With 3:33 left in regulation, Oregon found itself trailing the Boise State Broncos 58-57, in desperate need of a big play if the Ducks hoped to avoid their first home loss since January 2015.

As Portland Trailblazers’ point guard Damian Lillard looked on from his baseline seat, Oregon’s Dylan Ennis caught a pass with his feet perched just beyond the 3-point line, took a moment to gather himself and fired.

The shot caught nothing but net and the Matthew Knight Arena crowd of 6,824 went ballistic as the No. 23 Ducks took their first lead in over 32 minutes. Ennis bobbed his head, trotted backwards and pointed at his wrist as he looked toward Lillard, trying to catch the attention of the star point guard.

“Yeah, he’s actually one of my favorite players,” a smiling Ennis said after the game. “He didn’t even see me.”

Ennis’ momentum-tilting three was the exclamation point on a 10-0 scoring run that the Ducks would ride to a 68-63 victory. Ennis finished with 18 points, none bigger than his final three. The total marked his career-high as a Duck, and his performance was his best in an Oregon uniform thus far.

“Coach had been telling me to take good shots and hit threes; you’ve just got to get the ones where you’re in rhythm,” Ennis said. “That was one that was in rhythm and it just went down.”

The lead that Ennis’ jumper provided Oregon didn’t last long, as the Broncos tied the game at 60 on the following possession when Chandler Hutchinson buried two free throws. Oregon scattered three points over the next three minutes to take a 63-60 lead and held the ball with under 30 seconds left and the shot clock dwindling. With five seconds to shoot, freshman point guard Payton Pritchard took one dribble toward the basket, hit his defender with a step-back move and drilled a jumper that all but sealed the win for the Ducks.

Payton. Dagger. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/Uc84EPDcPj

— GoDucks (@GoDucks) November 29, 2016

Oregon escaped with an ugly victory against a lackluster opponent. While it was a step in the positive direction in the win column, the Ducks are still left with plenty of questions to answer.

“We looked bad,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “Five of our turnovers in the first half were guys driving and they just took it from us; guys over-dribbling and they just took it from us.”

Oregon struggled to find its rhythm on offense for much of the game, and trailed 32-29 at halftime. The Ducks shot just 2-of-9 from three point range and 5-of-10 from the free throw line. While they shot a solid 44 percent clip from the field, they eight turnovers to just five assists in the half.

The Ducks would finish the game with 15 turnovers to eight assists.

“We’ve got a lot more turnovers in the season than we do assists,” Altman said. “I thought we got few things straightened out against Connecticut, but our ball movement, again, was just so poor tonight. Everybody just gets it and holds it.”

Dillon Brooks made his home debut for Oregon and struggled mightily in 21 minutes. Brooks shot 1-of-9 from the field and didn’t score his first point until late in the second half. He finished with four turnovers to one assist.

“He had a bad game,” Altman said. “He was trying too hard, just going way too fast and he had a tough night. We know he’s a good player — We’ve seen it for two years. He’s just got to slow down. It will come back.”

Ennis’ 18 points led all scorers, and he shot 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Tyler Dorsey added 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting for the Ducks and Chris Boucher pulled down eight boards and blocked five shots in 24 minutes. Boise State guard Paris Austin led the Broncos with 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half.

With the win, Oregon’s record jumps to 6-2 on the year. The Ducks will face Western Oregon at home on Wednesday before hosting Savannah State on Saturday.

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When it was announced that Dillon Brooks would miss an unknown amount of time with a foot injury during the summer, the idea of his absence raised numerous questions for Oregon.

Brooks, who led the Ducks in scoring last season and was named an AP preseason All-American in early November, is the heart and soul of Oregon’s team. Without him in the lineup, the Ducks were left without a true small forward.

Brooks returned for Oregon’s opening game at the Maui Invitational on Nov. 21, but played just 13 minutes and didn’t have his legs under him as the Ducks fell 65-61 to the Hoyas.

As time goes on, Brooks will begin to work his way back into the flow of the Ducks’ offense and has already flashed the talent that has Oregon fans so anxious for his return.

In his absence, Oregon depended heavily on a three-guard lineup that showed both flaws and strengths of the team. Until Brooks gets back up to speed, Oregon will need to thrive in similar lineups if it hopes to reach the lofty expectations that come with early accolades.

“It’s a lot of talent at the guard spot, the big spot; we don’t really have that 6’6” position,” sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey said at Oregon’s media day in early October. “But we have a lot of guards to get up and down and run the floor and play a high-pace game to interchange everybody. There’s definitely a lot of talent and depth on the team.”

Dorsey leads a crew of four Duck guards who are interchangeable and can play numerous positions in Oregon’s free-flowing offense. Dylan Ennis returns as Oregon’s senior leader after missing last year with a foot injury, and has played the majority the minutes at the point guard spot so far.

Casey Benson, who was second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio last season, returns as well but could see a reduced role due the depth that Oregon has at guard. Freshman Payton Pritchard came to Oregon as a 4-star recruit and has emerged as Oregon’s most consistent point guard early in the season.

The combination of those three, mixed with the absence of Brooks, means that Oregon will have two point guards on the floor at almost all times.

“We do it in practice a lot,” Ennis said. “Last year in the summer we didn’t do it as much. But I think coach realizes that you can have two point guards on at the same time. I love playing with Casey, so it’s gonna be fun.”

Added to the mix is Dorsey, a 6’4” sharpshooter who has played shooting guard almost exclusively at Oregon, but projects as a point guard in the NBA and has the ability to handle the ball and distribute when needed.

Dorsey’s versatility as a ball-handler and a slasher allows the Ducks to play him wherever needed, and opens the option to play three guards at once in certain situations.

“That’s what we did in Spain,” Dorsey said in reference to Oregon’s summer trip in which they went 4-0 in exhibition games. “I’ll be looking forward to seeing that this year from coach Altman and our rotation, with three guards and two bigs.”

Even with Brooks back and steadily increasing his minutes, the Ducks will still depend on three-guard lineups in various situations. Even with Brooks available in a Nov. 22 win over Tennessee, Oregon ran a lineup featuring Ennis, Pritchard and Dorsey with Brooks playing a small-ball power forward spot late in the game.

It’s still early in the year, and Oregon has not looked the part of a cohesive product thus far. But expect Altman to shuffle and tinker with lineups as he looks for the best way to use his unique group of guards.

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With his season-ending press conference looming, Mark Helfrich called Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens this morning to ask about his job status. Helfrich knew the topic would dominate conversation during the media session, and he wanted clarity.

He got none.

“I really don’t know anything at this point,” Helfrich told reporters prior to fielding questions. “Other than, I called Rob [Mullens] about nine this morning, just knowing that everybody here would ask about it. And he wants to meet mid-week, based on his travel schedule — going to the college football playoff and that whole deal. I asked if we could meet today and it just didn’t work out.”

So, without knowing just how secure his job is, Helfrich will continue his Sunday as planned — by attending Oregon’s team banquet before hitting the road to recruit.

After a loss to Oregon State on Saturday capped off Oregon’s worst season since 1991, reports emerged late Saturday night that Oregon was expected to fire Helfrich and begin a search for a new head coach. If that is indeed Mullens’ plan of action, he hasn’t tipped his hand yet.

For now, Helfrich will operate as if all is normal while he hangs in limbo.

Helfrich said he hasn’t slept since Saturday’s game ended; he was up all night, responding to texts from friends on the east coast who surprised to find he was still awake. He texted players and assistants, thanking them and letting them know he had not been informed about his job status.

“Just again, thinking about a lot of factors — a lot of things that have occurred.”

Helfrich, who is normally guarded and quick to shoulder the blame for any poor result, provided possibly his most telling revelation all season when asked about leadership within the program.

