Remember last season?
Remember Cody Pickett passing for more than 300 yards and wide receiver Reggie Williams catching 14 passes for just two yards shy of 200?
Remember the Huskies putting 28 points on the board in the second half at Autzen Stadium?
There’s no doubt the Ducks do. The Oregon secondary sure does.
Come Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle, it’s not going to matter what kind of a running game the Huskies can establish. Oregon shouldn’t concern itself with whether running back Rich Alexis gets his fair share of carries.
The Ducks shouldn’t worry about the possible return of Charles Frederick to the lineup despite hurt ribs and a bum shoulder.
Oregon should worry about Pickett and Williams and the connection they can make when everything goes right. Everything went right in last season’s 42-14 romp by Washington.
Everything went wrong for the Ducks. They couldn’t keep up with one of the Pacific-10 Conference’s best receivers. They couldn’t keep Williams from making acrobatic catches that were thrown by Pickett, who did his best impersonation of Joey Harrington on that cold and soggy day.
Basically, the Ducks’ secondary couldn’t do much against the Huskies.
This year, Pickett and Williams haven’t always been on the same page. Pickett has thrown for more than 300 yards just once this year — 337 against Nevada, which was a 28-17 Washington loss — but has been consistent in throwing for at least 200 every game.
Williams has been off and on. He managed just 77 yards receiving on three catches against the Wolf Pack, but has nine catches for 115 yards and one score against the Pac-10’s most talented in USC last week.
“Well, all the teams basically have decided to put someone in (Williams’) face, disrupt the route early and have a safety over the top,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said earlier this week. “Obviously, that allowed Charles Frederick, when Oregon State tried to do it, to go off in a big way. We’ll see what we can do with it given our personnel. I think the biggest thing is try to get the best personnel matchups that you can and try to mix pressure with coverage.”
The Ducks are likely to lose arguably their best cover corner in Steven Moore, who suffered a knee injury in Oregon’s 35-0 win over Stanford last week.
That leaves a fight at the corner positions, although Justin Phinisee and Rodney Woods are most likely the duo to fill the spots.
What becomes important now is who backs up the two. Junior Charles Favroth is the only player listed on Oregon’s two-deep this week who fills that hole.
“Phinisee and Woods (will start), and (Marques) Binns, (Aaron) Gibson and Favroth will backup,” secondary coach John Neal said. “We’re down a guy, but we’ve got two guys that have started a lot of games here this season. So, I’m not overly concerned about it.”
The problem with the Oregon corners matching up against Williams is size. The junior stands 6-foot-4-inches. Oregon is notorious for a lack of size in the secondary — something that Williams knows he can toy with.
That size has helped Williams become one of the best in the nation. He is the Terrell Owens of college football, able to muscle corners to the ball, and if needed, jump over them with ease.
That’s where the possibility of double-teaming comes into play, yet again.
“Reggie Williams requires double coverage,” Bellotti said. “He demands double coverage. That part, we’re going to have to figure out. Without our best corner, it’s obviously a greater challenge.”
Williams will come out Saturday and establish a presence, whether that’s by his physical nature or his speed or both. He will demand attention from the Ducks. He will demand attention from the fans in the stands. He will demand attention from the TBS Superstation broadcasters.
He will be the key that will open doors for the Washington offense.
All the Ducks have to do is change the lock. It’ll be interesting to see if they can do it.