SB Nation - T.J. Ward

Thursday night NFL Draft watch notes

Mocking Dan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:10:29 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

2 months ago: Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield cocks his arm to throw a pass against Arizona State in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. Oregon State won 28-17. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

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Considering tonight's Oregon/Oregon State game is for a spot in the Rose Bowl, it might be good idea to tune in. And if you, you'll see a good bit of NFL talent on display.

• The best pro prospect on the field tonight could be Oregon senior T.J. Ward. Although he's only played in six games this year because of injuries, he's very effective. He has 53 tackles on the year and is equally adept against the run and pass. He plays a hybrid position for the Ducks, but projects as a strong safety at the next level.

• After Ward, the next best player is Ducks tight end Ed Dickson. The senior is a great athlete with a good vertical leap and solid speed. His production has been a little inconsistent this season, but he has 42 receptions for 551 yards and six touchdowns. He could be a second-round pick.

• Oregon junior middle linebacker Casey Matthews is the latest in the Matthews tree of football players. His brother, Clay Matthews, is having a good rookie year for the Packers. Casey isn't as great of an athlete, but he's productive and heady.

• After struggling early in his career, Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield is having a banner season. In his senior campaign, Canfield is completing 70 percent of his passes for 2,797 yards, 19 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Canfield is a traditional pocket passer and puts a great touch on his passes. He's a left-handed thrower rising up draft boards. When the rankings are re-done here again, look for Canfield to be in the heart of the top 10 seniors.

• Beavers defensive tackle Stephen Paea might be slightly undersized at 6-foot-1 and 288 pounds, but he's very stout against the run. Paea is a fundamentally sound lineman with good agility and technique.

• Senior linebacker Keaton Kristick is a player to keep an eye on tonight. He's 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds and leads the Beavers in tackles with 80. He has seven for a loss to go with two interceptions and a sack. Kristick has some flaws -- he's not especially fluid in space, he struggles to get off blocks -- but he can be coached up at the next level.

Remembering the Seniors

jtlight — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:00:45 -0000

When we look back on the seniors of 2009, I don't think they will be remembered in the same vein as some of the other Oregon greats. We'll remember 2001 for Joey Harrington. We'll remember 2007 for Dennis Dixon. We'll remember 2008 for the stellar offensive line and Jeremiah Johnson.

But 2009 is different. The face of the offense, LeGarrette Blount, was suspended for most of the season. The face of the defense, Walter Thurmond III, missed most of the season with a knee injury. And this year may end up being known as a year of transition, as successful as this team may end up being.

But this class is something special. They lived through 2006, when the team imploded down the stretch, and carried those lessons forward, helping to bridge the gap between 2007 and 2009, and providing leadership on a very young team.

Without the leadership and production of Walter Thurmond, Ed Dickson, Will Tukuafu, and T.J. Ward this team would not be where it is. On top of this, many other seniors who didn't see the field as much are just as important to the program. Morgan Flint, Andre Crenshaw, Rory Cavaille, Willie Glasper, Blake Ferras, Simi Toeaina, Titus Jackson are vital and productive members of the team, and worked their butts off day in a day out. Their hard work helped pushed other players to that next level. Lastly, we can't forget the contributions of three walk-ons, who all earned scholarships by their seniors years. Riley Showalter, Mike DiVincenzo, and Pono Kam earned their scholarships, and their play on special teams helped give Oregon one of the top special teams units in the conference.

Thanks for the memories guys. You will all be greatly missed. Enjoy your final game at Autzen.

After the jump, we have some videos, to remember the contributions of another special Oregon class.

Ed Dickson

In a long line of great Oregon tight ends, Dickson goes down as the most productive, with big plays over and over again during his career. His catch against Arizona was simply spectacular. Here are some of my favorite Ed Dickson moments:

T.J. Ward

He will be remembered as the enforcer of the Oregon defense, laying hits over and over again, and likely go down as the most YouTube'd Duck of all time (for exploits DURING the football game).

Walter Thurmond III

He had a knack for the big play. I feel cheated that we missed out on most of his senior year.

LeGarrette Blount

We'll ultimately remember Blount for his essentially lost senior year, which is too bad. He was utterly dominant as a change of pace his junior year. So let's remember him for that, and by one of my favorite runs of all time.

