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| Michael Clay and Avery Patterson stop by to wish Andrew Luck all the best with the whole Heisman thing. |
Oregon isn't all about offense
Ducks' defense, while not posting flashy numbers, gets the job done. Like the offense, they are deep and troublesome.
By David Wharton
November 17, 2011, 4:30 p.m.
Reporting from Eugene, Ore. — Just to be clear, Michael Clay does not want to sound like a complainer.
The linebacker understood when he signed with Oregon he was joining a program known for its rapid-fire offense. For outracing opponents, not stopping them cold.
Defense is something of an afterthought.
"Can't deny that," Clay said. "We kind of fly under the radar."
But this fall, with the fourth-ranked Ducks sneaking back into the national championship hunt, scoring almost seven touchdowns a game, Clay and his defensive teammates are starting to get noticed.
They frustrated Heisman Trophy favorite Andrew Luck in a lopsided win over Stanford last week. Now comes another test against Matt Barkley, who leads No. 18 USC into Autzen Stadium for a Pac-12 Conference showdown Saturday.
"Their defense is really good," USC Coach Lane Kiffin said. "Probably the best it's ever been there."
At first glance, the statistics make that sound like normal pregame talk from a coach. Giving up an average of 384 yards a game, the Ducks rank around the middle of the conference.
But look closer.
Their offense, which can score as quickly as some teams go three-and-out, has left the defense on the field a wearying 797 plays. That's 122 more than USC — almost two games' worth.
"I'm not going to sit here and [lie to] you," defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said. "Sometimes it can be difficult."
Where Aliotti's squad shows its worth is in per-snap statistics, giving up only 4.8 yards, which would put the Ducks among the top 20 or so defenses in the nation.
"They cause you a lot of problems," Kiffin said. "They're all over the place."
Much like the offense, the defense tries to confuse opponents with an array of looks from a variable scheme that can switch from 4-3 to 3-4 in an instant. But deception goes only so far.
The Ducks have to reach deep into their roster to keep fresh legs on the field for so many minutes. It's not unusual for them to rotate seven or eight linemen, a handful of linebackers and seven or eight defensive backs.
"You're not going to find anybody in the nation that rotates that many people and gets the results we do," defensive end Terrell Turner said.
It also helps that they work against that offense for parts of each day's practice, hustling through Coach Chip Kelly's distinctively frenetic drills. In one regular segment, the ball is placed for a new snap even as the previous play is coming to an end.
"That's full-tilt, hyper-speed," Aliotti said. "You'd have to see it to really understand."
The deep rotation necessitates playing some underclassmen and suffering through growing pains. Oregon has also missed All-American cornerback Cliff Harris, suspended multiple times for traffic tickets.
Harris sat out a 40-27 season-opening loss to Louisiana State, a game in which three turnovers left the Ducks continually scrambling to defend a short field.
Since then, they have matured enough to hold the likes of California and Washington to 17 points or fewer and would have shut out Colorado if not for a safety on Harris' fumbled punt return.
A big part of the Ducks' success comes from pressuring the quarterback, collecting a conference-best 32 sacks. Luck credited the front seven for pestering him into a subpar game that included a fumble and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
"They did a good job with stunts and blitzes," he said.
Still, most of the talk this week has centered on USC needing to keep pace with Darron Thomas, LaMichael James and the rest of an Oregon offense that averages almost two touchdowns more than the Trojans.
Hardly anyone has talked about the Ducks who play on the other side of the ball.
Which is fine with them. If anything, the defense can see an advantage to being overlooked.
"We like being the underdog," Clay said. "We can surprise people."
[It's true that Oregon's defense has been playing much better the past three weeks. But one person still has his doubts. . . .
Barkley: Oregon's defense still vulnerable
November, 15, 2011
by Pedro Moura, ESPN LA
USC quarterback Matt Barkley said after Saturday's 40-17 win over Washington that the Oregon Ducks, the Trojans' next opponent, have been better in the past than they are in 2011.
But his head coach, Lane Kiffin, said the next day that Barkley would realize he should retract his statements once he started watching film of the Ducks, and Barkley did just that after Tuesday's practice.
“They’re a great team,” Barkley said. “They’re well-deserving of their ranking. That (assessment) was just based off of scores I had seen -- I had never really watched them. [He would do well in the Republican debates.]
"After watching tape of them, they’re probably one of the top defenses we’ll be facing this year."
But, even so, he maintained that there are options on offense for USC. There are ways to beat the Ducks, he said.
“They show a lot of different fronts, a lot of different coverages and blitzes," Barkley said. "They try to confuse you. But there are weaknesses and holes that we’ll have to exploit."
“They get after it when they do that, and they’ll catch you off guard. That’s when we have to be smart enough to, especially me, recognize those and get our offense in the right checks. But they are vulnerable in some aspects.”
[Well good luck with that, Matt. Oh by the way, your #1 receiver probably won't be playing Saturday, or at best he'll be playing hurt. Also, your running game sucks (166 yards/game). But good luck with that. ]
After Barkley's initial comments, Oregon safety Eddie Pleasant told Eugene-area reporters that the Ducks "don't even care" what any of the Trojans have to say about the matchup.
“Ever since I’ve been here (USC players) always have something to say before we play them,” Pleasant said, according to The Oregonian. “We just can’t do nothing about that. We just have to go out there and play."
[It's easy to quantify Barkley's statements. Last year against the Ducks, he was sacked twice and intercepted twice. If he's asking the Ducks to prove that they're better this year, I'm sure they'll be up to the challenge. After all, they lead the league in dishing out sacks.
To be fair, USC currently leads the league in giving up the fewest sacks. Stanford did hold that lead, but then Oregon added three more to their total last week.
Oregon ranks third in the league with 12 interceptions (USC is ninth with 8). But stats mean nothing once the game starts. So Barkley, if you see holes in Oregon's D., make it your calling to exploit them.
Level with us, Barkley. Things haven't turned out for you quite like you hoped, haven't they? Three years ago, you were the Man. The PHENOM! The Boy Wonder.
Now all you hear is LUCK, LUCK, LUCK. You must be sick of Luck. Why if you weren't a good Christian boy, you'd think of a bad word that rhymes with Luck and scream it into your pillow!
But that's not all. There's a new Phenom. A new boy wonder in Keith Price of Washinton. He currently leads you in passing efficiency.
And that's still not all. Nick Foles of Arizona is still around, out-passing you. And so is Brock Osweiller at ASU. When people talk about the great QB's of the league, they may rattle off the names of up to four or five guys before they think of you.
This wasn't how you had planned it. MATT BARKLEY was supposed to be on the Heisman watch. MATT BARKLEY was supposed to be the talk of the league. MATT BARKLEY was supposed to be leading his team to the Natty.
But it didn't work out that way. Even if you had won all of your games, you wouldn't be going anywhere because USC is on probation.
Oh well, Matt. Don't worry about it. Just focus on those weakness and holes in Oregon's D that you're sure about. You do that and I'm sure you'll beat Oregon.
Hey, at least you'll be the best quarterback on the field. . . . . . Oops. . . . . Darron Thomas has a better pass efficiency rating than you too.
Sorry about that, Matt.
Gametime 5pm Pacific on ABC.
The following features footage of the last time Barkley and Co. visited Eugene.
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