There were moments last season when Oregon struggled to move the ball offensively.
By most counts, those periods came and went with the speed of a LaMichael James scoring run or a Darron Thomas touchdown pass. But for just one game in the 2010 regular season, Oregon was unable to break out of its lull — at California.
“They just executed better than we did at certain points in time,” Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said. “The game comes down to execution, and they executed better. Fortunately we executed on the last drive so we could win the football game, but they did a really nice job.”
The Cal defense that held the Ducks to just 317 yards with just one offensive touchdown returns several players from last year’s group, but also saw defensive end Cameron Jordan get selected by the New Orleans Saints with the 24th overall pick in the NFL Draft, while safety Chris Conte (third round to the Chicago Bears) and linebacker Mike Mohamed (sixth round to Denver) also left vacancies in the Cal defense.@@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/392526.htm?ATCLID=205030773&SPSID=3383&SPID=233&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@@@http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/13971/cameron-jordan@@
Oregon on the other hand still has the majority of its playmakers on offense and has added depth to the backfield with freshmen De’Anthony Thomas and Tra Carson.
But all things considered, Thursday’s matchup, at least on paper, is expected to be an offensive battle. Oregon enters the game as the nation’s top scoring offense at 52 points per game, while Cal has been adequate offensively with a 39.5 scoring average through four weeks.@@http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/1028@@
In the ground game, which will be even more of a necessity for both teams given the expected rainy conditions, Oregon will again be tested. Similar to last year, when Cal finished fifth in Pac-10 rushing defense, the Ducks bring their usual dynamic rushing attack (299.5 yards per game) to face a stout defensive unit that’s allowed only 78.2 yards per game on the ground in 2011.@@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/Football/2010-Stats/HTML/CONFLDRS.HTM@@@@http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/1025@@@@http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/1040@@
“They’re a quick team,” Cal quarterback Zach Maynard said. “They can get up on you fast so you have to score just as many times as they do.@@http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/maynard_zach00.html@@
“I have all the confidence in the world in our defense. They’re going to stop them for us, three-and-outs; we’ve got to put the ball in the end zone.”
Maynard, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior, transferred from Buffalo following his sophomore season and was on the sidelines as a redshirt last year. The Greensboro, N.C, native wasn’t highly recruited out of high school, but he did make a recruiting trip out to Oregon and met Kelly, Oregon’s offensive coordinator at the time.
The Ducks had interest in the lanky, dual-threat signal caller, and will now have their hands full trying to contain the Pac-12’s fifth-leading passer (268.2 yards per game).@@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/Football/2011-Stats/HTML/confldrs.htm@@
Having spoken with the Cal veterans, Maynard acknowledged in interviews this week that coming to Autzen Stadium for the first time in his career presents more than a few challenges.
“They said it’s crazy,” Maynard said. ”They said it’s loud. It’s the loudest game we’re gonna play this year, probably.”
Cal head coach Jeff Tedford, a former assistant on the Ducks coaching staff, knows his fair share about dealing with the Autzen faithful.
“It’s one of the toughest in the country, there’s no doubt about it,” Tedford said. “I’ve been on both sides of that. When I coached there I saw the disruption it had on opponents and we’ve been there and we know how loud it can be.
“You definitely have to prepare for it.”