I'm sure I missed some big moments, so leave your favorite memories of our seniors in the comments. GO DUCKS!

Quack Fix: The worrying has begun as Ducks prepare for Arizona, ducks land RB commit

jtlight — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:47:34 -0000

Well, the PANIC(!!!) has begun. Matt Daddy kicked things off last night with his fanpost, and it seems that everyone has jumped on the bandwagon.

Ken Woody, who always turns out great posts, has one on the offensive formations that Stanford used to topple Oregon two weeks ago. He finds a lot of similarity between those plays and the plays Arizona used to smash the ducks in 2006. While Arizona does not have the personnel of Stanford, they are still dangerous running the ball. The Duck defense was able to defend these plays against ASU, but then again, ASU is terrible. I'm optimistic that the Ducks will be able to handle what the Arizona offense throws at it, and I'll be posting on that in the next couple days.
As usual, the defensive line will be key in stopping the opponent running game, and the Oregonian has an article on Jerry Azzinaro and the d-line prep for the upcoming game. The success of the defensive line has really opened up the defense, and allows it to attack the opposing offense, which has taken a lot of pressure off of the injury ravaged secondary. If the front 7 can handle the UA offense, the Ducks should be in great shape.
The Oregon players are also preparing for what Rob Moseley describes as the 'Tucson Triangle.' While much of the Oregon team is very different than the 2007 team, many of the Ducks still remember that Thursday night in Tucson. However, Chip Kelly sets the tone for the team: "Every year’s a different team, every year’s a different chapter, so it doesn’t stir anything for us. I know I won’t mention it or talk about it." The players know that Arizona will fight hard, and so they are preparing as normal, which is pretty much all you can ask of them.
In recruiting news, Oregon has a firm commitment from Dontae Williams, according to DuckSportsAuthority. Williams recruiting has been quite bizarre, and many thought that he would not end up Oregon after meeting with coaches after the USC game. However, he's now a Duck, and will make an excellent addition to the team, especially with his size and strength.
The top RB recruit in the country, Marcus Lattimore out of South Carolina, has also been a top prospect for the Ducks, and has set his visit date to January 15th. Also, TE Christian Thomas has the Ducks rising after his visit during the ASU game.
In basketball alumni news, Lost Letterman has an interview with former UO guard Terrell Brandon.
Lastly, the Statesman Journal has a piece on the return of T.J. Ward, who has been producing at an incredibly high rate since his return. However, despite his successes, I am still wary of Ward and how he's a liability in the secondary.

After the jump, we have two videos, one on the defensive preparations for Arizona, and another Matthew Knight Arena Construction update. GO DUCKS!

Duck defenders talking about Arizona preparations

Matthew Knight Arena Construction Update

Quack Fix: the impact of Blount not playing and previewing Arizona

ntrebon — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:48:09 -0000

It was great to be back at Autzen for the ASU game and to meet several ATQ posters. Here's hoping it doesn't take me another three years for a return trip home. Here's your quack fix for Tuesday.

George Schroeder has a column up that argues that the restrictions on LeGarrette Blount (i.e., no interviews, no clarification of the "academic and behavioral ladders", and not seeing any game action last Saturday) might actually be making the situation a larger distraction than it otherwise would be.
Rob Moseley has a notebook up that previews the Arizona Wildcat defense. Moseley also reports that Jamere Holland was already back at practice despite the knee injury he suffered against the Sun Devils.
Gary Horowitz looks at T.J. Ward's return to the Oregon secondary. Horowitz notes that Ward currently has the fifth most tackles on the team after only playing in five of the ten games thus far. Horowitz also has a preview up of Arizona that focuses on Chip Kelly and the team not looking too far ahead.
Gregg Biggins has a story up about TE recruit Christian Thomas, who was at the game this past weekend. It sounds like he came away awfully impressed, despite the cold weather. Thomas is rated the #7 TE overall by Scout and the #3 TE by Rivals, both of whom have him at four stars.

There are few video clips after the jump. Go Ducks!