“A ton of [teaching] moments occurred,” Helfrich said. “This was a team, this was just a group of guys, there wasn’t a lot of natural and credible leadership. Those are the guys who are great players, who are naturally vocal that assert themselves all the time. There weren’t a lot of those guys and we knew that coming into it. The guys who were the most of that ilk were hurt…”

“… That’s where we as coaches have to step in and make that happen.”

He said none of his assistants have told him that they plan to retire or are fielding interviews for other jobs. Helfrich also said that tight end Pharaoh Brown sat out the final two game of the season because of “injuries” and he did not acknowledge the recent report that Brown has been accused of numerous violent incidents in the past three years.

While Mullens will spend the early portion of the week traveling — he is currently headed to Dallas to fulfill his duties as a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee — Helfrich will twist in the wind and await word on his fate as he continues business as usual.

“I think it’s not ideal,” Helfrich said. “Timing of these things, again, that’s partly on me that we’re in this situation, but it’s less than ideal.”

At 2 p.m. on Sunday, Mullens released a statement which said he will evaluate “all aspects” of the football program just as he does at the conclusion of every season.

Statement from Oregon AD Rob Mullens on the status of the Oregon football program:#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/bk08rlKYcn

— Oregon Football (@WinTheDay) November 27, 2016

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Scout team is an aspect that is often overlooked among all the chaos of Oregon football, but is something that is “vital” for the Ducks’ success, according to head coach Mark Helfrich.

Throughout the season, the scout team has attempted to emulate certain players, playing styles and overall offenses and defenses to be best prepared for game time.

One player in particular, has had a key role in doing his best job to mimic standout athletes from the opposing team.

Redshirt senior Jarret Lacoste has only accumulated 57 yards on offense this season, but he has had a profound impact behind-the-scenes.

Prior to playing Stanford, Lacoste simulated 2015 Heisman finalist Christian McCaffrey’s style of play. Leading into the Civil War this Saturday, he will mirror the playing style of Oregon State standout Ryan Nall.

Nall, a redshirt sophomore, has been dealing with a foot injury as the Beaver’s starting running back. Despite injuries, Nall led the team in rushing with 23 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown on Saturday against Arizona. On top of that, he had two receptions for 15 yards and another touchdown to guide the Beavers to a 42-17 win at Reser Stadium.

He is someone who the Oregon run defense must stop if the Ducks want a shot at winning on Saturday, and Lacoste is the guy to help them prepare.

“I need to imagine that I’m another 20 pounds bigger,” Lacoste said. “So I’ve been told to make sure I’m running very hard. He’s very downhill, he doesn’t mind taking on the contact and he’s also like a second effort kind of guy where he’s still got his legs pumping even after he takes his first hit.”

Compared in stature, Nall is listed at 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 243 pounds, while Lacoste is 5-11, 214 pounds. So, he technically would need to rack on about another 30 pounds to be equal in weight to Nall, but Lacoste makes up for the weight differential in his practice mentality.

“The coaches talked to me about doing that mentally when I’m running the ball – be like him and be pushing hard, hard, hard to make the defense really work for it.”

This week is not the only week that the scout team has played a significant role. Prior to playing Stanford, as well as Utah, Helfrich commended how the scout team performed in practice.

“Our scouts on both sides have done a really, really good job this week,” Helfrich said leading up to the Stanford game. “That’s a huge deal when you’re playing a team like this who has certain things that they do exclusively from certain whatever. Whether it’s a look, a formation or a personnel group, that’s really important to simulate that as best as possible.”

While the Ducks weren’t able to stop McCaffrey in its 52-27 loss on Nov. 12th, it was a different story when the Ducks matched up against No. 12-ranked Utah on Saturday.

Leading into the Utah game, Helfrich was extremely happy with how the scout team was playing.

“I thought that the defensive line today, was really good as a scout team — that’s obviously big,” Helfrich said days before the Utah game. “Those guys create so much havoc.”

