It was a business as usual type day for the Oregon football team Thursday as it prepares to fly to Salt Lake City, Utah for Saturday’s game.
Facing its last true road test of the season against a Utah team with plenty of characteristics about itself that create difficult match-ups for the Ducks, Mark Helfrich is certainly aware of what the playbook may be geared to for the Utes.
“Their tailback is the strength of their team and we have to stop that first and foremost,” Helfrich said following the team’s last practice of the week.
There’s no doubt about that either. Utah freshman running back Devontae Booker has become a staple of the offense’s continued success this year and his performance in last week’s 19-16 loss to Arizona State proves just how much they might go to him.
Booker ran the ball 37 times for 146 yards in the loss and is just 10 yards shy of eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark on the season. In addition, his 5.4 yards per carry could very much expose a Ducks defense that ranks 103rd in the nation in total defense.
So, what’s the game plan to stop him?
“We’re going to play with 12 guys, that’s our best chance,” Helfich jokingly said. “He’s dynamic, he’s a powerful runner, hard to tackle, runs with great pad level, very physical. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him get tackled by one guy so its going to be a committee approach to stop him.”
Oregon also will be trying to reestablish its identity on the road Saturday. As Andrew Greif of The Oregonian pointed out via twitter, the scoring defense and yards per play differences in the Ducks’ games at home and on the road are staggering.
Home/road for Oregon defense. Points allowed: 20.2 (home)/34.0 (away). Yards/play allowed: 5.4/6.1. 3rd down convrt % allowed: 47.5/44.9.
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) November 6, 2014
Limiting the big plays seems to be the easy guide to eliminating those problems. With an offense that averages 45.4 points per game, its defense generally is allowed a few breaks, however on the road at Rice-Eccles Stadium has proved to be a challenge in recent years for ranked opponents.
Last year, an undefeated Stanford team lost in that stadium and just two weeks ago, the Utes knocked off then 20th-ranked USC.
On the other side of the ball, Matt Pierson remains listed as a starter, but appeared to have suffered an MCL sprain in last week’s contest against Stanford. Tyrell Crosby is listed as his backup and should calm at least a few fears about the offensive line’s continued health concerns in the fact that he’s started multiple games already this year.
He’ll be helping a unit face a Utah defensive line that leads the nation in sacks with 39 while also averaging 9.1 tackles for loss per game.
It’ll be a challenge nonetheless, yet its a test that Oregon has continued to score successfully on as the regular season nears its conclusion.
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise
