Oregon, fresh off a bye week, has had extra time to prepare for its game against the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe on Thursday night. Following practice on Monday, quarterback Vernon Adams, Jr. said the bye week was “a little too long,” but the team is “ready to play.”
Arizona State is a team that likes to blitz a lot on defense, but Adams said he likes playing those types of teams because it gives the wide receivers a lot of one-on-one opportunities.
“Arizona State does a lot of good things on defense,” Adams said. “They try to confuse you with stuff and you’ve just got to be smart. You’ve just got to make sure the o-line and running backs are in the right protections, and if you see something, just trust it. Trust what you see and take what they give you. Don’t force anything and just have fun.”
Offensive coordinator Scott Frost said the Sun Devils being described as a blitz-heavy team is “an understatement.”
“These guys blitz not just one extra guy but two extra guys a bunch of the time,” Frost said. “I think their blitz percentage is between 55 and 60 percent, so on more than half the plays they’re coming after us.”
The goal of Arizona State’s defense, Frost said, is to “create chaos” by taking away the easy plays and leaving the quarterback vulnerable to the pass rush. He described the defense as boom-or-bust. Teams that have faced it often lose yardage on consecutive series, only to break out for long gains shortly thereafter. Patience, therefore, is the key to defeating it.
“There are going to be some series they win,” Frost said. “When they’re going to be that aggressive and gamble, they’re going to make their share of plays. We just have to hit on our share of plays, too, and hopefully when we hit on our share of plays, they’re big plays.”
The Ducks restored balance to their offense last week in their win over Washington, thanks to the returns of Adams from a finger injury and wide receiver Darren Carrington from a suspension. In previous weeks, back-up quarterbacks Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie lined up behind center, and Oregon’s passing game was severely limited. The offense was unbalanced, so opposing defenses were able to focus their efforts on stopping the running game because the passing game wasn’t a threat.
Frost said having Adams and Carrington back made a “huge difference in the game,” and Adams, in particular, made plays that “really bailed us out.”
“When we’re balanced, we’re a better team,” Frost said. “For a while there we felt like our best chance was to run [the ball] a bunch, and we ran it well when we did, which was great to see. But if we can make throws down the field, it loosens everything up, so we’re going to have to be balanced.”
Frost thinks Oregon’s tempo on offense will play a “big factor” in the game. He plans on being selective in terms of when to utilize a fast-tempo attack, so as to give Oregon’s defense ample time to rest.
“If our defense has been on the field a long time, I don’t want to go fast and put the defense right back on the field if it doesn’t work,” Frost said. “We’ll pick our spots with the tempo.”
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