Senior offensive lineman Cameron Hunt thinks that the scout team is “very important” and counted on the scout team to prepare for Utah’s defensive line.

“[Utah does] a lot of schematic things with different blitzes and they’ve got some really good defensive linemen, so we’ve got to work that on practice and hopefully our scouts get a good look,” Hunt said.

Whatever it was that the scout team did to help prepare the Ducks’ offensive line for Utah, it made an impact. The Oregon defense held Utah to 5-of-12 on third downs and helped the Ducks win 27-24. This is a vast improvement for an Oregon defense that has become one of the worst in the country.

Oregon hopes that its scout team preparation carries over to this weeks highly anticipated Civil War matchup, where the Oregon run defense will be put to the test as they see if Lacoste’s Nall impersonation truly paid off.

“I know I don’t get to see the field too often,” Lacoste said. “But I know putting in my time here during the week really feels good, because then it comes to game time and I see Nall running and when he gets stopped up the middle, I’m like, ‘Oh, good,’ because you guys did that to me all week and I got beat up for that. So I’m glad that you guys hit him too.”

Follow Kylee O’Connor on Twitter @kyleethemightee  

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SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time in weeks, wide receiver Darren Carrington reverted back to something that used to come so naturally for him:

Simply having fun with the game of football.

Amid a lackluster season and during a week in which he was under investigation by police, Carrington made arguably the biggest catch of his life in one of the Ducks’ few truly meaningful moments of the season.

With eight seconds left in regulation, quarterback Justin Herbert tossed a lofting pass to the back of the endzone. Carrington made a jaw-dropping catch, keeping his foot inbounds by just centimeters to pull down a touchdown. It gave Oregon (4-7) a 30-28 lead that would hold as the final score in a win over No. 11 Utah.

The team waited for what seemed like ages for an official review to confirm the catch. When it was ruled as a completion, the Oregon bench erupted and celebrated the highest point of an otherwise lost season.

“If I’m gonna be honest, I lost the fun of the game for a little bit,” Carrington said. “For us to come out here and play against the [No. 11] team in the nation and play how we did, I think that speaks for something.”

HERE IT IS (with no ticker): The @OpusBank #12Best Moment is Darren Carrington's toe-tap game-winning TD! #UOvsUTAH pic.twitter.com/EjC61LUcoI

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 19, 2016

With two minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the game, Utah quarterback Troy Williams threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Evan Moeai that gave Utah a 27-24 lead and allowed the Utes to take back control of what had already been a wild fourth quarter.

Herbert and Oregon began a two-minute drill from their own 25, and marched down the field for a 10-play drive that nearly stalled numerous times. Herbert found tight ends Evan Baylis and Johnny Mundt for catches of 14 and 30 yards.

The Ducks found themselves in a 3rd-and-10 situation. On the ensuing play, Herbert was flushed from the pocket and instinctually weaved his way through a pair of Utah defenders before diving for a first down.

Herbert took a shot at the end zone on the next play, but Jalen Brown wasn’t able to corral a pass that was too high. Two plays later, Oregon ran an identical play to the opposite side of the field, and Herbert found Carrington in single coverage.

“[Utah’s] philosophy was that they were gonna make us throw it fast and bring everybody,” Oregon offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said. “But that gave us man-to-man coverage and so it worked out perfect.”

After Carrington’s catch, two seconds remained on the clock, and Utah staged a sloppy kickoff return that featured a half dozen lateral passes before it was blown dead near the 25-yard line.

Rice-Eccles Stadium fell dead silent as Utah’s home fans watched its team, which was on the cusp of drilling it’s way into the College Football Playoff conversation, fall at the hands of a Ducks squad that looked dead in the water seven days ago.

Oregon, meanwhile, celebrated like it was 2012. It scraped out its lone win over a ranked opponent this year and did so in a chaotic environment that featured that 10th-largest crowd in stadium history.

