If Autzen Stadium could make a tackle, it wouldn’t be a hard place for opposing teams to play — it would be the hardest.
But, as Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti stressed to his team this week, Autzen Stadium can’t tackle.
“Sometimes when you’re on the road, you adopt the mentality of ‘It’s us against the world,’” Bellotti said. “I told (the team) that even though we’re coming home, we can’t relax. We can’t assume the stadium is going to make a tackle, the crowd is going to make a tackle or make a play.”
Neither can Autzen Stadium prevent a blocked punt or prevent an interception, mistakes that plagued the Ducks in last season’s wild 49-42 loss to Stanford at Autzen Stadium. That surprise loss, which ended a 23-game home winning streak, came one week after a huge road win, Oregon’s 48-7 domination of California in Berkeley.
Now, the Ducks are coming off a huge road win, a 31-30 thriller at UCLA, and are facing a dangerous Arizona State team in the Autzen confines.
The Sun Devils are dangerous for many of the same reasons the Cardinal were dangerous last year. Arizona State is an air-it-out, fun-‘n’-gun type of squad, led by fearless sophomore quarterback Andrew Walter, that can put up huge amounts of points. Those Stanford Cardinal? ASU put up 65 points on them earlier this season.
For that very reason, Bellotti said his Ducks won’t take Saturday’s contest lightly.
“I don’t think there’s anything to overlook here,” Bellotti said. “They’re very dangerous. They put up 65 points on another Pac-10 team. In that regard, they’ve got my attention and my coaches’ attentions, and I certainly hope they’ve got our players’ attentions.”
The Sun Devils have Oregon free safety Keith Lewis’ attention.
“It’s going to be another bombs-out type game,” Lewis said. “(Walter) likes to air the ball out just like (UCLA quarterback) Cory Paus.”
Of course, this is Keith Lewis talking.
“A big downfall for (the Sun Devils) is that their receivers are the same size as our corners,” Lewis said. “That’s a big downfall. Anybody that’s the same size as us, good luck to them.”
Lewis and the Ducks have reason to be confident heading into Saturday’s matchup, as much as Bellotti’s warnings ring true. The Sun Devils have been inconsistent at best this season; they lost to North Carolina and barely survived Oregon State. The Devils are undefeated in Pac-10 play, but their only two opponents have been the Beavers and the Cardinal.
Oregon has been doing the Oregon thing: steadily improving each week as the competition improves, working out the kinks, staying undefeated. After six games, the Ducks are 6-0 and ranked sixth in both national polls. Onterrio Smith has matured into a weekly 100-yard back — his current streak of six-straight games with more than 100 yards rushing is an Oregon record — and seems to be running headlong toward the Heisman Trophy.
“We’re kind of streaky,” Smith said of his running and his run protection. “We get some good things going, kind of drop off in the middle and pick it up in the third and fourth quarters. So we’re trying to have one of those games where we sustain the effort throughout.”
Oregon quarterback Jason Fife has found his niche, and it appears to be the “don’t make mistakes” niche. Fife is ranked third in the nation in pass efficiency, a statistic that reflects his 12-to-1 touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio. Fife has scrambled often to avoid sacks this season.
“He made some great scrambles (against UCLA),” Bellotti said. “But there were a couple other times I felt that he could have sat in that pocket.”
On defense, the Ducks minimized the penalties that plagued them earlier in the season against UCLA but showed a glaring weakness in giving up big plays.
“The problem was, a lot of those big plays were for touchdowns,” Bellotti said. “You can give up a big play, but if you keep the ball out of the endzone, yardage doesn’t matter. But yardage that results in a touchdown is very damaging.”
And we return full circle to Arizona State. The Sun Devils have been, at times, a big-play team. Walter threw five touchdowns against Stanford and four the week before that against San Diego State. Bellotti said they will sometimes go deep 15 to 20 times per game, where a normal team might go deep four to eight times. The Sun Devils receivers may have something to do with it.
“They have two Bobby Wades,” Bellotti said, referring to the Arizona receiver who torched Oregon for 151 yards on 12 catches.
Arizona State receivers Shaun McDonald and Daryl Lightfoot have accounted for nine touchdowns this season.
“It’s going to come down to our little men’s leaping ability — being ready to jump for the high balls,” Lewis said.
Too bad Autzen Stadium can’t jump up for those balls, too.
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