Arizona State’s Andrew Walter has given the Ducks plenty of bad memories.
The senior quarterback has torpedoed the Ducks in the last two meetings, throwing for a combined 852 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I think that he has got to be licking his chops based on the way he has played against us the last couple of years,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “It’s something that we have to look at and say, ‘How can we change that?’ We need to have a better pass rush and better coverage.”
With his career-high-tying five touchdown passes against Iowa on Sept. 18, Walter set a school record for career touchdown passes and now has 67 in his time at ASU.
Heisman-hopeful Walter has a knack for spreading the ball around, which is nothing new to the Sun Devils, who completed passes to 27 different receivers in the past two years.
So far this season, ASU junior wideout Derek Hagan has been Walter’s favorite go-to guy. With 112.8 receiving yards per game, Hagan ranks second in the Pac-10 and sixth in the nation. Of his 31 catches this year, 22 have resulted in a first down or a touchdown.
Twelve different Sun Devils have caught passes this year, and a total of six players have made touchdown catches on the season.
Walter looks forward to the Oregon game, he said, even though Autzen is the toughest place for him to play.
“It has turned into one of those games (that we look forward to),” Walter said. “Ever since the game two years ago, that was a fun one.”
–Brian Smith
Oregon’s defense will be under the microscope on Saturday.Oregon’s defense will be under the microscope on Saturday.
ASU Quarterback
The Ducks were torched for a combined 104 points in their previous two meetings with Arizona Stateas the Sun Devils conducted an aerial assault on the Oregon secondary.
While a bulk of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the Duck defensive backs, it’s up to Chris Solomona and the rest of the defensive line to provide some kind of a pass rush.
Solomona came up big last week against Idaho, returning an interception 34 yards for a touchdown. The defensive line pressured Idaho quarterback Michael Harrington all day long, forcing him to make several mistakes.
“It was a great job of disguising coverage,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said of the Solomona interception. “But it was also a good job of getting pressure right in Harrington’s face. Chris on the zone-blitz drop and (defensive tackle) Robby Valenzuela forced Harrington to throw it early. It was a great catch by Chris.”
Oregon has also gotten solid play from defensive end Devan Long and middle linebacker Jerry Matson of late.
Long leads the Pacific-10 Conference with 7.5 tackles for loss and is 1.5 sacks away from cracking Oregon’s all-time top-10 list.
Matson is second on the team with 21 tackles, including a 13-tackle performance against Oklahoma.
Oregon will need a complete defensive effort if it is to have a chance against Arizona State in the Ducks’ conference opener.
— Jon Roetman
[email protected]
;
[email protected]