For one day — or maybe more like one half — head coach Mark Helfrich’s Ducks looked like the same Oregon team that spent almost a decade winning these types of games on a weekly basis.

Royce Freeman broke loose for 130 yards on 20 carries, and Tony Brooks-James chipped in another 82 yards. Justin Herbert threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns as he eluded a pass defense that is among the best in the nation. Oregon’s defense forced five stops in a row at one point and held the Utes to 5-of-12 on third down conversions.

With a laundry list of off-field incidents that is growing longer by the day, Oregon’s players and fans had amnesia for one brief moment as they embraced a point of euphoria amidst a morbid season.

“I can’t say enough about how those boys have stuck together throughout the season,” Helfrich said. “Here again today it could have been, “Oh, here we go again” in a heartbeat. So I am very, very proud of that.”

The gravity of Carrington’s remarkable moment on Saturday doesn’t outweigh the reality that Oregon is still stuck in one of the darkest points in program history. Carrington is one of five players who has been, or is still, under investigation for a criminal offense this year.

“Man, it’s just so eye-opening,” Mundt said. “Because you’re sitting in meetings with a guy, and then three days later he’s gone forever — out of that building, out of the facility. He’s not gonna be back. It’s extremely tough but then you’ve got to just look back and say, ‘We’re here to play football.’ We’re not here to be drinking and driving or doing any of that. It’s pretty ridiculous.”

Oregon will still have plenty of questions to answer when it wakes up tomorrow — one win won’t fix its problems on or off the field. But as Carrington smiled through the chaos that surrounds his life on Saturday, Oregon’s players and coaches smiled through the chaos that surrounds the program.

Even if it was only for one day.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @Jarrid_Denney

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SALT LAKE CITY — It came down to inches on Saturday.

The Ducks, looking for their first road win of 2016, narrowly edged No. 11 Utah 30-28 on a last-minute touchdown pass from Justin Herbert to Darren Carrington. Carrington’s right foot fell just in bounds, enough for an Oregon touchdown.

With the win, Oregon improves to 4-7, 2-6 in Pac-12 play. The Ducks snapped a two-game losing streak and won their second game in nine games. Utah, which had its sights set on a Pac-12 title, falls to 8-3, 5-3 in Pac-12 play.

Here’s a look at the final play that clinched the win for the Ducks:

Key plays:

— Utah wide receiver Corey Butler Byrd took an end around reverse to the right side, juked out two Oregon defenders, and dove across the pylon to finish a 24-yard run and give the Utes a 7-0 lead with 10:51 left in the first quarter.

— Oregon kicker Aidan Schneider connected for a 47-yard field goal, a new career high. The field goal cut the Utah lead to 7-3. Neither Oregon nor utah would score again before halftime.

— Oregon wide receiver Charles Nelson was ejected for targeting while on offense after a blindside hit on a broken play.

— Utah’s Joe Williams finished off a five-play, 44-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run. That gave the Utes a 14-3 lead over the visitors.

— Herbert connected with Jalen Brown for a 29-yard touchdown. The score pulled the Ducks to within four points, 14-10, with 27 seconds remaing in the third quarter.

— Oregon capped a 96-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Herbert to Royce Freeman. The touchdown gave the Ducks their first lead of the game at 17-14 with 10:37 remaning.

— After an official review, officials determined that punt returner Dillon Mitchell touched the football during a punt. Utah recovered and scored a touchdown, stopping Oregon’s momentum. Utah led 21-17.

— After Freeman fumbled on thirddown and 1 yard, Carrington recovered the ball. That set up an Oregon scoring drive. Herbert delivered a rushing touchdown to make it a 24-21 Oregon lead.

— Utah tacked on another touchdown with 2:18 remaining. The 30-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Evan Moaei gave Utah a 28-24 lead with 2:18 left.

— Oregon’s Carrington roped in a 17-yard touchdown pass with seconds remaing on the clock to give the Ducks a 30-28 lead.