Chip Kelly talking about the upcoming Arizona game:

Oregon-Arizona: Chip Kelly talks about Saturday's matchup

KVAL has their own Arizona video preview with a few sound bytes from Ward and Kelly, as well as Kelly talking about Blount not playing against ASU:

Quack Fix: Predicting the Husky game, Boyett steps up, Cavaille ready to play

jtlight — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:12:52 -0000

It's the final weekday of hate week! So much more hating, so little time.

Moseley has his weekly prediction thread up. Though he's usually pretty even keeled when it comes to predicting Duck success, and has been known to pick against the Ducks to the chagrin of fans, he seems very confident in the Ducks, predicting a 48-17 win. Jason Vondersmith of the Portland Tribune also picks a big Duck win.
Sounds like another day of practice went well. Masoli is still listed as day-to-day, but everyone is assuming that he will start. Also T.J. Ward will be a game time decision.
However, T.J. Ward's injury has quickly become the least talked about story of the season due to John Boyett, and Adam Jude profiles Boyett in today's Register Guard. While Boyett doesn't have the big hit ability of Ward, he has made up for that with steady play and production, working tirelessly to learn the defensive schemes. While Boyett has been a surprise to Duck fans and even coaches, his previous high school coach isn't surprised one bit, due to Boyett's fearless nature, which has earned him the starting spot.
There are some Ducks that make a great impact on the team, but don't always get recognize by the fans. Rory Cavaille seems to be that type of player. After a fall camp injury, he's ready to play, and could surprise both the Ducks and Huskies this weekend. Jeremiah Masoli calls him a "silent weapon." I'll be making sure to keep my eyes open for #81 this weekend.
One of the angles that every columnist seems to be taking on this game is how the Oregon-Washington rivalry has been renewed, as Washington rises to relevance again. George Schroeder has a piece in which he talks with the Ducks last Rose Bowl starting QB, Danny O'Neil. Meanwhile, Ted Miller describes the relationship as a "hate renaissance."
Miller also has a Q&A with the angriest man on earth, UW defensive coordinator Nick Holt. Holt is tasked with trying to stop the Duck offense. I'm thinking he's not gonna be very successful.
In a bit of baseball news, George Horton is liking his young team as they prepare for fall camp. The Ducks will be looking to do a better job at the plate this year, after a very poor performance last season. Horton is being guarded in his optimism, but is looking to significant improvement, even if it doesn't come in the form of wins.

Leave all links and comments below. GO DUCKS!

Quack Fix: Running game rising; Locker is passing this year; big weekend in LA

JConant — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:53:02 -0000

Okay, it's day four of Hate Week. I haven't quite had my fill of pre-game hype, but I'm getting there. Lots of good stuff to get to this morning, so here's your daily fix:

Thrashing opponents with the running game has become a staple of Oregon football. After a 31-yard start at Boise State, the Ducks have steadily improved their national ranking in rushing yards and now sit at 16th in the nation at 202.7 yards per game. In this Rob Moseley article from the R-G, Chip Kelly says the Ducks' ground game is still a work in progress.
No QB who's accomplished so little when it comes to wins and losses gets more hype than Jake Locker. Of course, his athletic ability is undeniable. Adam Jude of the R-G takes a look at how Locker has become a true dual-threat. WARNING: T.J. Ward and Jake Locker take turns saying nice things about each others teams. How times have changed.
Some other links provided by Moseley include a mid-season All-Pac-10 team from Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News; local Xs and Os guy Ken Woody answers some fan questions; Carson York has a new journal entry over at OregonLive.
Former Duck players - and current staffers - Rashad Bauman, Peter Sirmon and Don Pellum reflect on the intense Oregon v. Washington rivalry.
Cameron Jerde has a heavily Duck-biased UO/UW preview for Bleacher Report, with an ending that's worthy of a good chuckle.
Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times takes a look at Oregon's path from the butt of a lot of jokes back to a no. 11 BCS ranking. BTW, Bob, it was a jab. Actually, a rather stiff jab, not a roundhouse. I don't think Bob covers much boxing.
Fresh off big wins in Eugene, the Ducks volleyball team travels to LA to face no. 13 UCLA and no. 18 USC. Here's the preview from GoDucks.com. Women's soccer also is traveling to LA. The Ducks - winless in conference play at 0-3-0 - will take on no. 4 UCLA, then no. 14 USC.
Now that school's back in session, I guess I should get back to giving props to the weekly GoDucks.com Student-Athlete of the Week. This week it's senior middle blocker Neticia Enesi of the Oregon volleyball squad.

