Much of the notoriety and praise has gone to Joey Harrington and the offense in Oregon’s 6-1 start this season.
But on the other side of the ball, three of the Ducks’ key players are trying to prove that defense wins championships.
Despite their relative inexperience in starting roles at the collegiate level before this season, the linebacker trio of Wesly Mallard, Kevin Mitchell and David Moretti features three of the top four leading tacklers for Oregon this season.
“We are young, but I don’t think that has shown as much as people thought it was going to,” Moretti said. “We have a very good grasp of the defense and work well together.”
After last Saturday’s loss to Stanford, a game in which the Ducks gave up 49 points compared to just seven against California, the defense knows it needs to get back on track.
“We’ve got a lot of good teams coming up, so it’s time for us to step up and play better football,” Mitchell said.
Mallard, Mitchell and Moretti came to Oregon following different paths, but have now “gelled well as a group,” Moretti said.
Mallard, a senior in his fourth year playing for the team, made a name for himself on the squad as a standout on special teams play. He also ran for the track team, taking advantage of his 4.34-second 40-meter time, which is the fastest 40 time by anyone ever to play linebacker for the Ducks.
Mitchell and Moretti, who both graduated high school in 1999, were standouts. Mitchell attended Mater Dei High in Orange, Calif., which was ranked No. 2 in the country his senior year, and was considered one of the best players in the school’s history. Moretti later tallied six sacks at Chabot Junior College, where he played for his first year of eligibility.
The three are featured together as part of the billboard promotion the football team has plastered around Eugene. Along with pictures of the three is the word “mayhem,” following the “M” theme.
Senior tackle Chris Tetterton is aware of the impact the three have on the field, and said that their inexperience has not shown.
“They are like three old veterans,” Tetterton said. “I trust them the whole time we’re out there.”
The three linebackers are in the top 10 in the Pacific-10 Conference in tackles; Mitchell leads the team in sacks with three and Mallard has forced two fumbles, which has him tied for second in the conference. The statistics, the publicity and their leadership roles on the team put added pressure on the players, but they say they’ve handled it well.
“There is some pressure because of the high stakes, but at the same time, it’s just football and we’ve got to make the plays,” Mitchell said. “If we don’t make the plays it’s going to affect us like it did last week.”
Head coach Mike Bellotti appreciates the play of the linebacker core this season.
“As the bridge, in a sense, between the defensive front and the defensive secondary, they’ve done a great job at covering people, making tackles and pressuring the quarterback,” he said. “They are great contributors to this football team.”