2006 Oregon Ducks Football Preview: Linebackers

Salem-News.com Sports

EUGENE - Two-thirds of last season's starting linebacking corp returns this year, with Anthony Trucks being the only starter lost.

Returning starters Brent Haberly and Blair Phillips head the linebacking corp, with Haberly accumulating 63 tackles as a 12-game starter and Phillips recording 33 of his 45 tackles in his final five appearances.

Junior A.J. Tuitele acquired 31 of his 37 tackles in the first four games last year before injuries interrupted his progress and could be a force at either the weakside or strongside linebacker outposts.

Junior Kwame Agyeman and sophomore Jerome Boyd will try to fill the void at the latter position left by Trucks as the Ducks’ leading tackler.

Success Stories

Two of the Ducks’ projected starters heading into fall camp began their collegiate careers without the benefit of athletic scholarships.

Senior linebacker Brent Haberly opened all 12 games a year ago after initiating his region tenure as a walk-on in 2002, and has since been added to the scholarship rolls.

Redshirt freshman cornerback

Terrell Ward joined the roster for the start of fall camp last season and has quickly made an impression.

He too has been rewarded after concluding last spring atop the depth chart at right cornerback.

Top Defense

While it has been Oregon’s offense which has often grabbed the headlines in recent years, the Ducks’ defense was the one which rose to the forefront from a statistical standpoint.

Allowing opponents 357.7 yards per game, Oregon led the Pacific-10 Conference in total defense in 2005.

It also finished second in the league in passing efficiency defense as well as third in scoring defense (23.2 avg.).

Although Oregon had posted better defensive numbers three times during the Bellotti Era, it marked the first time the Ducks have paced the conference in total defense since doing so for three consecutive years from 1956-58.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports