3rd down conversion %
Late-season losses to Washington and Oregon State cost the Ducks a shot at the conference title and the college football playoff. In each, a defensive collapse lost the game. Against UW, big breakdowns in pass coverage led to big plays, easy scores for Michael Penix and his receivers. In Corvallis, Oregon ran 17 straight times to fuel a 28-point comeback after trailing 31-10 late in the third quarter.
Saban bumped Lupoi to defensive play caller for 2018 and he did a decent job, except getting the team prepared for Clemson in the CFP title game. Alabama fell 44-16 and according to sources, there was a “disconnect” at times between Lupoi and a few of the leaders on defense for Alabama.
Lupoi exited Bama for the NFL nine days later, spending the next three seasons as a defensive line coach at Cleveland, Atlanta and Jacksonville before Lanning coaxed him back into the college game.
He's renowned as an ace recruiter but the resume as a defensive coordinator is not long. His 2018 Tide squad finished third in the SEC in scoring defense at 18.1 points per game, put together a 13-0 regular season and topped Georgia 35-28 in the conference championship game before getting dismantled by Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers. Ten Alabama players were selected in the 2019 NFL Draft, five on defense. Defensive lineman Quinnen Williams went third overall to the New York Jets.
Interviewed after the fourth practice this spring, Lupoi told the media, "At the end of the day, (it was) awesome to be part of a 10-win season and to have that senior class go out the way they did, with the victory at the end. However, starting with me, we have tons of improvement and things that we can get better on, (that) we're really attacking."
This winter following last year's 10-3 season and the Holiday Bowl win over North Carolina, Dan Lanning, Lupoi and the staff went to work on that defensive transformation.
They brought in 5-star Edge Rusher Matayo Uiagalelei and 4-star linebacker/defensive end Teitum Tuioti. They signed super-fast defensive backs Roderick Pleasant, Daylen Austin and Cole Martin.
From the transfer portal they grabbed Edge Rusher Jordan Burch, a former five-star from South Carolina, tackling machine safeties Tysheem Johnson and Evan Williams. To shore up pass coverage, they picked cornerbacks Nikko Reed from Colorado and Khyree Jackson from Alabama.
Last year's linebackers looked slow and too often out of position, too often caught in the wash. The Ducks got busy to address that issue by moving hard-hitting safety Jamal Hill to inside linebacker while nabbing Jestin Jacobs and Connor Soelle from the portal. Jeffrey Bassa is a returning starter who steadily improved last season, playing his best football at the end of the year.
Senior Mase Funa also returns--he saved the Washington State game last September with a 27-yard pick six late in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Devon "The Jet" Jackson returns; the Omaha, Nebraska native is 6-2, 214 with laser-timed 10.5 speed in the 100 meters.
Lupoi believes that a renewed daily commitment to competition remains the key to better results on game day. No one--returning starters, high-level recruits, high-profile transfers--has a guaranteed job. "We're gonna start completely clean and fresh," he said. "We're going to be competing every single day for it and try to improve every single day."
The emphasis is on going from good to great.
Expect a dramatic turnaround in 2023. Here's why: effective defense is all about players, and synergy. An improved pass rush improves coverage in the secondary and forces a quarterback to make more mistakes. Tighter coverage gives the pass rush an extra second or two to get to the quarterback. Better coverage underneath improves a defense's performance on third down, gets them off the field instead of backing up as the offense moves the chains again.
Great defense creates disruption and havoc, taking away the football, crashing the line of scrimmage, blowing up the opponent's running game. When you have better players, better defense just naturally follows.
Insiders say that Tuioti and Uiagalelei will quickly emerge as the best pass rushers in the program. In a league full of talented quarterbacks, getting pressure is the difference between 8-4 and a conference championship.
It's been noted previously on these pages that Lanning was hired to be the anti-Lincoln Riley. At Oklahoma and USC Riley has built a reputation for potent offense, fielding teams that averaged 43.2 points per game never finished lower than No. 8 in scoring offense nationally. At Georgia, Lanning had a defense that allowed just 10.2 points a game while winning a national championship.
The question remains, how hands-on should he be with the defense, and how much should he entrust it to Lupoi? Beginning with an early road game against pass-heavy Texas Tech and an October rematch with rival Washington, the results will provide the answer.
Converse, Texas defensive lineman Johnny Bowens has a better spin move than the Tasmanian Devil.
A late add here in San Antonio, #Oregon DL signee Johnny Bowens has been taking advantage of his opportunity this morning at the West practice. pic.twitter.com/gqdbq2r5Q4
Bowens committed to the Ducks on Thanksgiving Day 2022 and enrolled at Oregon in January, participating in Spring Practice. He'll take his first snaps this fall, competing for playing time in a veteran group.
