Coming off its fifth straight loss, Oregon is preparing to face an Arizona State team that finds itself near the bottom of the Pac-12 South standings. The Sun Devils are expected to blitz more than any team the Ducks have faced in conference play, but have the worst pass defense in the nation by a wide margin.
Oregon offensive coordinator addressed the media after Oregon’s practice on Wednesday and discussed a number of topics, including Royce Freeman’s health and the defensive tendencies of Arizona State.
How do you prepare Justin (Herbert) for a team that blitzed a lot, like ASU, when he hasn’t seen that much this year?
You just try to give him as many scenarios as you can that you’ve seen on tape. Justin is doing a lot of good things but one of the things that’s given him the opportunity to play for us is his composure and making plays under duress. So he’s shown us every indication that he can play against any type of defense
After watching the film, what slowed Royce down last week, is he not completely healthy or was it something that Cal did?
I think it was a combination of things. I think it was something they were doing. I thought they did a good job of adding an extra guy to the box to try to take away the run. Our run game was kind of hit and miss. We had some big ones and there were some that we didn’t. Royce is a lot healthier this week than he was last week.
Arizona State has a good run defense, is that because teams are not running on them more a lot or is their defense just that good?
They’re pretty good against the run. They’re a good defensive football team. They’re a very aggressive team and you gotta match aggressiveness with aggressiveness and it’s a big challenge to our guys. Our guys are excited about it but yeah their stats kind of speak for themselves.
What was ASU doing well in their matchup with WSU?
I think it’s a combination of things. I think they’re very good at pressuring the quarterback schematically. But I also think they’ve good personnel up front. Some of those sacks were just they’re defense ends beating they’re offensive tackles. So it’s gonna be a challenge for us. Another thing, Washington State throws it a lot so when you throw it that much you’re gonna be prone to more sacks. But like I said it’s gonna be challenge to our guys and our guys are excited about it.
Do you expect Tony Brooks-James to have more of a role this weekend?
Yeah. I mean Tony’s playing great on special teams, really any time he gets in the game. So we’re figuring out more ways of getting him the ball as well as just keep him going on special teams because he loves to be on the field.
With the increase in reps he (Brooks-James) is getting, have you seen him get more used to taking a beating and staying out on the field?
I think so. That was one of the things last year, we had a hard time keeping him healthy, just kinda some freakish things. This year he did a great job in the offseason, making himself just more physically less prone to injuries and I think it’s just his mindset. He wants to be on the field. And the thing about Tony is he can do everything. He can run between the tackles, he can get to the perimeter, he can catch passes and he’s doing a great job on special teams for us.
Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris