Ducks Look to Rebound Against Bruins

Something’s gotta give: Oregon leads the Pac-10 in rushing offense (197.0 ypg) while the Bruins rank first in rushing defense, allowing just 50 yards per game.

Photo: University of Oregon

EUGENE - The University of Oregon football team (4-1 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10 Conference) returns home this weekend to host the UCLA Bruins (4-1, 2-1) at Autzen Stadium in Eugene in a battle to break a four-team deadlock for third place in the league standings.

The Ducks played their last two games on the road -- at Arizona State and California -- and will be looking for their second home conference victory of the season. This will be the first time since the 2004 season that the two teams have faced off as they did not play last season.

TELEVISION/RADIO INFORMATION

ESPN on ABC: Regional Telecast: Dan Fouts (play-by-play), Tim Brant (analyst), Jack Arute (sideline)

LOCAL BROADCAST: Oregon Sports Network: 750 KXL Portland and 1430 KYKN Salem: 11:30 AM: Jerry Allen, Mike Jorgensen, Jay Allen.

NATIONAL BROADCAST: Westwood One, Kevin Kugler, Terry Bowden

DELAYED TELECAST: Oregon Sports Network, 11:30 PM: Joe Giansante, Anthony Newman

GAME CAPTAINS

2 Jordan Kent (WR), 18 James Finley (WR), 34 A.J. Tuitele (LB), 95 Darius Sanders (DE)

QUICKLY

• Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti is 5-5 vs. UCLA.

• Under Bellotti, Oregon and UCLA have played in Autzen Stadium just four times and are 1-3 in those contests.

• Last week’s 21-point loss to Cal was Oregon’s most lopsided loss since a 45-13 setback vs. then-No. 1 USC last season; Following that loss, Oregon defeated its next three opponents by an average of 20.6 points and also won seven straight contests.

• Something’s gotta give: Oregon leads the Pac-10 in rushing offense (197.0 ypg) while the Bruins rank first in rushing defense, allowing just 50 yards per game.

THE SERIES

Oregon had claimed four-straight wins against UCLA prior to a 34-26 setback in Eugene in 2004. The Bruins hold the all-time advantage in the series, which originated in 1928 (38-21-0). The string of four consecutive wins (2000-03) equaled the Ducks’ longest stretch of success ever enjoyed over the Bruins (1928-31), with three of those victories occurring in Pasadena. Oregon has historically encountered better success against this week’s visitors on the road than at home, with UCLA enjoying a 13-7 advantage in Eugene while winning 12 of 14 games played in Autzen Stadium. UCLA won the last meeting played at Autzen in 2004 (34-26). Prior to that, the previous three meetings (2003, 2002, 2001) were played in Pasadena. Oregon won at Autzen Stadium in 2000 (29-10) and again in 1990 (28-24), but you have to wade back into the archives to 1957 (21-0 in Portland) to uncover the their previous “home” win against UCLA.

OREGON VS. UCLA - THE LAST SIX MEETINGS IN AUTZEN STADIUM

11/3/90 — Oregon 28, UCLA 24

11/14/92 — UCLA, Oregon 6

10/5/96 — UCLA 41, Oregon 22

10/11/97 — UCLA 30, Oregon 31

9/23/00 — Oregon 29, UCLA 10

11/13/04 — UCLA 34, Oregon 26

WHAT’S HAPPENED SO FAR - OREGON IN THE FIRST FOUR GAMES

• Jonathan Stewart has 659 all purpose yards...He had over 200 total yards in two of four starts (Stanford, Oklahoma) and has rushed for over 100 yards in three of four starts. He has at least one TD in four of five games this season and 14 of 15 career games.

• Oregon is 32-62 on third down conversions (51.6%) while opponents are just 24-of-73 (32.9%).

• The Ducks have been in the red zone 26 times this season and have scored 24 times (92.3%) — 18 TDs, 6 FG

• The Ducks have had a 100-yard receiver in four consecutive games.

• Oregon had more than 500 yards of total offense in three of four games (Stanford, Oklahoma, ASU) before being held to a season-low 358 vs. California. The bears also held them to just 70 rush yards.

• The Duck defense did not allow an offensive touchdown at Arizona State.

SCOUTING UCLA

• The Bruins lead the Pac-10 in scoring defense (12.4 ppg), total defense (221.6 ypg) rushing defense (50.0 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (103.2).

• UCLA’s total defense and rushing defense numbers rank second in the country.

• Defensively, the squad has scored a TD in its last two games. Freshman cornerback Alterraun Verner has returned two interceptions for touchdowns this year.

• Starting quarterback Ben Olson injured his knee in last week’s win over Arizona. Backup Patrick Cowan completed 20-of-29 passes and had two touchdowns.

• Head coach Karl Dorrell is 3-8 vs. teams in the Top 25.

TIES WITH THE UCLA

• Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti was the defensive coordinator at UCLA in 1998.

• The Ducks have 31 players on their roster from Southern California.

UCLA LAST WEEK VS. ARIZONA

Patrick Cowan, taking over for injured UCLA quarterback Ben Olson, threw for two touchdowns and Alterraun Verner returned an interception 89 yards for a score as the Bruins beat Arizona 27-7.

Cowan completed the first four passes of his college career, including a 10-yard TD toss to Marcus Everett for the first points of the game. With just 65 yards rushing, the Bruins leaned heavily on Cowan’s untested arm. He completed eight of his first nine and went 20-for-29 for 201 yards in the game. Arizona trailed 20-7 and was at the UCLA 16 with 4:33 to play when Verner picked off a short pass from Wildcats backup Adam Austin near the line of scrimmage and had a clear path to the goal line for a touchdown that put the game away. The Bruin defense held Arizona to minus-13 yards rushing and have allowed just one rushing touchdown all season. They have held all five opponents under 300 yards of total offense. Arizona had 222.

THE LAST TIME - UCLA 34, OREGON 26 - 11/13/04 - EUGENE, ORE.

Game Recap: UCLA tailback Chris Markey ran for 131 yards to lead UCLA to a 34-26 victory over Oregon at Autzen Stadium in 2004. Markey, playing because of an injury to starter Maurice Drew, also caught five passes for 84 yards. Senior tailback Manual White added 82 yards and two touchdowns for UCLA, and Drew Olson threw for 212 yards and a touchdown. Terrence Whitehead led the Ducks with 124 yards rushing. Markey entered the game having rushed for only 199 yards on 30 career carries. But against the Ducks, he took his first carry of the second half 24 yards to give him 108. That drive eventually led to a 52-yard field goal by the Justin Medlock for a 24-10 lead. Oregon scored the next 10 points on an 8-yard touchdown run by quarterback Kellen Clemens and a 38-yard field goal by Jared Siegel. In the third quarter, Olson hit Junior Taylor with an 8-yard pass that the receiver took 83 yards for the score and a 31-20 lead. Oregon’s Justin Phinisee returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, and though the 2-point conversion failed, the score trimmed the Bruins’ lead to 31-26. The Ducks couldn’t stop the Bruins on their ensuing possession, as they scored on a 50-yard field goal by Medlock for a 34-26 lead with 2:29 remaining in the game.

HIGHS AND LOWS

In a matter of just one week, Oregon went from one of its best rushing performances in recent years to one of its worst. The Ducks’ 315 yards on the ground two weeks ago at Arizona State (7.9 avg.) marked their most yards running the football since they set a school record with 446 rushing yards at Washington State on Oct. 27, 2001. The following week at California, Oregon was held to only 70 yards on the ground on 29 carries (2.4 avg.). It was limited to only 65 yards last year vs. USC -- the program’s lowest two rushing outputs since UCLA held the Ducks to only 45 yards in 2003.

A BRIGHT SPOT

Wide receiver Jordan Kent made sure one streak remained intact in Oregon’s loss at Cal last week. The senior had career highs in catches (6) and receiving yards (113) to lead all receivers. Oregon has had a 100-yard receiver in four straight games, with Jaison Williams doing so against Fresno State, Oklahoma and Arizona State before being limited to 66 yards last week.

HANDLING THE LOAD

Last week marked the first time this season that running back Jeremiah Johnson had no carries in a game. Starter Jonathan Stewart had 18 carries for a season-low 25 yards and it was quarterback Dennis Dixon who led Oregon’s rushing game, carrying the ball a career-high 11 times for a career-best 49 yards.

BUT HIS PRESENCE WAS FELT

Although he had no rushing attempts or receptions, Johnson returned five kickoffs for 113 yards with a long of 34 yards and still averages 8.1 yards per carry.

GO THE DISTANCE

One of the reasons that Oregon has been so successful at protecting the quarterback is that the starting quintet of Max Unger, Josh Tschirgi, Enoka Lucas, Palauni Ma Sun and Geoff Schwartz have gotten use to working with one another. The fivesome started together for each of the last 10 games of last season and again for the first five contests of 2006. The unit took part in every offense snap together in three of the last four games (Fresno State, Oklahoma, California). Entering the Arizona State game, missing only three of 215 plays all season, the unit remained intact until the ASU game was well in hand in the fourth quarter.

DIXON ON A ROLL

When Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon was first signed by the Ducks in the winter of 2003, he was labeled as an athlete known as much for his ability to run with the football as his passing prowess. That has certainly changed with his development throwing the football. While he stepped in for the injured Kellen Clemens during the last four games a year ago, his 66.3 percent completion percentage was actually better than Clemens’ 64.0 percent, which officially stands as the school’s single-season school record (185-289, 2005). Clemens also owns the school record for single-game passing percentage (88.2%) as well as career (61.0%). To date, Dixon has completed 63.3 percent of his attempts this year (109-172) as well as owning a career completion percentage of 63.2 percent (184-2916). His string of pass attempts without an interception was snapped at 161 by Oklahoma’s Nic Harris in week three of this season.

OREGON’S OWN #28

The Ducks’ Jonathan Stewart has yet to gain the attention or accomplish the feats of Oklahoma’s All-American running back Adrian Peterson, but he certainly has made an impact in Oregon’s success in his brief collegiate tenure. Leading the nation in kickoff returns a year ago (33.7 avg.), he became the school’s first player ever to return a pair of kickoff returns for touchdowns in the same season in 2005. In his debut in the starting lineup from scrimmage earlier this season against Stanford, the 5-11, 230-pound sophomore amassed 168 yards rushing before suffering an ankle injury in the third quarter. He then took part in only two plays vs. Fresno State yet one of those resulted in a 3-yard TD run. In his second start of the season vs. Oklahoma, he turned in his second 100-yard rushing performance (144 yards). In his third start of the year, Stewart was again limited by his ankle, but he accumulated 142 rushing yards in just 12 carries. Officially taking part in only 15 games in his collegiate career, he already has accounted for 14 touchdowns.

ROCKIN’ AUTZEN

The crowd of 59,269 to watch the Oregon vs. Oklahoma game is the largest ever to watch a college football game at Autzen Stadium, as well as within the State of Oregon. In the season-opener vs. Stanford, the fourth-largest crowd (58,450) ever filled the stadium as Oregon’s first two home games of the season rank in the top 5 all-time.

BELLOTTI VS. THE TOP-25

Oregon is now 21-20 vs. opponents ranked among the nation’s Top 25 in Mike Bellotti’s 12th season at the Ducks’ helm, including a 10-7 record in Autzen Stadium. A year ago, Bellotti’s teams tallied a 3-1 ledger against the nation’s elite, with the lone setback coming at the hands of national runner-up USC. The Ducks have played 23 games under Bellotti where both Oregon and its opponent where ranked among the Top 25, with the Ducks accumulating a 14-9 mark on those occasions. In those previous 23 appearances between two ranked foes, Oregon was able to pull the “upset” six times as the lower-ranked participant. Prior to defeating the Sooners this season, the latest instance was a year ago when the 25th-ranked Ducks upset No. 20 Arizona State in Tempe.

BELLOTTI BECOMES THE BEST

Oregon’s win over Fresno State in week two was head coach Mike Bellotti’s 92nd win at Oregon, making him the winningest coach all-time at Oregon. Bellotti entered the 2006 season one win shy of Rich Brooks’ mark of 91 and tied the mark with a win over Stanford in week one.

2006 SCHEDULE

The first complete round-robin conference schedule in 29 years, as well as the first Eugene visit by Oklahoma and the Ducks’ first trip to Fresno State for the first time since 1996, highlights Oregon’s 2006 schedule. Among the 12 opponents, six advanced to the post-season a year ago, with Oregon to face five of them in the first six games of the year. Four foes finished the season ranked among the nation’s top-25 (2. USC; 13./16. UCLA; 22. Oklahoma; 25. California).

MARTINEZ, BRADY: GAME WINNERS

Placekicker Paul Martinez may be used to attempting game-winning field goals, but in Oregon’s win at Fresno State, the senior kicker took a shovel pass on a fake field goal attempt from backup quarterback Brady Leaf with 4:55 left in the game and ran it in for the game-winning touchdown. It’s Martinez’ first career touchdown (at any level), but it marks the second time in his career that he has provided the game-winning points — he booted a 19-yard field goal with one second left at Washington State in 2005 to lift the Ducks to a 34-31 win over the Cougars. Quarterback Brady Leaf is no stranger to late game heroics either. Last season, it was Leaf who connected with receiver James Finely in overtime vs. California to lead Oregon to the 27-20 win at Autzen.

SEEING RED

When it comes to red zone offense, the Ducks are nearly perfect. In five games this season, Oregon has been in the red zone 26 times and has scored 24 of those times (92.3 %). The are a perfect 13-for-13 in their last three games, scoring all three times when arriving in the red zone at California after converting on seven trips at ASU and on all three appearances vs. Oklahoma in week three.

RESERVES CARRY INJURED DEFENSE

With injuries becoming all too common to Oregon’s defense, there were some new faces on the field over the last two weeks. Defensive tackles Cole Linehan (broken foot) and Jeremy Gibbs (ankle), linebacker Brent Haberly (broken arm) and cornerback Jackie Bates (broken leg) were not available to play when the Ducks took the field in the second half against ASU. (Linehan did start, but was injured in the first half). So the new faces — Dexter Manley, Terrell Ward, Michael Speed and Jerome Boyd — helped limit ASU to 175 total yards (just 33 passing yards). The defense had six sacks and allowed ASU just one third down conversion in 13 attempts. Ward — in his first game for Oregon — picked off his first career interception. Last week vs. California, cornerback Jarius Byrd got his second career interception and Thurmond had a career-best six tackles.

MANLEY II BREAKS OUT

In his first extended action of the season, defensive end Dexter Manley II had three sacks for a loss of 15 yards at Arizona State. Manley had just one tackle heading into the game and his performance didn’t go unnoticed as he was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s defensive player of the week. Unlike his father of the same name, the younger Manley did not grow up playing football. In fact, he specialized in basketball at the high school level, despite playing football as a prep senior before first being talked into playing football two years ago at Santa Monica Junior College.

HONORS CANDIDATES

Center Enoka Lucas and free safety J.D. Nelson loom as Oregon’s highest decorated returnees as the pair garnered second-team Pac-10 all-conference accolades last season. The Ducks also will benefit from the return of three honorable mention all-league standouts in rover Patrick Chung, wide receiver James Finley and offensive tackle Max Unger. Unger also attracted Freshman All-America acclaim as a 12-game starter at left offensive tackle as a redshirt freshman while Chung was tabbed by The Sporting News as the conference’s Defensive Freshman of the Year.

OFFENSIVE EVOLUTION

When Oregon adopted the spread offense prior to last season, personnel dictated the emphasis on the passing game -- which the Ducks have become more associated with since the mid-1980s. As a result, Oregon finished 2005 ranked third in the Pacific-10 Conference (and 8th nationally) in passing offense (304.5 avg.), with it accounting for 69 percent of its offense through the air. It averaged 134.3 yards-per-game running the football to finish seventh in the Pac-10. Coach Bellotti stressed last spring that improving the efficiency of the running game would certainly become a priority this year in order to complement the offensive transformation. After five games the Ducks have achieved that goal, as the percentage of passing yards in the total offensive scheme has dropped to 58 percent. Oregon ranks 16th in the country in rushing offense (196.0) and 14th in passing (273.2).

MORE RUNNING

While admittedly there is a lot of football to be played, Oregon last led the league in rushing offense in 1955 and last averaged better than 200 yards rushing in 1980 (213.3 avg.). The closest it came to the latter pinnacle was in 2001 when the Ducks averaged 192.7 yards per game. That’s the same year they won the Fiesta Bowl to finish the year ranked second in the country in both major polls. After five games, Oregon leads the league in rushing offense with a 197.0-yard average.

JONATHAN AND JEREMIAH

One was hailed as one of Oregon’s biggest recruiting coup in recent history as the nation’s top running back recruit. The other received as much attention on signing day in February of 2005 in professional sports vernacular as the ever-popular “player-to-be-named-later.” Yet the tandem has proven to become the program’s best pair of running backs in five years. Jonathan Stewart still commands most of the headlines but it has been Jeremiah Johnson who has been anything but second string. Adding 89 yards at Arizona State, Johnson has averaged 8.1 yards per carry through five games this year (compared with Stewart’s 6.3 avg.). In addition, Johnson has averaged 48.4 yards rushing as a sophomore while last year’s rushing leader - Terrence Whitehead - averaged 61.7 ypg. Although he is second on the team in all-purpose yardage this season, Johnson’s 116.0-yard average exceeds last year’s leader - Whitehead - who averaged 106.3 yards per game.

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