Lucas Clark: Over the past 14 years, Oregon has accumulated a 15-2 record when coming off of a bye week, and this year it could not have come at a better time. The Ducks have suffered a plethora of injuries this season to some of the big-name players, including Jeremiah Masoli, T.J. Ward, Walter Thurmond III and Willie Glasper. But with an extra week of rest and time to take care of the minor dings and bruises, I expect we’ll see a rejuvenated and revitalized team come Saturday afternoon. With Masoli likely to be back under center running Oregon’s second-ranked scoring offense in the Pac-10 with more than 32 points per game, the Ducks will be off to a fast start against a Washington defense that has allowed 54 points in the first quarter through seven games.
Christian Caple: Even though Tyrone Willingham’s gone, I don’t know how realistic it is to expect the Huskies to be that much better against Oregon’s offense. UW still gets almost no push up front, one of the biggest reasons why they’ve been completely ineffective against the spread offense the past couple seasons. They just don’t have the speed to hang with Oregon on that side of the ball. So if they’re going to have any kind of chance, it will be because Jake Locker has a huge day and the offense takes advantage of a slightly banged-up Oregon secondary. I’d still say this is the best chance Washington has to beat the Ducks than they’ve had in a while.
LC: I would definitely agree with that. While Oregon has won the past five matchups, this is still a decent Washington squad that could just as easily be 5-2 overall in 2009 instead of 3-4, had a few things gone their way. And like you said, in order for the Huskies to have a chance, junior quarterback Jake Locker will have to come up big. He impressed me last year when UW came to Eugene and has continued to impress this season. Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said earlier this week that he thinks Locker is the best quarterback in the Pacific-10 Conference and has been for some time. His mobility and strength make him extremely versatile and he will be the toughest quarterback the Duck defense has faced this year.
CC: That’s kind of the continuing trend with Locker. Every coach every week says he’s the best quarterback they’ll play against this season. But it’s going to take one hell of an effort to overcome what Masoli and the rest of that offense is going to do. Remember 2007? Oregon had 660 yards of total offense in that game. Watching bubble screens pick the Huskies apart all night against Arizona two weeks ago, you couldn’t help but think that Oregon had to be licking its chops. On the bright side, the weakest part of UW’s defense, the secondary, is least essential to their success this week. It’s going to be all about the front seven.
LC: The game will undoubtedly be won or lost up front for both teams. Oregon’s front seven has slowly turned into a better-than-average unit, with junior linebacker Casey
Matthews leading the way in the middle. His team-high 42 tackles helped elevate some of the pressure off of his teammates and it seems like the Ducks have a different game-high tackler every week. Junior defensive lineman Kenny Rowe has put together a great season so far, with 6.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He posted a career-high seven tackles at UCLA two weeks ago and his surprising speed could prove to be a tough matchup for the Husky o-line.
CC: Any kind of speed is surprising to the Husky offensive line. That’s why some people think Jake Locker might have even more incentive to bolt for the NFL after this season. It would be for the benefit of his health. He’s going to need some time to throw, because the way the Huskies have been running the ball lately, they’re going to have to do most of their damage through the air to have a chance in this one. But what it’s going to come down to is simply whether UW can finally figure out Chip Kelly’s spread offense. They haven’t come close so far.
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Points of Debate
Daily Emerald
October 22, 2009
Jarod Opperman
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