You know the drill. If you find something that's ATQ-worthy and you don't share with others, well, you're no better than Washington's defense. Go Ducks!

Quack Fix: Latest on Masoli's knee and a look at the Washington rivalry

ntrebon — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:27:37 -0000

Here's your quack fix for Tuesday of Hate Week. Enjoy.

In Moseley's feature piece today, he looks at the recent history of the UW rivalry in which Oregon has won the last five meetings. Moseley also notes that Jeremiah Masoli is preparing as the starter as he took the reps with the first-team offense on Monday. In his blog post from yesterday, Moseley notes that Masoli is awaiting the latest results from another round of medical tests. And Ted Miller also chimes in that Masoli is questionable for Saturday.
John Hunt has a large blog entry on Chip Kelly preparing for his first game as head coach against UW. It sounds like Kelly has been preparing his team for this game like he has every week: "Every game is a rivalry game.'' It will be interesting to see how Kelly gets the team to respond coming off of the bye. Under Bellotti, who led the Ducks to a 15-2 record in games following a bye week, Duck fans have come to expect wins in these games. I suspect that the Ducks will not lack for intensity and focus this week and Kelly will have them ready to play the Huskies in Seattle.
Nick Daschel takes a look at the Oregon - UW rivalry. I think he hits it spot on with this characterization: "In the traditional rivalries (UCLA-USC, Cal-Stanford, etc.), you have to hate the rival. In Oregon-Washington, you want to hate the rival."
Hunt also has a T.J. Ward update: he's questionable for Saturday, despite practicing on Monday. Ward appears to have a good attitude towards the play of John Boyett, who has filled in admirably in his absence, saying: "I'll just add some more depth and playmaking ability when I get back." You hate to see a guy lose his starting spot due to injury, but Boyett and the defense have been playing awfully well.
The Statesman Journal takes a look at recruiting, primarily from the head coach's perspective. The piece is timely considering that many of the Duck coaches took advantage of the bye week to hit the recruiting the trail. The piece contains insight from Bellotti, Kelly, Don Pellum and Mike Riley.
After the bye week, Bob Clark has his conference rankings up and Oregon remains #1. Bob Condotta, meanwhile, is keeping USC on top.
Cougfan.com's Daven Harmeling has a conference basketball preview up. And, for what it's worth, he thinks the Ducks have a lot of talent but, for whatever reason, have just not been able to put it together. I could give you a list of reasons, if you wanted Daven. How about: inexperience, lack of fundamentals, questionable in-game coaching, too much reliance on the jump shot and poor point guard play. Oh yeah, Harmeling also call Joevan Catron the craftiest, wiliest and smoothest power forward in the league.
After a great weekend for the women's volleyball team, they have moved up to #12 in the AVCA national poll. The media release also notes that the Ducks have been ranked in the top 15 for 30 straight weeks. Sonjia Newcombe was named Pac-10 player of the week, which is her second such honor this season. Takimoto's right: It may be time to jump aboard.
In Pac-10 news, Ted Miller has a post up about the development of the young conference QBs. During the summer, the general consensus was that the position would be much weaker than usual. However, there appears to be a lot of young talent at the position at the position and only ASU and OSU are starting seniors.

Young Ducks Emerge As New Stars

JConant — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:00:30 -0000

by Chris Carlson - AP

Oregon sophomore safety John Boyett intercepts a pass intended for UCLA wide receiver Taylor Embree during the second half of Oregon's 24-10 win in Pasadena. Boyett's play following the opening game injury to veteran T.J. Ward symbolizes the depth and talent that should help Oregon remain a prominent football program for years to come. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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It's halftime. A good time to relax, regroup and reflect.

Oregon's 2009 football season is rich with story lines. Chip Kelly's first season as a head coach. All the pre-season hype. The disaster that was Boise, compounded by LeGarrette Blount's post-game MMA display and subsequent suspension. A skin-of-the-teeth win over a Purdue team that clearly isn't very good. A better win over Utah, where the Ducks overcame adversity created mostly by themselves. More off-field news as The Blount Plan continues to evolve amid mixed support and criticism. Three conference wins later, it's game on.