He was part of a huge haul for the Ducks in Texas. Dan Lanning and his staff flexed national recruiting muscle in the 2023 cycle by grabbing 6 players out of the Lone Star Star State:
Tyler Turner 4-star DB San Antonio
Ashton Cozart 4-star WR Flower Mound
Austin Novosad 4-star QB Dripping Springs
Terrance Green 4-star DE Cypress
Ashton Porter 4-star DE Cypress
Johnny Bowens 4-star DE Converse
In Bowens' case, he was a classic reminder that "it ain't over til it's over." The 6-3, 265 defensive end committed to Texas A&M on Christmas Day 2021, then decommitted after visiting the Ducks in June 2022. That November he announced a Final Three of A&M, Texas and Oregon. The On3 Sports Projection Machine (a fancy name for wild-ass guessing) gave him an 87.3% chance of signing with the Aggies.
He enrolled in Eugene after participating in the All-American game in January.
In his high school highlight film Bowen flashes prodigious strength and power. He's terrifyingly quick. At times he can make offensive tackles look like Elmer Fudd on ice skates.
He told Travis Recek of Spectrum Local News, “I feel like you can change the game anytime if you’re hitting the quarterback. If you’re in the quarterback's face all the time you have a good chance to win the game.”
His mindset is strong for his move away from home to the Pacific Northwest. “I’m bringing something good, a good, true freshman that’s going to come in and work,” Bowens said. “I know I’m going to have to put in hard work and learn from other people that are older than me and work my craft.”
Bowens challenge is, he doesn't play at that highlight film level on every play. For his senior year the Judson High product compiled 24 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and a pass deflection. As a junior, 36 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and four pass deflections.
Those are good stats, but not elite. You'd expect a prospect with this much physical intensity to be more dominant at the high school level. Going into college, he'll have to improve his endurance and technique to be an every-down player and an NFL draft pick.
He's set his sights high. He picked the Ducks partly because of Dan Lanning's track record in developing Outland Trophy winner Jordan Davis. That's who he intends to pattern his game after.
Bowens understands the standard and the challenge. Going into his senior year at Judson he told Nate Ryan of KENS5-TV in San Antonio, “Every play, I feel like I got to play 100%. Once I get to 100% for four downs every single play, I feel like I’m going to be that guy.”
In the last 15 seasons, USC has probably been among the preseason favorites to win the conference about ten times, and they've won exactly one, in 2017. That season they lost the Cotton Bowl to Ohio State.
The Trojans were dominant in the eras of Pete Carroll, John Robinson and John McKay, but Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian and Clay Helton all left town in shame. Lincoln Riley was brought in to restore the luster of the Trojan mystique. In Year One he turned in an 11-3 season that included a loss in the conference championship and a 46-45 loss to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.
Riley has won at Oklahoma and at SC but he still hasn't proven he can win big games. He's cranked out Heisman winners, but he's 1-4 in bowls, 0-3 in the college football playoff, 0-1 in the PAC-12 Championship game.
Still the media confidence in the Trojans is understandable. They bring back All-American and Heisman Trophy quarterback Caleb Williams and a loaded receiver room that added 1000-yard receiver Dorian Singer, a transfer from Arizona. Riley bolstered the talent level this offseason by adding the #8 prep recruiting class featuring ultra-speedy 5-star wide receiver/returner Zachariah Branch, 5-star tight end Duce Robinson, 5-star future quarterback Malachi Nelson. For the defense they added 4-star Edge Rusher Brayian Shelby and 4-star cornerback Maliki Crawford.
Riley also got busy in the portal. He picked defensive tackle Bear Alexander from Georgia, running back MarShawn Lloyd, 4-star defensive end Anthony Lucas, linebacker Mason Cobb; in all, 16 players, the fourth-ranked portal class in the nation.
It's odd that two-time defending champion Utah is a bit overlooked at third, but some of that has to be uncertainty about quarterback Cam Rising coming off knee surgery. It's certain that the Utes will be tough, physical and well-coached.
Washington had a great season last year and they have one of the nation's best passers in Michael Penix. They return all their stars, didn't have a single player leave for the NFL draft. They feature very solid bookend offensive tackles in Roger Rosengarten and Troy Fautanu, the conference's most celebrated edge rushers in Bralen Trice (9 sacks last year) and Zion Tupuola-Fetui (4.5).