Key Stats:

Oregon Passing

Justin Herbert: 30-of-43 passing for 324 yards and three touchdowns

Utah Passing

Troy Williams: 20-fo-30 passing for 235 yards for one touchdown

Oregon Rushing

Royce Freeman: 20 carries for 129 yards

Tony Brooks-James: nine carries for 78 yards

Utah Rushing

Joe Williams: 23 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown

Troy Williams: 10 carries for 40 yards

Oregon Receiving

Johnny Mundt: five receptions for 72 yards

Jalen Brown: five receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown

Darren Carrgington: five catches for 37 yards and a touchdown

Utah Receiving

Tim Patrick: six receptions for 58 yards

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time since 2004, Oregon will take the field for a game knowing that it is eliminated from bowl game contention.

The Ducks (3-7) suffered a 52-27 loss to Stanford last week that officially eliminated them from postseason contention — barring a scenario where they replaced another school in a bowl game.

With two straight losses and seven in their last eight games, the Ducks will face arguably the toughest defense they’ve seen this year in No. 12 Utah. The Utes rank 36th nationally in total defense and are sixth in the country in quarterback sacks (35).

Led by senior standout Hunter Dimick, who is tied for the national lead in sacks with 12, Utah has won three of its last four games and is one of several Pac-12 teams making a late-season ranking surge.

Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert received little help from his offensive line last week against Stanford, and was often scrambling to create extra time as he was chased around by Stanford’s defense. Herbert was sacked three times and hit three more times by the Cardinal defense.

Oregon’s offensive line will need to deliver a much improved performance this afternoon to protect Herbert from a front seven that fans have dubbed “Sack Lake City.”

The good news for the Oregon defense is that it doesn’t have to corral a player with the playmaking ability of Christian McCaffrey, as it did last Saturday when McCaffrey gashed the Ducks for 147 yards and three touchdowns.

However, they will be tasked with stopping a better overall offense that fields talented contributors at every position. Utah running back Joe Williams, who retired in the middle of the season only to return after a litany of Utah injuries, has been one of the best running backs in the nation over the past month. Williams broke loose for 181 yards on 15 carries last weekend against Arizona State and has totaled 865 yards on the ground in the last four games alone.

Utah quarterback Troy Williams has been quietly consistent this year and pairs with Williams to form a balanced attack. Williams has thrown for 2,184 yards and 13 touchdowns touchdowns to five interceptions while rushing for five more touchdowns.

Oregon was shredded by a Stanford passing game that entered the game ranked near the bottom of the country, and Williams could have the same type of day against an Oregon defense that is down another starter this week.

The Ducks will look to Royce Freeman to deliver another strong game after his bounce-back performance against Stanford last week. In the past two weeks, Oregon’s four primary wide receivers have gone for just 202 yards receiving, and the Ducks could be in for a long day if one of their wideouts don’t step up and stretch the field.

Oregon vs. Utah is set to kickoff at 11 a.m. and will air on the Pac-12 Network.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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Early in the season, there was plenty of concern that Oregon’s defensive line didn’t have the experience or skill to quickly adapt to defensive coordinator Brady Hoke’s 4-3 defensive scheme.

The Ducks were young to begin with, and senior defensive end Henry Mondeaux represented the Ducks’ only returning starter along the front seven.

Things have gone from bad to worse in the trenches for Oregon since the start of the year. With two games left in a disappointing season, the Ducks are stringing together a patchwork defensive line after six of their linemen have been ruled out for the season for various reasons.

“Nothing is going as planned since the start of the season,” Oregon defensive end T.J. Daniel said. “It’s really just next man up. What’s done is done; we can’t look in the past, we can’t dwell on it. So we’re looking onto Utah.”

