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| Oregon hopes to run against the Arizona defense again this year (Chris Pietsch/Register Guard) |
The conference season has arrived and it's time to find out if the confidence gained and respect earned from the preseason merit any weight. It's the first season for Arizona under their new head coach Rich Rodriguez and the early returns are positive thus far. The Arizona Wildcats come into the not so friendly confines of Autzen boasting a 3-0 record. The 'Cats went down to the wire with Toledo to open the season winning in overtime before they laid the wood to Oklahoma State and then South Carolina State. To this point in the season Arizona has not had to play on the road. There are very few places in the country that are a tougher place to have a first road game than Autzen Stadium.
Arizona has been an offensive juggernaut so far scoring over 46 points per game and feature a top 10 passing offense even without last season's leading receiver Juron Criner. Criner's absence is something that Duck fans will welcome as he has torched the Oregon secondary for the last three seasons. Instead, Austin Hill and Dan Buckner have been shouldering the load out wide for the 'Cats. Matt Scott has come in for his first full season as starter and has adapted to coach Rich Rod's scheme well throwing so far for 995 yards on the season and will certainly give Oregon's young secondary a challenge. Not only has Matt Scott proved himself to be a problem for defenses through the air, Scott is the second leading rusher for the Wildcats trailing only Ka'Deem Carey. Carey has gone well over 100 yards in two of three preseason games. Carey was shut down early against SCSU and still got to 71 yards and a score. His best game to this point came against Oklahoma State in which he tallied 3 scores on the ground and another through the air tallying 154 total yards from scrimmage.
The Ducks defense is going to face their first real test with Arizona and they're going to have to do it without All American John Boyett who was shut down for the season with knee surgery. They do however still have one of the better line backer tandem's in the conference in Michael Clay and Kiko Alonso. They are going to have to stay disciplined and follow their assignments to perform well against the dynamic Arizona offense. Oregon needs to find a way to make Matt Scott one dimensional. If they can do that, they may be able to stifle the 'Cats.
The Ducks are entering a new regime themselves as they are lost two of their more prolific stars in the Chip Kelly era from last season. LaMichael James and Darron Thomas have moved on from the university and in their places are Senior Kenjon Barner and Freshman Marcus Mariota respectively. Barner does have experience against the Wildcats. While Barner only accounted 78 yards from scrimmage he was responsible for three touchdowns, two on the ground and one through the air and could be the balance that Freshman Mariota needs against the unorthodox defense that Arizona runs. In addition to new head coach Rich Rodriguez, the Wildcats' defense is headed up by new defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. Casteel worked with Rodriguez at West Virginia. They work in a hybrid offense which features 3 down linemen, 3 line backers and 5 defensive backs. It's not something the Ducks have faced yet this season and it will be interesting to see how the freshman signal caller responds. The defense has yielded 4 interceptions already and boasts a disruptive sophomore tandem in the secondary Johnathan McKnight and Jared Tevis who have accounted for all four of those picks. Oregon is going to have to cut down on silly penalties and turnovers as they are tied with WSU for the most penalized team in the conference. They need to stay out of 2nd/3rd and longs to keep the talented young secondary of Arizona from making a major impact on the game. The X-Factor to this game as well as the rest of the season is Oregon's dynamic Sophomore De'Anthony Thomas. Thomas has been a touch down machine and it will be interesting to see if he can torment conference opponents once again this season.
This game is a major crossroads for both teams and will go a long ways in deciding the shape of the conference for the rest of the season. As mentioned Arizona is playing their first road game and Oregon has yet to be tested on the road so it's good that they get a solid conference opponent at home before they go to Seattle next week to face off with Washington State.
Oregon Wins If Arizona Wins If
Able to run the ball Make Mariota Make Mistakes
Minimize Turnovers Execute Spread offense
Make Matt Scott one dimensional Create Turnovers
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