However the Huskies are rebuilding the middle of their offensive line and at cornerback and linebacker (zero returning starters in those groups) and the schedule is much tougher: they missed both Utah and SC last season--this year they're at The Coliseum on November 4th, host the Utes the very next week on November 11th, then travel to Corvallis to play the Beavers on November 18th.
In out-of-conference play they have a road game this year, at Michigan State in Week Three. Instead of opening with home games against Portland State and Kent State they'll face Boise State and Tulsa, two opponents with a pulse.
One thing is sure, the PAC-12 race will be settled on the field. The top five teams play a virtual round-robin over the course of the season, starting with Utah at OSU on September 29th. Then the league title game is likely to be a rematch.
For the Ducks to emerge out of all this they'll have to keep Bo Nix healthy, gel on the offensive line and show dramatic improvement on defense. That's the thing about media polls. They start with the assumption that everybody will play like they did last year and give bonus points for reputation.
Teitum Tuioti would play early if his name were Joe Smith.
A 2023 freshman from Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon, he happens to be the son of Oregon defensive line coach Tony Tuioti, who came to the Ducks in December 2021 after three seasons at the University of Nebraska.
Several factors are converging here. Number one, head coach Dan Lanning has repeatedly said, "If you're good enough, you'll play." Teitum is good enough. His senior highlight film pops with big-dog, big time properties, among them pursuit, passion, anticipation, quick feet and football smarts. He reads plays. He's relentless to the quarterback or the ball carrier. He makes tackles down the field and on the other side of the field. He plays like a guy who loves football, with a motor that doesn't stop.
Another fact to note is that coaches in every state always talk about "building a fence around the state," which is football-speak for making sure all the best available prospects in their given state stay home. You don't want them to wind up at Washington, USC, Oregon State or Nebraska. 6-3, 220, Tuitoti was the number one rated recruit in Oregon, #213 in the entire country: definitely one to keep home.
His family home is in Laie, Hawaii and he played his sophomore and junior years at Lincoln Southeast High in Lincoln, Nebraska, so a lot of states and coaches tried to claim him. A Polynesian Bowl selection as a senior, he led Sheldon to the 6A state championship game while being named to the Prepstar All-Region team. His high school coach was Josh Line, the former Oregon fullback who played in the Joey Harrington years.
At Edge Rusher, defensive end or outside linebacker (his exact landing spot depends on need, injuries and availability, and how his body develops) Tuioti has several talented and experienced players ahead of him, but with the energy and understanding of the game he has, he will earn snaps. His fast feet and relentless pursuit angles make him an excellent candidate to play immediately on special teams.
Tuioti is what scouts call "a plus-athlete." He has a 32-inch vertical and a long wingspan and moves like a big cat in the Savannah. At Sheldon he had 84 tackles, 30.0 tackles for loss, 13.0 sacks, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and an interception returned for a pick-6 along with a safety and two pass deflections. He also caught 24 passes for 446 yards and six touchdowns while rushing 12 times for 44 yards and a score.
On defense, that's extremely high productivity for an outside linebacker/end, a further testament to his mobility and every-down effort. Thirty tackles for loss is insane--in 2022, the Ducks had 53 as an entire team.
Teitum enrolled early at Oregon and participated in spring practice. In the Spring Game he had two tackles and a quarterback hurry while breaking up a pass in the end zone that he almost intercepted.
His mom Keala and his sister Teisa both played college volleyball. Back in Lincoln, the family reserved a gym every Wednesday, and it was not the volleyball you remember from a church picnic. He also played on a travel rugby team while in middle school--played at a high level, both sports are incredibly effective agility training for a defensive football player, and it shows.
About rugby Tuioti said, “It really helped me with my tackling form. In football you’re more kind of diving into people because you got pads and a helmet,” he said. “But in rugby, if you dive at someone you’re going to get cleated in the face or you’re going to face-plant. So you have to be more safe about tackling.”
It's also a sport that produces a high level of camaraderie and teamwork. Rugby is a sport with a tremendous community feel.
He has two older brothers, Teivis and Teilor, younger sisters Teiyana and Teinia. Speaking to the website Nebraska preps, he said, “I really love my family. With my dad’s job, we’ve moved around like seven or eight times,” Teitum said. “They’ve been with me my whole life and I don’t know where I’d be without them. They’re just really fun to hang around with.”
He credits his LDS faith for giving him balance, another thing that readily shows in the focus he demonstrates on the football field.
In a funny twist, veteran Oregon defensive lineman Casey Rogers has a special relationship with Teitum and the Tuioti family:
When Bo Nix was starting as a freshman quarterback at Auburn, he used to wear a white wristband that read, “Humble Over Hype.” Teammate Javaris Davis gave it to him.
