The wait is over.
An eager Oregon team takes to the field for the first time this season Saturday. The Ducks face an Indiana team that is already halfway to its win total from last year.
The Ducks, ranked 24th in the latest Associated Press poll, are the last Division I team in the country to start their season.
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti, beginning his 10th season at the helm, anticipates a conservative Big Ten Conference-style football team coming to town.
“They have their entire offensive line back and they ran the ball
very well against Central Michigan,” Bellotti said. “For us to be successful in this game we need our defensive line to play well, because Indiana will run the football until you stop them.”
Senior linebacker Jerry Matson also thinks stopping the running game will be key as the Hoosiers ran for 203 yards against Central Michigan.
“They’re a hard-nosed team, and they get after it and stay on their blocks,” Matson said. “It’s Big Ten football, and we just got to have rules so whatever they give us we can adjust.”
Indiana won its opener 41-10,
but is coming off a lackluster
2-10 record in 2003.

“We’ve got a tough game this weekend traveling to Oregon,”
head coach Gerry Dinardo said. “It will be loud and tough to communicate, and it is going to be tough for us going up against one of the better teams in the Pac-10.”
DiNardo said he doesn’t see his team already having played a game as an advantage.
“There are advantages both sides,” DiNardo said. “If you already played you have some of the first game,
issues behind you. If you have not played, then you have not shown anything new on tape.”
Oregon defensive end Devan Long said his team is ready to go out and compete.
“I’m really excited to see some new faces to go against and be out their in front of all the fans on Saturday,” Long said. “I’m looking forward to this whole season.”
The Ducks are now ready to get off the practice field and show what they have, quarterback Kellen Clemens said.
“We have been out here for two weeks now, and we’re ready to play,” the Oregon junior said. “It’s been frustrating for us not to be out there, but those are the cards we were dealt and we have to play them with the best of our ability.”
The Ducks will face a Hoosier offense led by Notre Dame transfer Matt LoVecchio and sophomore running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis. LoVecchio was efficient against Central Michigan, throwing for 121 yards and a touchdown. Green-Ellis rushed the ball 28 times for 99 yards last week and will be the featured running back for the Hoosiers.
The Oregon defense looks prime to stop the Indiana attack with seniors Robby Valenzuela and Chris Solomona, Long and returning 2002 freshman All-American Haloti Ngata.
“Our defensive line is one of the strengths of our team when healthy,” Bellotti said. “Our depth at the position is unproven, so that concerns me.”
Offensively for the Ducks, Clemens said his focus will be moving the team down the field consistently to put them into position to score.
“They have really good athletes and their defensive schemes are different then we are used to,” Clemens said. “We just want to go out there and play our game and get the win.”
The receiver core, a strength going to camp, has suffered with a lack of practice time for wide receiver Demetrius Williams and tight end Tim Day, but both will be ready to play against Indiana.
Senior Marcus Maxwell has impressed Bellotti in camp and will start alongside fellow senior Keith Allen.
“Marcus Maxwell and Keith Allen are going are going to be key to a lot of our depth, because they provide experience as well as athleticism,” Bellotti said.
Even though injuries have slowed some of Oregon’s progress, the team is finally ready to get on the field and see where they stand.
“We need to find out what kind of team we are, and it’s a great opportunity to do that against Indiana because they are an improved football program,” Bellotti said. “We need to play against somebody else, because I think a lot of our questions will be answered after this game.”

[email protected]