The Oregon Ducks kick off the Willie Taggart era at home against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds on September 2.
For Willie Taggart, who coached at Western Kentucky, he’s played the role of coaching as David in these David versus Goliath games. Now, as head coach of the Ducks, he gets to experience this type of game from a different perspective, knowing the Thunderbirds want to come in, shock the home fans and play spoiler in his debut game.
“We had a chip on our shoulder and something to prove because we felt like nobody gave us a chance,” Taggart said of his Western Kentucky teams.
Leading the charge against the Ducks will be Demario Warren, who begins his second season as head coach of the Thunderbirds, a Big Sky Conference school from Cedar City, Utah.
This will be the second consecutive season that the Thunderbirds open against a Pac-12 opponent on the road. Last season, they were shut out 24-0 against Utah, one of the four teams Oregon beat last season. The Thunderbirds finished last year with a 6-5 record.
“They really came out, played hard and showed they can play with those guys,” Taggart said of Southern Utah’s games against Utah and BYU, two Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
When asked if anything stood out about the Thunderbirds, co-offensive coordinator’s Mario Cristobal and Marcus Arroyo each mentioned the football experience that the Thunderbirds have on their team, particularly the defense.
The Thunderbirds return 14 starters, including eight on defense. Two senior defenders, outside linebacker Mike Needham and defensive tackle Robert Torgerson, were named to the Big Sky preseason All-Conference team. Last season, Needham was second on the team with 75 tackles while Torgerson led the Thunderbirds with 12 tackles-for-loss.
“They show and present their challenges,” co-offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal said. “They certainly want to stop the run, that’s their focus. They’re going to load the box, put people in gaps and outnumber you.”
At quarterback, the Ducks could see sophomore Aaron Zwahlen, a former four-star recruit who transferred from Hawaii. Upon his return from a two-year mission trip for the Church of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints, Hawaii was going through a coaching change, and Zwahlen decided to leave the program.
This offseason, he nearly enrolled at Washington State, another school that had recruited him. However, his desire to find some place he could play immediately led him to Southern Utah. Zwahlen is competing during fall camp for the starting quarterback job against senior Patrick Tyler.
Both quarterbacks performed well in a scrimmage back on August 12. Tyler, who is the more mobile quarterback, went 8-for-12 for 101 yards and one touchdown. He also had a 44-yard run that set up a short touchdown. Zwahlen, who is more of a pro style quarterback, went 18-for-21 for 184 yards and a touchdown.
This will be the first matchup between the two schools. Win or lose, the Thunderbirds will walk away with $500,000 for their trip to Autzen Stadium.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter @zlast2445