Rarely does a team ranked 14th in the nation have as much to prove to the rest of the country as the Oregon Ducks (3-0 overall, 1-0 in the Pacific-10 Conference) appear to have.
That’s because Oregon’s most recent game, a Sept. 16 victory against then-No. 15 Oklahoma, was marred in controversy surrounding a late-game onside kick that was wrongfully awarded to the Ducks and led to the game-winning touchdown with 46 seconds remaining.
The Pac-10 publicly announced that the on-field officials and replay officials made the incorrect call, prompting many, including the Oklahoma University President, David Boren, to ask that the game be erased from history books.
Similarly, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said that he received multiple letters “questioning his character” and asking that the game be replayed or forfeited.
As for now, the game stands as a win for Oregon, keeping its undefeated season alive.
But even an entire week after the game, during the Ducks’ bye week preparations, much talk nationally continued to surround the officiating and the erroneous call.
“It has been difficult because it’s taken away a lot of the luster of the victory from the players who played in the game, who responded to the challenge and the opportunity, and that’s very frustrating,” Bellotti said. “It has given me cause to tell our kids that we need to validate that victory and the easiest and best way to do that is to go out and win the next game, our next opportunity to play.”
That opportunity will take place against Arizona State on Saturday afternoon in expected blistering heat at Sun Devil Stadium “We have to come out and perform,” Oregon’s senior free safety J.D. Nelson said. “If we don’t, we know what’s going to lie ahead of us as far as people trying to get on us about the Oklahoma game.”
Arizona State is coming off an overwhelming 49-21 loss in its Pac-10 opener at California. The Bears scored 35 unanswered points and took a 42-14 halftime lead behind the strength of four first-half touchdown passes by quarterback Nate Longshore.
California’s defense intercepted Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter four times, running two back for touchdowns. Carpenter – a sophomore who led the nation in passing efficiency last season as a redshirt freshman – has struggled this season with eight interceptions after he was named the starter over incumbent senior Sam Keller, who has since transferred to Nebraska.
Part of Carpenter’s struggles this season stem from Arizona State’s lack of a go-to receiver that Carpenter and Keller enjoyed in the departed Derek Hagan. Hagan caught 77 passes for 1210 yards and eight touchdowns and is currently with the Miami Dolphins.
Junior wide receiver Rudy Burgess, who was second in receptions and yards last
season, was expected to fill that vacancy before he suffered a concussion early in the Sun Devils’ win against Nevada on Sept. 9. He caught one pass against Colorado a week later but did not play against California.
Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter expects Burgess to be ready against the Ducks.
“I think we are just going through some growing pains right now,” Koetter said. “We are just inconsistent at wide receiver.”
Saturday will mark the first time the Ducks will face Carpenter after going against Keller last season.
“He is a great quarterback, a very accurate quarterback,” Bellotti said of Carpenter. “You don’t just lead the nation in passing efficiency and, the next year, not be a good quarterback. I think he’s going through a transition with some new people around him.”
Keller threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns on 31-of-56 passing in Oregon’s 31-17 victory last season.
He was sacked four times and intercepted twice in that game.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t really see too much difference between the two,” Nelson said of Carpenter and Keller. “But (Carpenter) won the job in camp this last year so I’m guessing he had to show something that he was a little better than the guy who played most of last year.”
Carpenter has thrown for 1,019 yards, a Pac-10 best 11 touchdowns, and completed 57.7 percent of his passes. But there’s also the conference-high eight interceptions.
“He knows who his playmakers are, and he knows where they’re going to be a lot of the time,” Nelson said. “But at the same time, he’s made some mistakes. But when he’s on, he’s as good as anybody else. We’re going to try to make him be off this week.”
The Ducks aren’t putting much stock into the fact that Arizona State was blown out in its Pac-10 opener. They are expecting a hungry Sun Devil team come Saturday.
“Not at all. It’s the Pac-10,” Oregon linebacker A.J. Tuitele said. “One week you can get beat, and the following week you can come around and get better out of nowhere. It’s the Pac-10, all the teams are good.”
Oregon will have added help in its young secondary Saturday with the return of redshirt freshman Terrell Ward, who has yet to play a game this season after suffering a knee injury in a drill during fall camp.
Ward was the anticipated starter at right corner heading into the season prior to the injury. Fellow redshirt freshman Jairus Byrd is the probable starter Saturday at left cornerback and redshirt freshman Walter Thurmond III is the likely starter at right cornerback, though Bellotti said Ward probably will see action in order to keep players fresh.
Defensively for Arizona State, the matchup with Oregon’s offense represents the irresistible object versus the immovable force in that the Sun Devils lead the nation in sacks with 19, while Oregon has allowed just one sack the entire season, a conference best and second nationally only to Utah.
“That’s our goal – no sacks allowed,” Oregon center Enoka Lucas said. “So it’s something that we’ve just got to work hard at.”
Lucas and the rest of the line have been key to the offensive resurgence for Oregon this season. The Ducks rank seventh nationally in total offense (471.3 yards per game) and are among the country’s top 20 in rushing (198.3 yards per game) and passing (273 yards per game).
The Ducks’ rushing attack ranks tops in the conference behind the one-two punch of running backs Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson. But both have been hampered by injury nearly the entire season. Stewart, who averages 105 yards per game, injured his ankle in the season opener against Stanford, and Johnson tweaked his hamstring against Oklahoma. Oregon’s bye week prior to Saturday helped both players rest and heal, Bellotti said.
“All of our tailbacks are healthy,” Bellotti said. “Are they all 100 percent? No, but they are certainly in the 90 or higher percentile in terms of their health and ability to go.”
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