In the two years since the Oregon football team last traveled to Tucson, it has appeared in the Rose Bowl, weathered a slew of player arrests, seen its star quarterback kicked off the team, replaced him with an even better player and played in the BCS National Championship Game.
It has been an eventful season and a half, to say the least. And yet, no one has forgotten the epic showdown at Arizona Stadium in November 2009, when Oregon came back to win 44-41 in double overtime.
It was a thrilling finish, one that will serve as a particularly intriguing backdrop this week as Oregon (2-1, 0-0 Pac-12) and Arizona (1-2, 0-1) face off once again.
“What happened two years ago, I know they’re still thinking about that,” junior running back LaMichael James said. “It’s going to be a battle. I know we’re going to face some adversity with the fans and the team.”
Many of the faces from that memorable night are gone. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who threw for 284 yards while running for 61 and accounting for all six of Oregon touchdowns, has been replaced by junior second-year starter Darron Thomas. Dependable targets like wide receiver Jeff Maehl and tight end Ed Dickson have also departed, leaving James, fellow running back Kenjon Barner and receiver Lavasier Tuinei as the only remaining contributors at the skill positions.
Indeed, the Wildcats have also seen their fair share of upheaval, but Oregon head coach Chip Kelly pointed out that their schemes remain largely the same.
“Since I’ve been here, they’ve been throwing the heck out of the ball,” Kelly said. “They’ve had two really good quarterbacks in Willie (Tuitama) and now Nick (Foles), and then defensively, Mike (Stoops) really runs the defense, so that really hasn’t changed much.”
Arizona’s offense, which features the prolific Foles as well as game-breaking wide receiver in Juron Criner, will likely garner most of the attention headed into Saturday’s matchup. Still, Oregon players know that the Wildcat defense can be just as dangerous.@@names correct@@
“They’re a Pac-12 defense,” Barner said. “They’re fast — they’re extremely fast — and they’re physical. They have a great group of guys at corner, they lost some guys on the D-line, but they have some guys that stepped in to fill in those roles.
“They’re an exciting defense, and we’re going to have to come in and bear down and get ready to play.”
Arizona’s recent struggles only add further intrigue to Saturday’s contest. The Wildcats are coming off two straight losses to then-No. 9 Oklahoma State and then-No. 6 Stanford, respectively. The defense gave up 37 points in both games, while the offense managed just 24 points combined. Just three games into the season, Mike Stoops’ squad finds itself at a crossroads.
“They’re, to a certain degree, like a wounded animal,” Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said. “They need a win, they’re hungry. When you play on the road, you need to match that intensity.”
Oregon has had no problem doing just that of late. The Ducks have won 14 of their last 16 matchups with Arizona, including six of the past seven on the road. In the last three games, Oregon has averaged 49 points and 500 total offensive yards per game, outgunning an Arizona attack that has also proven explosive.
The numbers all favor Oregon, but they only tell part of the story. Oregon has piled up victories against the Wildcats, but few of them have come easily.
“We had the one my redshirt year, it was like 45-3 at halftime or something like that, and then we won 55-45,” junior left guard Carson York said. “And then down there for the double-overtime game, and then last year they were beating us at halftime and we came back and won.”
There is little reason to believe Saturday will be any different.
“They’re going to come out hard,” James said. “And we’re going to have to weather the storm.”
Oregon travels to Arizona for Pac-12 opener
Daily Emerald
September 22, 2011
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