National spotlights and big stages are nothing new to the Oregon Ducks.
No. 9 Oregon (4-1, 2-0 Pac-12) has begun two of the last three seasons on national television. They have won back-to-back conference championships and played in two consecutive BCS bowl games.
Whether it is because of their success on the field or their increasingly absurd amount of uniform combinations, the Ducks will not be intimidated by the ESPN College Gameday setting and national audience as they play host to No. 18 ASU (5-1, 3-0).
“This is what college football is all about,” Oregon coach Chip Kelly said.
Although the Ducks are 4-1 all-time when hosting College Gameday, Kelly knows the Sun Devils, led by junior quarterback Brock Osweiler, are a formidable opponent.
“Brock Osweiler is a big tall quarterback,” Kelly said. “He can throw it. (He’s) very athletic. He really keeps things alive with his feet. They’ve got a slew of receivers and they spread the ball around to everybody.”
ASU runs a spread offense that features a lot of receivers, meaning more than just corners and safeties will be forced to play pass coverage on Saturday.
While this may present matchup problems for a lot of teams, Kelly believes his team has covered well this season and will continue to do so against the Sun Devils.
“It’s been real good,” Kelly said of the Ducks’ pass coverage. “Our linebackers are doing a real good job. We’ve been really close in coverage.”
Although the Ducks have had success defending the pass, they have had problems creating turnovers.
“I hope we start to create some turnovers,” Kelly said. “We’re going to need it in this game. A big factor in this game is going to be turnovers. Right now we’re doing a great job of holding onto the ball, but we haven’t done as good of a job of taking it away as we have in the past.”
Not only will the Ducks try to create turnovers, but they also need to hold onto the football. The ASU defense has forced 17 turnovers in their last four games.
In the Ducks’ last four games they have only turned the ball over once, but they have not faced a defense as talented as ASU’s — which is leading the Pac-12 in third down defense — since their season opening loss to LSU.
“They’ve got a ton of experience,” Kelly said of the Sun Devils. “It’s a solid defense, very well coached.”
Even ASU coach Dennis Erickson admits his team’s strength is the defense, but the Ducks boast an offense that averages 540 yards and 50 points per game.
The Ducks convert 50 percent of their third down conversions, and have only allowed junior quarterback Darron Thomas to be sacked three times on the year.
However, the Ducks will likely be without the nation’s leading rusher, junior running back LaMichael James, who dislocated his elbow in last week’s victory over Cal.
Many would expect this to make ASU defensive coordinator Craig Bray’s job easier, but the Ducks’ backfield is loaded with talent and depth, including junior running back Kenjon Barner and true freshman De’Anthony Thomas.
“With De’Anthony it’s how do we get the ball in his hands,” Kelly said. “I think he is explosive in both roles as both a receiver and a running back.”
Running backs coach Gary Campbell is also confident in his team’s backfield depth.
“Everybody feels like now we’ve got to play for LaMike,” Campbell said. “We’ve got some guys that are going to come in, step up and hopefully we won’t miss a beat.”
Whether it is James or junior Kenjon Barner starting at running back, the Ducks’ will be ready to perform under the Autzen stadium lights on Saturday night.
Oregon has outscored opponents 61-19 in the first quarter this season and will try to get off to a fast start against ASU, a team they have defeated six straight times by an average of 22 points per game.
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