Austin Maloata, one of the Ducks’ top run-stoppers this season, became the most recent casualty along the defensive front when he was arrested on three charges last Sunday morning and subsequently dismissed from the team later that day. The dismissal of Maloata came less than a week after Oregon sophomore Canton Kaumatule, one of the top recruits in Oregon history, accepted a medical hardship and saw his career at Oregon come to an end. Junior College transfer Ratu Mafileo also took a medical retirement in early October following various injuries.

The departures of those three players, as various injuries to freshman defensive tackle Drayton Carlberg, who hasn’t played since Oregon faced Cal on Oct. 21, have left the middle of Oregon’s defensive line depleted. But the edge positions have fallen victim to the same amount of attrition, as two of Oregon’s top edge rushers have missed time as well. Junior Eddie Heard was suspended indefinitely on Nov. 3 after being arrested one day earlier on assault charges.

Senior defensive end Torrodney Prevot was suspended indefinitely on Aug, 26 after it was revealed that Prevot was under investigation for a criminal offense.

The loss of six players who all figured to contribute in some capacity has forced Oregon to get creative in the way it configures itss front seven, which after the switch to a 4-3, is sending a four-man rush much more frequently than last season.

“Part of that is who’s available and that’s a reality-slash-excuse,” Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich told reporters last Sunday. “So you’re doing a few things differently from a front standpoint and moving guys around a little bit more. You’re blitzing a little bit more rather than playing base. But trying to change it up. … We can’t just put in eight D-lineman that we don’t have.  So that creates a challenge but challenges are opportunity as well.”

To make up for the lack of depth at interior linemen, Oregon has experimented with moving Henry Mondeaux, its top pass rusher, from defensive end to defensive tackle this week. At 6-foot-5, 280 pounds, Mondeaux has recorded 32 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss and could plug up the middle as Oregon prepares to face a Utah rushing attack that has found plenty of success lately.

“He’s moving down to the [three-technique position] inside, where we’re low on men,” Daniel said. “We’re just rotating — everybody knows each position. … He brings speed, quickness and the ability to get up field and get after the quarterback.”

Oregon is slated to start freshman Gary Baker and sophomore Rex Manu at the interior linemen spots this week, with freshman Wayne Tei-Kirby listed on the two-deep as well. With so many contributing players lost for the year, Oregon’s success over the remaining two games will hinge on the ability of young defensive tackles to adapt quickly.

“We’ll move some guys around,” Oregon defensive line coach Ron Aiken said. “We’ll rally together and we’ll keep marching forward.”

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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With nine minutes remaining in Oregon’s road matchup with Baylor on Tuesday, Jordan Bell caught an entry pass at the top of the key, turned to face the basket and cooly drained a contested 18-foot jumper.

Earlier in the half, Bell caught a pass on a fastbreak after an Oregon steal, took two dribbles and delivered a Euro step that caused a backpedaling Baylor defender to fall to the ground as Bell finished an easy layup.

These plays marked two of the few positives for the No. 4 Ducks in their underwhelming 66-49 loss in which they were handcuffed by Baylor’s zone defense.

But those small glimpses also signified something else: The evolution of Jordan Bell.

Bell, a 6-foot-9 forward who runs like a guard and has one of the quickest second jumps in college basketball, became a breakout contributor for the Ducks during last year’s NCAA Tournament. His offensive game consisted almost entirely of monstrous two-handed dunks and putbacks off missed shots.

Bell is one of the top shot-blockers in the country — he broke Oregon’s school block record in just his 50th career game — and paired with his defensive gifts, his ability to clean up misses on the offensive end was enough to make him an impact player last year. Over the summer, though, he added a jump shot to his game that could make him one of the best two-way threats in the Pac-12.

“The jumpers developed a lot — just little tweaks and fixes, like keeping my elbow in, keeping the ball up towards my face,” Bell said. “Just little stuff like that. Coach Mike Mennenga helped me out a lot in the summer. Everyday in the morning, just working out.”

