Aggies go Duck hunting in Eugene
Sports Network | September 03, 2008
Eugene, OR (Sports Network) - Aiming for their second straight win to open the 2008 campaign, the 19th-ranked Oregon Ducks entertain the Utah State Aggies in non-conference action this weekend in Eugene. The Ducks kicked off their season with a 44-10 win over Washington on Saturday night to get a head start in Pac-10 Conference play. However, the focus heading into that game was not necessarily the Huskies, rather the status of senior offensive tackle Fenuki Tupou who served a one-game suspension after self-reporting the fact that he had received improper benefits from a rep of a professional sport management company. As for the Aggies, a team that at one point last season had the nation's longest losing streak, they began the new year with a meeting against UNLV in Las Vegas over the weekend. The clash, which ended in a 27-17 win for the Rebels, snapped what had been a two-game road win streak for USU as it closed out 2007 with victories at both New Mexico State and Idaho. Utah State has lost all three of the previous meetings with the Ducks over the years, bowing by a score of 31-17 in the most recent battle back in 2001. Utah State controlled the ball for almost 13 minutes of the first quarter against the Rebels on Saturday night and yet still floundered in an attempt to pick up its third straight road victory. The Aggies finished the contest 4- of-5 on fourth-down plays but were a mere 3-of-15 on third down overall. Both Sean Setzer and Diondre Borel each saw time under center for the squad, combining to hit 18-of-33 for 203 yards and a score, with the latter also racing for a team-best 70 yards on 15 carries as well. Although the team needed two different signal-callers to generate significant yardage, it still proved to be far better than the alternative from last season when the Aggies were last in the WAC and 116th in the country with an average of just 153 ypg through the air. The scoring effort by USU fell short of the team's average from 2007 when it came up with 20.6 ppg when that number was not only eighth in the league, but also 101st in the country. Giving up no less than 17 points in any one game last season, the Aggies are used to having opponents take advantage of them on a regular basis. In 2007 the squad allowed a whopping 33.8 ppg (seventh in the conference and 101st in the nation) as teams generated a whopping 450.3 ypg of total offense. UNLV didn't do quite as much damage when it controlled the ball, coming up with 353 yards on 62 plays, but the Rebels seemed to know when and how to pick their spots, going after the secondary when possible. Utah State had three different players finish with double-digit tackles in the contest, led by Jake Hutton and his 12 stops. James Brindley and Caleb Taylor both came up with 10 tackles, while Nathan Royster posted the only sack of the game for the Aggies, leading to a loss of 13 yards. Takedowns in the backfield are a rare occurrence for this group, having averaged just 4.9 TFLs per game (111th) and one sack (115th) in 2007. The Ducks crushed Washington to open the season on Saturday, but the victory came with a cost as starting quarterback Justin Roper left in the second quarter with an apparent concussion. Roper, who was just named the starter after Nate Costa went down with a knee injury of his own, completed 7-of-11 passing before giving way to Jeremiah Masoli who converted 9-of-17 for 126 yards and a touchdown in the rout. Senior running back Jeremiah Johnson took care of carrying the ball for Oregon, racing for 124 yards and two TDs on 15 attempts. The team as a whole rolled up 256 yards rushing in the contest, right on target with the 251.7 ypg the squad came up with a year ago to lead the Pac-10 and place sixth in the nation. Oregon more than doubled (496 yards to 242) Washington's overall yardage production in the game, averaging a shade under seven yards per play yet still controlling the ball for less than 25 minutes. Last season, the Ducks were not only first in the Pac-10 in total offense (467.5 ypg), they also ranked 10th in the nation in that department, leading to five games in which they scored in excess of 50 points. Fourth in the Pac-10 and tied for 15th in the country last season with an average of three sacks per game, the Ducks were right on the mark on the opener as they took down the Washington signal-caller three times. Although the team fell far short of the 9.4 tackles for loss per game that led the nation a year ago, Oregon still managed to come up with six stops behind the line. Doing most of the damage was sophomore linebacker Spencer Paysinger who accounted for 2.5 TFLs himself. Not limiting himself to being just the top tackler for the Ducks (8.5 tackles, forced fumble), Jairus Byrd also raised a few eyebrows with his 78 yards on five punt returns, including a long of 51 yards. "I thought Jairus Byrd as a punt returner reached a new level yesterday (Saturday)," head coach Mike Belotti noted. "His desire and his competitiveness in that aspect ought to fire up our entire football team...its just one of those things that you watch and go wow, and I hope every player can play with that kind of desire and attitude." Last season, the Ducks were sixth in the conference and a distant 76th in the nation with an average of less than eight yards per punt return, so the performance of Byrd gives the squad hope for this year.
