When No. 16 Oregon faces Purdue this Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind., at 12:30 p.m., it will be the first real test of the season for the road mettle of the young players and the true ability of a secondary that has so far been hyped but will now surely be tested.
“Any time you go on the road, especially for the first time in a season, you know you’re going to be tested,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. “We’ve been playing in the cozy confines of Autzen Stadium, which is arguably a great home field advantage and one of the toughest places to play. We have to go to their house now; the noise levels and the surface and the weather and the travel … All that are factored in.”
And while Bellotti has been pleased with the overall play of his vaunted secondary, he has been disappointed with the lack of interceptions.
“I’ve been pleased with our focus and our attention to detail, with the exception of our turnover-to-takeaway ratio. It’s not good enough,” Bellotti said. “That’s a huge emphasis point. We’ve had our hands on a couple potential interceptions and not come down with them … Those are things you cannot do and be a great football team.”
Saturday should give Oregon’s defensive backfield the chance to sink or swim, as many prognosticators predict that Purdue will throw the ball in excess of 50 times.
Like Oregon, Purdue features a high-scoring spread offense, and coach Joe Tiller is largely credited with bringing the style to the Big Ten Conference.
“I think they’re probably similar to us,” Bellotti said. “Typically they have been a high scoring football team. They have been able to outscore people.”
Thus, Oregon will have to rely on a staunch defense. And while this game may not be a stiff test for Oregon in all aspects, it certainly will be for the secondary, which will face one of the nations most experienced quarterbacks in Purdue fifth-year senior Curtis Painter.
“Seemingly we’re overjoyed that we’re not facing a mobile quarterback again after facing two very mobile quarterbacks, but the reality is he’s a great passer,” Bellotti said of Painter. “He’s a strong, physical quarterback that can shake off would-be tacklers. He sees the field extremely well and he has the velocity and accuracy to really beat you if you’re not in good position coverage-wise.”
To combat that experience and the pocket presence of the senior signal-caller, Oregon must get pressure on the quarterback.
“He’s a really good quarterback with a strong arm,” weakside linebacker Spencer Paysinger said. “So we have to get a lot of hurries, a lot of sacks on him as much as possible.”
Defensive end Nick Reed shared Paysinger’s view on the importance of getting pressure on Painter.
“It’s definitely important this week,” Reed said of pressuring Painter. “He’s the kind of quarterback who wants to sit in the pocket and throw the ball. He’s not going to run around if we get pressure on him, so we definitely need to get in his field of view and deflect his passes.”
And for all the Duck fans who are relieved that Oregon will face a not-so-mobile quarterback this week, Reed said preparations for the Purdue offense are not simple by any means.
“They run pretty complicated spread-option, dive-option type stuff so it’s kind of back to who gets the dive, who gets the pitch, who gets the quarterback, which takes time to put in and get everybody on the same page,” he said.
Cornerback Jairus Byrd put the Oregon defense’s attitude toward the Purdue offense and the challenge they pose into perspective.
“We respect all, fear none,” Byrd said. “I respect them and expect them to be pretty good so we’ll see what they’ve got.”
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