Oregon’s improved offense over the last two weeks hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Ducks’ (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) defense.

Defensive tackle A’Mauri Washington first noticed the signs of a turnaround in practice before the unit exploded for 836 yards and nine touchdowns against Northwestern and Ohio State.

The senior met with the media on Tuesday to discuss preparing an unpredictable Michigan offense (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten), the loss of teammate and outside linebacker Teitum Tuioti for the season to injury, as well as the scoop on the offense’s “Operation Swagger Back” mantra.

'Operation Swagger Back'

“After Illinois, it was like just a click. They call it Operation Swagger Back. Whatever the offense did, I feel like they was just killing us for like a little bit. I’m like, ‘Man, what are we doing? What are we doing?’"

"They was just like killing it. It started to translate into the game. I’m like, we got it, man. We just, if we keep going and like just don’t let the standard slip.”

EDGE Teitum Tuioti’s Devastating Injury and Team’s Response

“I definitely feel for him, though, man. Like, it had me in tears, though, man. Especially coming up with him all four years, just seeing how it was, though, for him, man. It happens, though, man. Like, we never know when that time come. Man, it’s really unexplainable."

"I definitely felt like there was definitely some juice out there. Definitely dudes knowing like, ‘Oh, 44 is down.’ So dudes was like coming in with some enthusiasm, trying to come up and step up for the job, you know what I mean? Like, just coming in dialed in, just to replace the type of production that we have missing for him.”

Ready for the Trenches

“Being from Michigan too, though, man, I always know Michigan was always known for having the run game, offensive line, the crazy defense. I feel like I’m definitely excited for it."

"I just love games in the trenches. I’m ready for y’all to try and run the ball, man. I just love it, man. It’s just fun. It just brings me back to when I was a kid.”

Preparing for the Unknown

“From a player standpoint, I feel like we just see what they do on film. I just come out there and just do my same job. There’s going to be some things we going to have to game plan for, like, just in case."

"I’m a defensive line guy, so I’m worried about what the offensive line movements is, how the block for protect, more block recognition type stuff. Just stick to the same things, basics and fundamentals.”

Refusing to Fold

“Once they got to 14, I remember we brought it up all on the sideline, and I remember we was just all talking about us because, we knew we was just getting beat off, like, mental errors, like mistakes like that. Once we cleaned it all up, we know we can have it."

"And I mean, that’s why we brought it up, like, man, we can really do it if we just everybody focus on your own job. Just do what you focus on man.”

Playing Freely Under Coach Dan Lanning

We have been emphasizing not being so tight, not worried about, like, don’t be too worried about mistakes or, like, what if this happens? Too worried about what they have on. Just come out, just do your job and have fun with it. You know what I mean. Just come out there. If you, that’s all, it’s cool. Let’s keep going. We got plenty more things to do.”

On Refusing to Quit After Three Losses

“How bad do you really want it, though, man? Do you want to just give up when it’s easy? If somebody just gave you the white flag or the bell to just ring it, do you want to ring it?"

"You know what? I feel like that’s what it comes down to. And I don’t think nobody here made that decision to just do that.”

Oregon Ducks’ Fake Punt Magic

“Just seeing it, well, I thought about it like what it’s like for an actual quarterback to pull an actual fake play off and for him to throw it off two feet and not even see where he was throwing it."

"Like, he just threw it off the top of his head. Matayo just wide open. You know what I’m saying? It was just crazy. Like, I thought something for sure was about to happen the way he threw the ball, but it all turned out good, though.”