During the summer, Oregon would play shooting games before and after practices, and Bell was among the best shooters in the gym by the time August rolled around. He beat almost everybody on Oregon’s roster at one point or another, including sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey, who shot 40.6 percent from 3-point range last season.

There’s still one player who Bell couldn’t top, though. 

“I’ve beat everybody except for Chris [Boucher],” Bell said, laughing, on Oregon’s media day. “I couldn’t beat Chris for some reason.”

Bell’s offensive expansion couldn’t have come at a better time for the Ducks.

As Baylor showed during its blowout victory, Oregon doesn’t have a solid answer for matchup zone defenses at this point in the year. Dillon Brooks is a preseason All-American and was the heart of Oregon’s offense last year when the Ducks were faced with zone looks. His ability to slash through the lane and find open shooters forced opposing defenses to stop sagging toward the 3-point line.

But Brooks is out with a foot injury for the time being, and may take time to get back up to speed whenever he returns. With Brooks gone, Oregon doesn’t have the type of slashing forward it needs to unlock defenses, and that could mean serious trouble when shooters go cold.

Bell might not be the full answer, but he is part of the solution. His ability to play more of a small-ball roll could ease the impact of Brooks’ absence.  

“I’ve talked to him a little bit about becoming a better perimeter defender,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “We’re gonna need that out of him. I think offensively he can do some things from there. But defensively, we’re gonna need him to get better and guard smaller guys.”

When they struggled to shoot against Baylor, the Ducks would run their offense through Bell at times — something that seemed unimaginable last year. An entry pass at the top of the key gave Bell the option to shoot or put the ball on the floor and beat an opposing big man one-on-one. He did both well at times against the Bears.

When paired with Boucher, which he will be often this year, Bell’s offensive versatility means the Ducks will boast two sharpshooting power forwards who can play interchangeably on the block, or along the baseline on the weak side of the defense.  

“With both of them, I can just run in the lane and throw it behind my head and one of them will catch it and dunk it,” Oregon guard Dylan Ennis said.

Whatever role the Ducks unleash Bell in this year, expect to see his offensive game blossom as the season goes on and the Ducks have more options available.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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During halftime of Oregon’s matchup with Baylor in Waco, Texas on Tuesday, ESPN commentator Andy Katz stated that Duck forward Dillon Brooks could return from a foot injury as early as next Monday.

The news couldn’t come at a better time for the Ducks, who missed the scoring presence of Brooks mightily Tuesday afternoon as they fell 66-49 in the final game of the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

Oregon falls to 1-1 on the season with the loss, and will likely see their ranking plummet after being dished an early-season blowout by the unranked Bears. At No. 4, Oregon was the top team that Baylor had ever welcomed to Waco, and the Bears took command of the game right away.

Baylor took a 33-23 lead into the half and held the Ducks to 9-of-32 shooting, including 2-of-13 from three-point range in the first half.

The Ducks grabbed momentum early in the second half, though. Dylan Ennis sliced through the lane for a layup on the Ducks’ first possession, and assisted on a Chris Boucher bucket on the next. Tyler Dorsey then drilled a three, and Boucher slammed home a dunk to cut the Baylor lead to one point.

But the Bears surged back and took a 45-38 lead with 12 minutes left in the game. That was the closest Oregon would get from that point, and the Ducks went on to shoot 3-of-21 from three-point range for the game.

Ennis led Oregon with 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting, grabbed two steals, and blocked two shots. Jordan Bell had eight points on 4-of-8 shooting, pulled down 11 rebounds, and blocked four shots, including two on back-to-back possessions early in the second half. Failure to convert from beyond the arc haunted the Ducks, though, and Ennis, Dorsey and Boucher combined to shoot 3-of-14 from long distance.

Baylor forward Jonathan Motley finished with 17 points and seven rebounds for the Bears, and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. blocked seven shots.

Oregon will next face Valparaiso in Eugene on Nov. 17. The game will be televised at 6 p.m. on Pac-12 Network.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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