While Oregon continues to pile up the statistics offensively, one piece of the offense hasn’t made as much of an impact recently. That’s the wide receivers – particularly Jaison Williams.
“I would like to see other guys step up,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. “We’ve got to get Jaison Williams back on track.”
A lot of it has to do with the Ducks’ offensive scheme, as it’s been focused more around the running game, but Williams has dropped the ball on several occasions. He said it’s something that’s been bothering him, that he’s been sub-par because of a few outside distractions that are hindering his practice routine and mental focus. Williams wouldn’t specify what was bothering him, but he said it was a little bit of everything.
Still, it hasn’t been a huge detriment to Oregon thanks to its main stars.
“Luckily I have two Heisman candidates on the same team as me. It makes me messing up a little bit easier,” Williams said.
Not that it’s okay if he messes up, however.
“I don’t want it to happen again,” Williams said. “I don’t want to miss any bad blocks or drop any good balls.”
Fortunately, he had a monster game against Arizona State last year, catching 10 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns, almost all in the first half as the Ducks trounced the Sun Devils 48-13 in Tempe, Ariz.
In last year’s game, Williams owed much of his success to quick, bubble-screen passes where he would stand at the line of scrimmage without running a route, receive the pass from Dixon and make most of his yards running over the Sun Devils’ defensive backs.
“He had a pretty good day with bubble screens against this team,” Bellotti said. “He’ll continue to get better, it’s more of a question of focus and execution.”

Max Unger receives praise from ESPN’s Kiper Jr.

While Max Unger didn’t believe he fared well against USC’s future-pro-loaded defensive line last week, one person with considerable influence believed the Ducks’ center proved himself to be an NFL-caliber player – that’s ESPN’s NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr.
For most of the game, Unger faced off against Trojan defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, a player Unger called the best player he’s ever had to block.
“That’s hands-down the best defense I’ve ever played in my life. As far as speed, and I don’t even know how many first-round draft picks that defense will produce eventually,” Unger said. “I didn’t especially play a great game but (Ellis) is very good.”
Despite Unger’s admission of not performing as well as he has in the past, Kiper came away impressed.
“His footwork and hand placement enable him to do a very good job in pass protection, and he’s capable of making some nice second-level blocks in the running game,” Kiper wrote on his ESPN page.
As for the Sun Devil defense, Unger won’t have to worry about having to consistently block future NFL first-round picks. He’s more familiar with the Sun Devil group considering their defense hasn’t changed much over the past year. Still, it’s a unit that’s performing better than it has in the past and that’s what has Unger thinking about in Saturday’s game.
“It’s pretty much the same defense we’ve faced last year,” Unger said. “It’s the same group of guys but, I don’t know, something’s got them playing pretty fired up.”

Costa lost to injury

Oregon’s third-string sophomore quarterback, Nathan Costa, tore the ACL and MCL ligaments in his left knee during practice Tuesday and will have surgery in the coming weeks.
Costa planned to redshirt this season and the injury will cement that decision. He is expected to participate in non-contact drills during spring practice, depending on how the surgery and rehabilitation goes.
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