No story, however, is more compelling than the play of Ducks youngsters, back-ups and first-year starters. Oregon's post-Boise success has been led by many of the guys we expected would play well: Masoli, Dickson, Maehl, Thurmond, Matthews and Paysinger. It also is the result of hard work put in by a whole new group of Ducks who are becoming household names among even casual Duck fans. With some time to kill during the bye week, now seems the perfect time to contemplate how these players have stepped up to lead the Ducks back to prominence.

LaMichael James (RB, Freshman) - Is anyone else as jacked as I am that we still get three more years of this kid? He's the lightning all right, and he's helping Oregon thrive without much thunder. James has 581 net yards on 92 carries - 6.3 yards per carry. He's punched in four TDs. LaMichael is a threat from anywhere on the field. His spin move is quickly becoming a "signature", and I thought he was just one cut away from going about 95 yards against UCLA.

Javes Lewis (ROV, Sophomore) - Lewis had big shoes to fill this season. In fact, clown shoes big. So far so good. One INT, one huge fumble recovery and return for a TD against Purdue, two forced fumbles, and he's tied for second on the team with 37 tackles. And that blow-up of UCLA QB Richard Brehaut...I thought the kid might not get up.

Kenny Rowe (DE, Junior) - Be honest. Did you really expect this kind of production from Kenny Rowe? He's crushing opposing QBs, with 6.5 sacks, tied for second in the Pac-10. He had seven tackles against UCLA. Rowe has forced three fumbles. How will the Ducks replace Nick Reed? We have our answer, and he's a game changer.

Kenjon Barner (RB, Freshman) - Maybe Barner will be a cornerback again at some point. Right now, he's doing a fantastic job of being ball carrier. Barner ranks second on the team with 467 all-purpose yards: 178 rushing, 46 punt return, 236 kick return, and a handful of receiving yards. He's found the end zone twice. There have been many big plays in Oregon's six games. Few more timely or more important than Barner's 100-yard kick return to open the second half of a must-win road game against UCLA.

John Boyett (FS, Freshman) - If it weren't for Blount's blow-up after the loss to Boise St., the injury to T.J. Ward would've been THE source of post-game pain for Duck fans. Now we wonder out loud whether we're eager to see Boyett come off the field when Ward is ready to go. Let me remind you why... Boyett trails only Casey Matthews for tackles. His two interceptions have come late in games, effectively sealing the deal both times. He appears to be a heady player with veteran smarts, good cover skills and the ability to make open field tackles. Boyett's reaction and subsequent play on a Purdue receiver sealed a much needed win and provided the team with the momentum and confidence they needed to rise above the slow start.

Eddie Pleasant & Josh Kaddu (SLB, Sophomore x 2) - These two bring speed and intensity to Oregon's defense, and will do so for two more seasons. Pleasant has 22 tackles, an interception and a nose for fumble recoveries - three so far. Kaddu has 18 tackles, including three for losses. When you talk about the sudden emergence of a defense at Oregon and Nick Aliotti having the flexibility to run multiple fronts, the discussion has to include these two up-and-coming stars.

Jackson Rice (P, Freshman) - He's the punter. Not a lot of glory there, but Rice has been solid and then some. Sure, he's shanked a couple. He's one year removed from high school football. Through six games, Rice is averaging 39.3 yards a punt. He has the look of a guy who may be averaging 45 yards a couple seasons down the road. More than one-third of Rice's punts land inside the opponent's 20, and yet he's had just one touchback. He has five punts over 50 yards.

Mark Asper (RG, So.), Carson York (LG, Fr.), Nick Cody (OL, Fr.), Darrion Weems (OL, So.) - The rapid maturation of Oregon's offensive line would not be happening without these underclassmen stepping up. Asper and York are solid starters. Cody and Weems are seeing considerable playing time and look like future starters. Oregon's offensive machine sputters if this group isn't on top of their game. The growth we've seen along Oregon's offensive line since the opening game is nothing short of remarkable.

There are others worth mentioning, but I'll leave those for the group to comment on. Stop. Think about it for a moment. Relish it. We're in the midst of what could be a special season. At the same time, the future of Oregon football appears to be as bright as those crazy yellow jerseys.

Morning Quack Fix: defense, conference rankings and Jamil Wilson

ntrebon — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:01:56 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Is Chip Kelly the early leader for conference coach of the year honors?

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Oregon has made it to the halfway point of the season at 5-1 and sits alone atop the conference standings. Here's your bye week fix.

Nick Daschel thinks the Oregon defense is the biggest (pleasant) surprise of the season thusfar. Rounding out his top three are UW's turnaround and the league's non-conference performance.
Bob Clark has his conference rankings up, and wonders if Chip Kelly is the best bet for the Pac-10's coach of the year. At the midway point, I'd say Steve Sarkisian and the (early) turnaround at UW is probably his biggest challenger. Ted Miller also has his own conference rankings posted. The biggest difference between the two lists? Clark has Cal 3rd while Miller has them at 9th.
Jason Vondersmith has an article up about Nate Costa's performance this past weekend. Nate avoided any talk about a QB controversey -- which is a good thing because I don't think there is much of one if Jeremiah Masoli is healthy.
In basketball news, Bob Clark has a feature piece on freshman Jamil Wilson, who was the top recruit signed by Ernie Kent last year. And, it sounds like he was impressive in early workouts, with Ernie Kent calling him, "probably the best athlete we’ve had here since Fred Jones." Though, Kent appears to have learned from past mistakes and repeatedly tried to dampen unreal expectations by reminding us that he is only a freshman.
This was posted yesterday, but it in case you missed it, Kenjon Barner was named the Pac-10 special teams player of the week for his game-changing kickoff return to start the second half. As a side note, I keep reading about about how it's the second-longest in UO history because the NCAA no longer recognizes yards accrued in the endzone. I know it is probably not possible to update all the records this accounting change affected, but it seems silly to me to have a record that not only is impossible to break, but impossible to tie when, by many accounts, Barner should have at least tied the mark. I mean, in the current era of baseball, no one is going to break Cy Young's 511 wins, but it is not because MLB decided to stop counting victories after 400.
The Register-Guard has a story on the injury to South Eugene's Gabe King. Even if surgery is scheduled for this week, it sounds like they are optimistic that King could still play again this season.
Ted Miller claims this will be a weekend of desperation and separation in the Pac-10. I think Miller's classification is right on and I am definitely interested in how the Stanford-Arizona and UCLA-Cal games play out. I wish there was some sort of forum where we could all put our predictions on record...
In other conference news, Miller also posts a brief injury report for each team. Because of the bye week schedule with practices only on Wednesday and Friday, I assume we won't have any further updates on Jeremiah Masoli and T.J. Ward until then.

Go Ducks!

BN Game Day Roundup: Bounce Back Saturday?

Nestor — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:40:12 -0000

You know you have had a productive game week here on BN, when going through the morning papers on game day, it appears we had already exhausted discussion all angles and story lines heading into this afternoon's kickoff. Again we don't have any new themes to introduce this morning as Bruins prepare for another big and incredibly difficult Pac-10 matchup this afternoon at the Rose Bowl. We have talked about the Ducks' injury issues all week. I think they are going to be just fine even with the injuries given the depth they have built up in that program thanks to the stable leadership of Mike Bellotti which appears to be humming along just fine another Chip Kelly. The question on everyone's mind here on BN is whether our program and our boys, who are in the middle of a long and painful rebuilding process will be able to bounce back after a tough loss?

The OC Register's game day write up sets it up:

The Bruins have their own demons to get rid of as they try to right their ship after a disappointing loss at Stanford last Saturday. After that game, they sat throughout their locker room at Stanford Stadium looking like a team that wasn't sure what had just happened.

But after enduring an eight-loss season in 2008, the Bruins are smart enough to know that one setback isn't enough to trigger panic.

They used the week to regroup, refocus and regain the same pride that started to build after winning three consecutive games to start the season.

"After we lost Saturday, we had practices and we're trying to bounce back," said defensive end Datone Jones. "That's our motto, to bounce back.

"This is going to be a big test for UCLA football. Can we bounce back in a big game? We just have to go out there and execute."

