As the end of his second season, as the helm draws near, Chip Kelly has once again reminded Oregon faithful why his No. 1 Ducks are among the most diverse teams in college football.
Known for his unorthodox play calling, Kelly put his signature on Oregon’s 37-20 Civil War victory with a roll of the dice during the Ducks second drive of the third quarter Saturday afternoon at Reser Stadium.
Backup middle linebacker Michael Clay was positioned in the backfield with true freshman punter Alejandro Maldonado, who lined up for his first official punt of the season. Clay took a direct snap from long snapper Drew Howell and stormed through the line with nothing but daylight in front of him, and 64 yards later, the sophomore was knocked out of bounds inside the Oregon State 10-yard line.
Having already converted on several risky special team’s plays this season, including Rob Beard’s crucial onside kick and recovery in Oregon’s 52-31 rout of Stanford on Oct. 2, Kelly was confident in his player’s execution.
“We were going to do it the first time we punted,” Kelly said. “And that happened to be in the third quarter.”
Three plays later, sophomore quarterback Darron Thomas hit senior wide receiver D.J. Davis with a 19-yard touchdown pass, and after the ensuing point after top-ranked Oregon was ahead 23-7.
In many ways, the fake punt encapsulated Oregon’s perfect regular season, with high-risk, high-reward play calls going in the Ducks’ favor. But, if it were not for Oregon’s standout performance defensively, Oregon’s head coach may have been more hesitant with the possibility of handing the ball to the Beavers at midfield.
Kelly, however, had no such worry after the opening play from scrimmage, which featured a bone-crushing hit from senior Casey Matthews delivered directly to the chest of Oregon State quarterback Ryan Katz. The hit silenced a rowdy Reser Stadium crowd, and set the tone for one of the strongest showings of the year for defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti’s unit.
“After that first hit, I was kind of at a daze for a little bit,” Katz said. “And I got the wind knocked out of me.”
In the last Civil War matchup of their careers, Matthews and fellow senior Spencer Paysinger led the way for the No. 1 Ducks throughout the day. Matthews finished with five tackles, two tackles for loss, and the opening sack on Katz; Paysinger recorded a team-high eight tackles and two pass breakups.
The front seven applied consistent pressure on Katz all day and forced throws into the arms of several Oregon defenders. In all, nine different Ducks tallied pass breakups, while Talmadge Jackson III, John Boyett, Terrell Turner and Clay also recorded interceptions. For Turner and Clay the interceptions were the first of their careers, while Jackson tallied his second of the season and Boyett caught his fifth.
“We knew they’d give us their best shot. We expected a fight from them and obviously it was a physical game,” Matthews said. “But it did take us a little while to go, but when you get into the Pac-10 teams they know you more year in and year out. So we expected this kind of challenge.”
Oregon held star running back Jacquizz Rodgers to just 87 yards on 22 carries, and kept the junior out of the end zone on the ground as Oregon State finished with just 90 yards rushing on 29 attempts.
Katz did, however, pick up a lot of yards through the air in the second half, extending several drives with third-down completions. Of the Beavers’ 20 first downs on the day, 13 came in the passing game.
Oregon’s secondary did clean up some things from the 448-yard showing against Arizona quarterback Nick Foles last weekend, as it allowed 229 yards passing on the day.
The defensive performance was one Oregon certainly needed moving forward, and one it will relish in for the next few days before they begin preparations for powerhouse Auburn and the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 10.
“Everybody was going crazy,” Oregon sophomore Cliff Harris said. “It’s a great accomplishment, you know, to see all your hard work that you put on over the summer, just throughout the year and just see it coming and its paying off … it’s a good thing.”
[email protected]