What led to Jordan Burch’s diminished role in Oregon’s Week 2 win over Texas Tech?

Oregon received plenty of big contributions from its defensive stars in late, pivotal moments during Saturday’s 38-30 win over Texas Tech.

Brandon Dorlus was a one-man wrecking crew for the Ducks in the fourth quarter and produced a team-high five quarterback pressures — including one that led to Jeffrey Bassa‘s game-sealing pick-six on Texas Tech’s penultimate drive. Bryan Addison and Khyree Jackson each grabbed crucial interceptions. At times, Matayo Uiagalelei looked like a superstar in the making.

But one player whose name was surprisingly absent on the box score was Jordan Burch.

The former 5-star signee, who was expected to revolutionize Oregon’s pass rush after transferring in from South Carolina during the offseason, did not record a stat against the Red Raiders.

Burch played 29 snaps, which was tied for the 13th-most among the Ducks’ defenders and sixth-most among their defensive linemen, according to Pro Football Focus.

During his Monday press conference, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning was asked about Burch’s usage, or lack thereof, and provided some context.

“I think with Jordan, we walked away thinking he probably could have had some more snaps,” Lanning said. “But there was a strategic piece to that. When an offense goes really fast — when they substitute — you want to match the sub and slow the game down. And there’s just a reality of when they sub, you have an opportunity to sub as well. So, we wanted to sub right in those opportunities. And what that did is it did pull some guys off the field at times that would have been on the field more and vice versa. I think we’re always looking for more balance. But to be at a high level and play at a high level, it’s not necessarily the amount of snaps; it’s about what you do with the snaps that you get. We will continue to challenge our guys to do a great job there.

“But I know Jordan is a phenomenal player for us and has done a good job. And just because of the swing of things, with some of those substitutions, that happened at times.”

Dorlus (45 snaps), Casey Rogers (44), Uiagalelei (36), Popo Aumavae (32), and Keyon Ware-Hudson (31) all saw a greater share of playing time among Oregon’s defensive linemen in Lubbock than Burch did.

Dorlus’ snap count was low, too, by his own standards. The last time he played 45 or fewer snaps in a game that was not a blowout came during the Ducks’ 26-16 win over Washington on Nov. 6, 2021.

Rogers, however, played the second-most snaps of his career for a single game. His career high came during the Ducks’ 20-17 win over Utah in Eugene last season.

Uiagalelei was not the only true freshman who played a prominent role among Oregon’s front seven on Saturday. Fellow 2023 signees Teitum Tuioti (26 snaps) and Blake Purchase (12) both featured heavily against the Red Raiders.

With just over five minutes to go, and the Ducks leading 28-27, Purchase was on the field on 3rd-and-15 and produced a crucial quarterback hurry to force a throwaway from Shough and get the Texas Tech offense off the field.

“Great practice — when guys practice well, and they perform in practice, it translates to the game,” Lanning said Monday when asked what Tuioti and Purchase did to earn playing time in Week 2. “I think we’ve had a lot of young freshmen that have got opportunities to play and perform for us this year. And again, it’s not, it’s never about what they did on Saturday. It’s what they do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. When those guys do in practice, it generally shows up in the game.”

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