When Marcus Mariota and the Ducks explosive offense take the field on Saturday they’ll face a different defensive approach than they’ve seen so far this year with the Wildcats 3-3-5 stack defense, but head coach Chip Kelly says the somewhat unconventional defense doesn’t change the Ducks’ approach. Kelly said that while the defense is different from a spacing standpoint, individual matchups remain more important than how Arizona lines up defensively.
“Everything in football is personnel-driven,” Kelly said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a 3-4 team, 3-3 team, 4-2 team, 4-4 team — those are just how they line everybody up. But it’s still how good are their players compared to how good are our players.”
Arizona’s defense has been respectable through three games in terms of points allowed, but the Wildcats did give up over 600 yards when Arizona upset Oklahoma State, 59-38. The Wildcats also forced four turnovers in that game including an interception returned for a touchdown by Jonathan McKnight.
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A collection of links from this week’s edition of Gameday, beginning with a profile of Oregon’s longest-tenured coach, running backs coach Garry Campbell. Campbell has coached a plethora of NFL talent in his time in Eugene from Derek Loville to LaMichael James. In his 30 years coaching Oregon’s backfield, he has seen 12 1,000-yard backs, and he is now the longest-serving current coach anywhere in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
For some opponent perspective on this week’s Pac-12 opener, Zack Rosenblatt of the Arizona Daily Wildcat writes that Rich Rodriguez’s spread offense gives the Wildcats a chance to shock the Ducks on Saturday, however unlikely that may be. “Oregon will probably gain 200 plus yards on the ground,” Rosenblatt writes. “The Ducks might even score 50 points. But Arizona can score 51 points.”
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The most impressive run of the fall comes not from the NFL or college football, or even high school football. Footage from a pee-wee football game shows eight-year-old Jayden Scott — wearing a uniform that looks vaguely like the Joey Harrington-era Ducks look — seems to dodge the tackle of every player on the other team in this 45-yard scamper.
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Oregon’s club hockey team is asking fans for suggestions for a new slogan for use on the team’s website. The Ducks are holding a twitter contest until their training camp begins on Sunday.
The slogan contest will end on Sunday night when we start our training camp! Keep the ideas coming! We will RT our favorites
— Oregon Ducks Hockey (@Oregon_Hockey) September 19, 2012
The Ducks open their season with five straight road games beginning on October 4th and open their home slate at the Lane County Ice Center on Oct. 19 against UCLA.
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Season tickets for the Ducks women’s basketball team go on sale tomorrow. The Ducks home schedule this year includes a New Year’s Eve visit from perennial national title contender Connecticut in addition to a full Pac-12 schedule. Season tickets start at $99, a 30 percent discount from single-game ticket prices.
