Now two weeks removed from its worst offensive performance of the season, the top-ranked Oregon Ducks have an even bigger beast to tame this Friday in the No. 20 Arizona Wildcats.
The Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pacific-10 Conference) used the bye week to wash out the bad taste left from a narrow 15-13 win over California on Nov. 13.
Oregon’s dynamic backfield also got some much-needed rest, as sophomore running back LaMichael James had time to heal, while fellow sophomore Kenjon Barner used the opportunity to get that much closer to full speed after being sidelined with a concussion for nearly a month.
Following the Cal game, James was seen leaving Memorial Stadium on crutches with a boot on his left foot, but he has been back in action with the first-team offense in practice this week.
Barner said nothing has changed with James since getting dinged up in Berkeley.
“LaMichael’s the same guy,” Barner said. “Week in, week out, crackin’ jokes, just being LaMichael … he looks real good to me.”
Coming off his lowest rushing total of the season against to Golden Bears (91 yards and no touchdowns), James and the Oregon offense will look to put its foot back down on the gas pedal when facing a hard-nosed Arizona defense on Friday.
“They’re a lot like (Arizona coach) Mike (Stoops) himself,” Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. “Real tough, hard competitor. They’ve been one of the top defenses ever since he’s been down there.
“Every year I’ve been here, our battles with Arizona have been knock-down, drag-outs and that’s what this thing’s going to be.”
When Oregon traveled to Tucson last fall for what was considered to be one of hardest-fought wins for the Ducks all season, then-junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli led Oregon to a double-overtime victory in one of his strongest games in an Oregon uniform.
Masoli recorded 61 of the Ducks’ 175 total rushing yards in that game, finding the end zone three times on the ground.
He threw for 284 more yards and another three scores. The six-touchdown performance included a one-yard run at the end of the second overtime to seal the game.
Barner, and most of the Oregon team, still hasn’t forgotten about the strong individual effort from their former teammate.
“I remember Jeremiah Masoli going off,” Barner said. “You know, Masoli brought us through, but this year it’s a different team, different guys, you know just gotta get out there and get after it.”
This season, sophomore quarterback Darron Thomas is in the driver’s seat with just two games remaining on the conference schedule and a perfect record hanging in the balance.
In 10 games this season, Thomas has completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 2,225 yards and 23 touchdowns, while running for another 434 yards and four scores.
Thomas remembered watching from the sidelines last season, and expects a tough game from the Wildcats, especially defensively.
“It’s going to be a similar game,” Thomas said. “They goin’ come out maybe with a similar defense. They came out, they had a good plan against us last year, so it’s going to be a battle.”
Oregon has taken the last two matchups from Arizona, but lost a heartbreaker in Tucson in 2007, a game that will always be remembered by Oregon fans as the game that ended the college career of former Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon.
The Ducks were ranked No. 2 in the country at the time and on the brink of a national championship appearance.
Kelly feels that this team, however, is more levelheaded than past Oregon squads.
“We don’t get too up after a win, we don’t get too down after anything,” Kelly said. “We just come back out and play. We learn from what goes on in the week before, we make corrections that we have to make, and then we move on. That’s what this team is all about.”
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