He told ESPN's Holly Rowe, “It reminds you to stay humble, because there's a lot of hype around you – and [it reminds you] how you can have an influence on other people at the same time,” Nix said. “That's really important.”
Nix has changed wristbands since then, but what hasn't changed is the faith and perspective that empowers him as the Oregon quarterback. After a season in which he accounted for 44 touchdowns (29 passing, 14 rushing, one receiving) he's even more grounded and optimistic going into his final season of college football.
After Oregon's fifth spring practice he said, "I've grown so much off the field and on the field, as a leader and as a teammate. As a quarterback, you can't really put a price on how much you've grown. I think it shows now with my confidence out on the field. I have a difference sense of awareness when I'm out there. Being under this offense, even though it's not all the same, I have the concepts down, so it's not as much thinking as it is just playing. It's matching what I know from what I've learned with what I'm being taught and just going out there and playing.
The new-found confidence produced great things for the Ducks last season. Nix set a UO record for accuracy, completing 71.9% of his passes while leading his team to 10 wins in a variety of ways. Against UCLA he threw five touchdown passes. Against Colorado, he passed for two, ran for two, and caught a touchdown pass from tailback Bucky Irving.
When you're having fun, the game seems simple. After the UCLA win he said, “I think it’s just scheme and the players around me. To be honest, when I’m out there doing it, it feels like I’m not doing a whole lot because I don’t have to. I just have to get the ball to the playmakers around me.”
“Honestly, it’s easy to be in position because all I got to do is make sure the ball gets to the right person. “We’re just playing good team football right now. I think each and every one of us are very connected, are very close with one another, and it shows on the field.”
The exciting thing is, the Ducks offense will have even more talent and connection in 2023. These profiles provide a closer look at the coaches, new offensive weapons, and returning players who will have bigger roles this season:
(Each headline provides a link to a previously posted story)
Dan Lanning was hired to be the anti-Lincoln Riley and the upgraded Mario Cristobal. Even more than either of those, he was hired to be the bright, promising, driven, innovative coach he worked 15 years to become.
Two roads diverged in the Pac-12 woods, late in the season in 2021. On November 28th on the trail end of a disastrous 4-8 season, USC hired Riley to be their 30th head coach. Just a little more than a week later after a nightmare-on-repeat 38-10 loss to Utah in the PAC-12 Championship Game, Cristobal announced he was leaving Oregon after four seasons, making him the third straight short-term savior at The House That Uncle Phil Built.
Both moves were a shock to the football system. Riley abruptly left the Oklahoma Sooners to take the Trojan job. In Norman he'd established himself as a brilliant offensive mind and a renowned mentor of quarterbacks, compiling a 55-10 record while guiding Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray to the Heisman Trophy, Jalen Hurts to the NFL. Freshman quarterback Caleb Williams followed him to Heritage Hall.
At Oregon Cristobal established himself as a top-notch recruiter whose on-field results didn't always completely measure up. He posted a 35-13 record despite signing the sixth, seven, 11th and 13th ranked recruiting classes in the nation, a haul that yielded one conference championship, one Rose Bowl win, one #5 finish in 2019. Cristobal marked his term at the University of Swoosh with thrilling accomplishments accompanied by head-scratching pratfalls: In 2021 the Ducks dumped #3 Ohio State in Columbus 35-28 as C.J. Verdell rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
Yet three weeks later Cristobal's squad fell 31-24 in overtime at Stanford, stubbing its toe before 31,610 fans against a team that was going nowhere, one of four games The Cardinal would win all year. On November 20th the shockingly listless Ducks got blasted 38-7 in Utah. Two weeks later the Utes manhandled them again in the PAC-12 Championship Game.
Cristobal racked up star power but faltered badly in certain games. His 2019 team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the opener against Bo Nix and Auburn, then turned in a listless and flat performance on the road in November against Arizona State. The two losses kept them out of the college football playoff despite having a first-round draft pick at quarterback {Justin Herbert,} a Unanimous 2020 All-American at Edge Rusher (Kayvon Thibodeaux) and an Outland Trophy winner at left tackle in Noah Sewell.
For both Cristobal and Riley the Achilles' Heel has been defense. Riley is 0-3 in bowl games with a Heisman winner at quarterback, 1-4 overall. In 2022 HIS team lost to Utah twice.
While defensive coordinator at Georgia Dan Lanning assembled one of the most formidable defenses in modern college football history. The national champion Bulldogs allowed just 10.2 points per game, stifling opponents in an era of high octane offenses. They gave up only 4.15 yards per play, demolishing and disrupting everything offenses were trying to do, playing like a pack of crazed dogs as they razed the SEC. In a 14-1 season they racked up 49 sacks and 101 tackles for loss.
Lanning's Georgia squad held Michigan to 11 points in the college football semifinal, offensive juggernaut Alabama to 18 in the championship. At year's end, they would have eight players selected in the NFL draft, a record five in the first round. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis won the Outland Trophy, linebacker Nakobe Dean the Butkus Award.
Oregon's 2023 defense isn't up to that level yet, but they're getting closer. Here's the talent the 37-year-old coach has added to the defensive roster:
{You can follow the link to a profile of each player}
6-5, 265, 5-star Edge Rush from Mater Dei High School, 47 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, a forced fumble and three pass deflections in 2022
6-3, 245, 4-star recruit from Green Valley, Colorado, 68 tackles, 18 sacks, 12 tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles in 2022. 83 tackles, 18 TFL, 12 sacks, two INTs, one fumble recovery, and seven pass breakups in 2021.
There's a synergy afoot here. A better pass rush improves a secondary. Tighter coverage in the secondary allows the pass rush an extra beat to get home. Talent and competition raises the level of play and preparation. In addition to this impressive array, Lanning and his staff persuaded Brandon Dorlus, Casey Rogers, Popo Aumavae, Keyon Ware-Hudson and Taki Taimani to stay another year. Starters Jeffrey Bassa, Mase Funa, Trikwese Bridges, Jamal Hill, Bryan Addison and Steve Stephens all return.
Year two, Dan Lanning has the defensive talent to dominate the PAC-12. The pundits, prognosticators, naysayers and opponents are not ready for what he's about to unleash.
They're not up to the Georgia standard-YET. That comes in a year or two after a couple more recruiting classes have reached fruition. But the quality of pursuit and pressure will manifest into a dramatic upgrade this season. The improvement will shock the conference and upend inflated expectations at Washington and Oregon State.
It takes players to win. But as the careers of Lincoln Riley and Mario Cristobal have shown, it takes development and coaching to win at the highest level in the biggest games, to mold a team that plays its best football in November, December and January.
In grainy YouTube videos of old NFL highlights, inside linebackers were burly guys with teeth missing, massive shoulder pads, violent hitters, paint chipped from the front of their helmets. Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke played in cold, snowy places, savagely intense, grappling and spearing as if they got paid by the collision. They were weapons of mass destruction. Their main job was to stop the run.
Butkus played at 6-3, 245. He lumbered and prowled like a grizzly as the angry heart of the Monsters of the Midway, the old Chicago Bears. Nitschke played 15 years for the five-time champion Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi's middle linebacker.
The thick, lumbering, smash-mouth style of that era has passed like gas-guzzling cars with fins. In the modern college game, offenses spread the field and throw 40-50 times a game. Most use one running back and three wide receivers, and only a few teams huddle between plays. An inside linebacker has to be faster and more versatile, able to play at speed and cover more ground.
For the Ducks, junior Jeffrey Bassa has blossomed into a modern inside linebacker. Over two seasons he's played in all 27 games with 16 starts, and he's gotten increasingly better, more productive and consistent with every game at the position.
Bassa came to the Ducks in 2021 as a safety and wide receiver from Kearns High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tall and lean at 6-2, 200, he caught 51 passes for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns, even returned a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns, covering 85 and 95 yards. On defense he intercepted four passes, the number one-rated safety in the state.
He began his Oregon career at safety before moving down to inside linebacker, filling out to 212 pounds for his new assignment. The ball skills he learned as a two-way player have translated into a quick learning curve: Jeffrey just keeps getting better and better for the Ducks.
Initially the switch began out of necessity. In his freshman year the team ran short of inside linebackers after injuries to Justin Flowe and Dru Mathis. Bassa adapted quickly and the coaches liked his potential in the new spot.
By spring practice 2022 it became permanent. Head coach Dan Lanning explained why. "Intelligence. He's smart," he said. "Nowadays, there's no such thing as a true MIKE backer anymore. You have to have speed on the field."
Last season in the month of November he picked off Washington's Michael Penix to end a drive for a touchdown and recorded eight tackles. Two weeks later against Oregon State he tallied five tackles, picking off another pass and returning it 33 yards. In the Holiday Bowl win over North Carolina he paced an Oregon comeback with six solo tackles and a sack. For the season, he finished second on the team with 62 total tackles, 31 solo.
With Noah Sewell moved on to the NFL Bassa is now a leader on the Oregon defense. He's visibly more confident and stronger, taking charge of communication in a group with several new players. "It all comes down to studying and knowing your body," he said.
