Oregon, 9-1 in home openers under head coach Mike Bellotti, is looking forward to erasing the bad taste from its mouth after the last home game, a 34-26 loss to UCLA.
The Ducks have that opportunity on Saturday, hosting the University of Montana Grizzlies, a Division I-AA school out of the Big Sky Conference.
Typically, a Pacific-10 Conference school matched up against a Division I-AA opponent should be a laugh, but nobody at Oregon is smiling at the thought of the Grizzlies.
“We are not taking them lightly,” Oregon cornerback Aaron Gipson said. “We are just going to come out, play hard, play fast and come out with a win.”
That is probably for the best after last season’s home-opener debacle, when the Ducks committed seven turnovers in a losing effort to Indiana.
“They (Montana) are a darn good football team,” Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens said. “We’ve got to be ready, and after last year we will be.”
The loss started the season in a downward spiral, eventually leaving Oregon with its first losing season in 10 years and in Bellotti’s tenure. The lessons were learned, and after beginning the season with a victory last week at Houston, the Ducks feel confident that they are headed in the right direction early.
Bellotti spent the week focusing on “special teams coverage, kickoff coverage, consistency in where we kick the ball off, no break downs in the secondary, not giving up the big play and a reduction in penalties.”
Last year the Ducks were flagged for 877 yards and were the worst in the Pac-10, recording an average of 79.7 penalty yards per game. Little changed against Houston; Oregon committed 12 penalties for
105 yards. A lack of experience is what Bellotti said could lead to the miscues.
“Every year we are a young team,” Bellotti said. “We have 12 or 13 seniors on this team, which is scary. That is the least I’ve had since the Cotton Bowl year.”
Offensively, Bellotti wants productivity in the red zone, with fewer field goals and more touchdowns. Despite kicker Paul Martinez’s record-tying effort of five made field goals in six attempts against Houston, touchdowns are worth double the points, and that is what Bellotti wants to see on the scoreboard.
“We moved the ball well. We did not score as many touchdowns as we would like,” Bellotti said. “We had opportunities in the red zone; we didn’t convert them for a variety of reasons.”
Two key statistics that show improvement are that the Ducks held Houston to 31 percent on third-down conversions, while posting nearly a 50 percent completion rate, and one year after allowing a PAC-10-worst, 41 sacks, the offensive line didn’t allow Clemens to be sacked.
The last time the teams met, a 35-30 Oregon victory in 1993,
Bellotti was the offensive coordinator for the Ducks. He remembers the game, especially the fight that the Grizzlies showed.
“Coaches have long memories,” Bellotti said. “I have great respect for the Montana program. They are year-in and year-out a contender for the national championship.”
This year’s Montana squad returns 15 starters from a team that lost in the national championship and finished 12-3 overall. Montana has recorded 19 straight winning seasons in part to big-time players such as running back Lex Hilliard.
Hilliard scored three touchdowns and rushed for 108 yards on 14 attempts in a 55-0 victory over Fort Lewis. Last season Hilliard broke out, scoring a single-season school record 17 touchdowns with 972 yards, despite starting only four games. He is an All-American candidate.
“He’s big. He’s physical. He’s fast,” Bellotti said of Hilliard.
Six total players, including Hilliard, had a part in the Grizzlies’ eight touchdowns.
Not only did Montana tear it up offensively, but it shut down Fort Lewis on defense. Fort Lewis crossed into Montana’s territory only once, when it reached the 49-yard line.
“I don’t care who you play, it’s hard to beat a team 55-0,” Bellotti said.
Montana head coach Bobby Hauck was impressed with his teams’ performance.
“Our defense played extremely well. … There was no let down,” Hauck said.
“We got a shutout. They (Fort Lewis) are a pretty high octane offense, but we played sound defense, tackled well, played hard all four quarters,” Montana cornerback Kevin Edwards said.
Edwards and his team’s defense are in for a rude awakening when they enter Autzen Stadium. Not only will the fans get on them, but Clemens and the Ducks are ready to unleash a potent offense that will only get better with time.
Clemens was honored as the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week after completing 30 of 47 passing attempts for 348 yards and two touchdowns. Clemens added 72 rushing yards on 12 carries as well.
“Some receivers came up with some big plays, as did Kellen,” Bellotti said.
After his first collegiate game as a kicker, Martinez was named Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week for his 16 total points and school record tying performance.
