Oregon Ducks College Football Pregame Quote, 10/06/2025

DL: “I haven’t outside of us being around each other at Big Ten meetings. Obviously everywhere he’s been, he’s had a lot of success. His team is really well-coached. I think the other piece that really stands out about their staff is that a lot of their guys have been together for a long time, like a lot of continuity. That speaks to guys who want to coach with him. He’s won everywhere he’s been. That’s really apparent. He’s obviously a phenomenal coach and has done a really good job. 

DL: “I think the first thing that sticks out is that this is a team has a clear identity. They know what they’re good at, and they do it really really really well. They run the ball well, and they obviously RPO tags off a lot of their runs. They make sure that when they’re running it, they’re running it into an advantageous look, when they’re throwing it, they’re throwing it into a good look. They do a really good job of that. That’s the thing that stands out. They’re rushing as well as anyone in the country and they’re throwing it as well as anyone in the country. and they have a lot of weapons they can use. 

DL: “It’s been unbelievable. We’ve had a lot of success with quarterbacks and Will has definitely a big part of that, our offensive staff is, and it’s great to see those guys doing really well at the next level.”

Q: Earlier this season Fernando Mendoza was 40-of-43 over a two-game stretch. What allows him to be so consistent? 

DL: “Their timing is really impressive. They know where guys are going to be at. They do a really good job of shaping their routes. He’s got a great delivery. He’s able to throw the ball extremely well, but he knows where his wideout is going to be and knows what coverage he’s throwing into. That’s an indicator of a really well coached player that knows his system extremely well. 

DL: “I think he’s surrounded by some really talented players. I think again has a really good understanding of the scheme. This offense when you watch it has an identity. You’re going to see the same play ran a couple of times. The window dressing might be different, but they know how to run this play. It’s not about inventing new offense, it’s about running it better than you and executing it better than you. They do a really good job of that. They do enough of that to where you think ‘OK, this is what it’s going to be’, and then they throw a wrinkle in there and it is different. He’s playing in an offense that clearly has an identity and he’s playing around really good players.  

DL: “They’re strong at the point of attack. They go and catch the ball. If they’re not catching the ball, they’re creating pass interference calls because of the way they attack the ball. They’ve got good speed and they can run all the routes in the route tree. 

DL: “It’s a multitude of looks. They’re aggressive by nature. They do a good job of eliminating explosive plays, but they run a lot of simulated pressures and fire zone pressures that create havoc up front. The paths change quite a bit with the D-Line. A lot of different stunts that they use and the guys win at the point of attack when they do blitz. They do a good job of that. 

DL: “I think it’s really important and it’s tough against a team like this that plays a little bit more spot zone, they break on the ball really, really well. They do a good job of playing in zones and understanding where the quarterback’s going to take the ball. So this is one where we have to do a great job of protecting the ball, but our quarterback’s done that so far. Dante’s got to continue to do that this week.”‌

DL: “You’re talking about our team?

Q: Yeah.

DL: “Nothing.‌

DL: “Preparation. These guys work really, really hard. We pitch a lot at them every single week about understanding how we’re going to play certain coverages or adapt those changes. Those guys have worked really hard and prepared really hard. They push themselves in practice to get the results you want on the field on Saturdays. 

DL: “He’s a great player and it doesn’t just show up on defense. It shows up on special teams as well. He primarily plays the boundary, but he’s a guy who can cover whoever he’s lined up against, but also does a really good job [on special teams], he’s blocked a punt this year. So he’s a guy who shows up all over the field for them. ‌

DL: “He’ll never be on the field the same time as Mendoza and Mendoza will never be on the field at the same time as him. All he has to do is go out there and play his game and the rest will take care of itself. He’s competing to be the best version of himself. He’s not competing against him. 

DL: “He’s still practicing with us and working every single day. 

Q: Any update on Evan Stewart, Dillon Gresham and Trey McNutt?

DL: “They’ll all be down this week.‌

DL: “It was just a little bit more focused on recovery on some of the work we had to do. I think you check boxes as a coach, like ‘OK, do we have a physical team?’ So, what do you need to ramp up during a bye week and what do you need to dial back? I feel like we have a physical team and it was important for us to be able to recover and train ourselves with more mental reps more than physical practice reps at times.