Well a huge key to bouncing back will be the performance of Kevin Prince. Again, we all know the story line here. We have discussed it to death and have followed his updates including his daily diet following his injury almost on a day to day basis. Still here is the report from the Press Enterprise today:

"He's eager and he's very willing," Neuheisel said of Prince, whose replacement, Kevin Craft, combined to throw for one touchdown and 390 yards in a win over Kansas State the loss at Stanford.

Prince's teammates seem eager to get him back on the field.

"I love Kevin Prince, man," linebacker Reggie Carter said. "And I missed the Fresh Prince of Bel Air!"

What will the UCLA beat writers do when Reggie Carter moves on to the NFL. Who is going to be their next quote machine? lol Back to Prince, the key to his come back will not just center on how he reacts to the front line pressure of a tough Duck's defense. He is going to need a lot of help from his offensive line, that will have to give him time to find his receivers and open up holes for our backs. Hopefully the coaches will also help him out by putting together a game plan, which will look to take advantage of athleticism of some of your youngsters, which we have seen in spurts in first four game of the seasons. More after the jump.

Speaking of the Ducks defense, Ken Woody from the Register-Guard goes over couple of factors that migh help Duck's defense cover up the inexperiences of their defensive backs, a position that has been ravaged by injury in recent weeks:

Being able to rush the quarterback with four defensive linemen helps, because the secondary can play zone coverages that spread the responsibility for pass routes among all defenders.

One of Oregon’s top areas of improvement in the wins over California and Washington State was the rush of the Ducks’ front four, led by Kenny Rowe, who has quietly climbed the ladder in Pac-10 defensive stats. The contain has also been excellent, keeping the quarterback pinned between the tackles, which limits the time he has to throw and eliminates the secondary threat of scrambling.

Second, the free safety can play deep and be in a position to help the corner on routes across the middle, or long throws down the sideline.

UO safety John Boyett, a redshirt freshman, has played brilliantly in relief of T.J. Ward. Check to see if the Bruins go after the young Oregon corners, a possibility given the Ducks’ stout run defense, particularly on first down. When the ball is thrown deep, see if Boyett is in the vicinity, helping out his comrades who are stuck "on an island."

We have discussed one possible way for the Bruin offense to adjust to the Ducks pressure, which would be adding more dimension to their running attack by stretching the field and going outside. That also goes back to the idea of using the speed and athletcism of players such as Thigpen, Knox, Carroll, and Presley by getting them lose outside via reverses, bubble screens and quick toss to stretch out the field. We will see what Chow cooks up today.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, everyone is waiting to find out how the Bruin defense handle's Oregon's explosive spread offense (which should be potent even without Masoli under capable Nate Costa). From the LA Times:

"This offense makes you have to play," Carter said. "This week we stressed playing sound football and doing your job. If we're not doing our jobs, it can be real tough. They will hit seams if you're in the wrong gap."

Carter has seen the result of that. Masoli rushed for 170 yards against UCLA last season.

Costa gives the Bruins a different look. He gained 26 yards in six carries against Washington State, but completed seven of nine passes for 80 yards.

Still, UCLA defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough is stressing the same philosophy no matter who is running the spread.

"It makes you play assignment football," Bullough said. "Your assignment is to be in the right gap. If you get out of that gap, that's when they hit you. They want to get you in one-on-one solo tackle situations. So you have to tackle well. Play assignment football and make your solo tackles."

However, as jtthirtyfour pointed here Bruins will need to do a little more than just play assignment football. Our defense will need to mix it up a little and be prepare to switch their assignments, depending on how Oregon makes in game adjustments. This was an issue last weekend when the Bruin defense didn't seem to make the necessary adjustments early on allowing the Stanford offense to dominate until it was too late towards end of the third quarter. Moreover, as we have discussed all week (or actually the entire season), it will be imperative for the Bruin defense to set the tone and make a statement early on.

For more on the game here are the writeups from the LA Times, the Daily News, and SI.com. Also, it looks like at least one writer in Oregon thinks the team in blue has a chance to prevail this afternoon at the Rose Bowl. Hope he is right. Here is to a bounce back Saturday in BN. We will put up a pre game thread in about an hour and our game thread will go up around 12:00 pm PST.

GO BRUINS.