Oregon Register Guard: Ducks set their sights on California

By Bob Clark

The Register-Guard

It was like a new beginning for Oregon on Monday as the 15th-ranked Ducks returned to practice after that rarest of weekends during a season, a Saturday without a game.  Instead of the usual Monday workout that doesn't last much more than an hour and emphasizes conditioning, the Ducks went more than two hours in Autzen Stadium, and still conditioned. Rather than the usual long list of regulars held out with injuries suffered in the previous game, there was only one notable absence.  Well past a review of the past game, the Oregon offensive and defensive units continued working against scout teams running alignments and plays to simulate 23rd-ranked California, which visits Autzen Stadium on Saturday.  Coming off a bye week that allowed them the opportunity to recuperate from eight straight weeks of games and recover from an assortment of minor injuries, not even the fairly steady rain that fell could dampen the spirits of the Ducks.  "I'd rather play in this than have it hot," UO center Enoka Lucas said. "This is good, this is Oregon weather. ... You've got to be prepared for this."  That seemed to be the thinking of UO coach Mike Bellotti, who turned the Moshofsky Center over to the UO marching band.  More than Saturday, however, Bellotti said being out in the elements was "preparing for next week, a night game (at Washington State) in the Palouse in November. Who in their infinite wisdom scheduled that?"  Television, actually. If that seems an odd decision, how about the Bowl Championship Series poll released Monday that dropped Oregon two places from the previous week even though the Ducks didn't play?  The Ducks fell a spot in both human polls, possibly the result of voters finding out that the Ducks no longer have starting quarterback Kellen Clemens, lost to ankle surgery after an injury suffered Oct. 22 at Arizona. The human polls are two-thirds of the BCS ranking. Oregon did retain its overall average of ninth with the six computers used by the BCS.  The Ducks were 11th the previous week in the BCS poll, but both Ohio State and Wisconsin jumped over Oregon in Monday's compilation.  To be considered for a BCS bowl, a team must win nine games and be in the top 12 of the final BCS poll of Dec. 4, so there's a ways to go before any of it matters to the Ducks. And since only two teams from a league can play in BCS games, No. 1 USC and No. 5 UCLA both currently stand ahead of the Ducks with their unbeaten records.  Maybe the more realistic goal for the Ducks is the fact a Holiday Bowl berth could be among the rewards for the winner of Saturday's game at Autzen Stadium.  While Cal also had last weekend off and several of the injured Bears could return to playing status, there's no question the extra time helped the Ducks.

"We're the healthiest we've been probably since fall camp," Bellotti said.  The only regulars held out Monday were reserve tight end Dan Kause, who aggravated a previous knee injury in practice last week, and obviously Clemens, out after undergoing ankle surgery a week ago. Kause could return this week and Clemens did come by the Casanova Center on Monday.  "They've cleared him to be up and around," Bellotti said. "He's an assistant coach now."  Bellotti said whether Clemens is on the field for games and where he is during practices "depends on how well he can protect himself on crutches. It'll be good to have him around because he's a leader, he's experienced in the offense, he can help the quarterbacks in a lot of ways."  The extra time between games allowed the Ducks to begin looking at film of the Bears, and deciding exactly how to attack the Cal defense with either Dennis Dixon as the projected starter at quarterback, or backup Brady Leaf.  Do the Ducks run more? Pass differently? Can they do everything they did with Clemens? Oregon goes from a fifth-year senior who had started 32 consecutive games to a sophomore starting for the first time.  "Any scaling back would be not any question about the abilities of the quarterbacks or their ability to handle it," Bellotti said. "It's simply a function of experience and how many plays we can rep (in practice) for them."  On the other hand, does Cal have a great scouting report on the new Oregon quarterback?  "With both Dennis and Brady there's an unknown factor, maybe even to us," Bellotti said.  The Ducks figure they know what to expect from Cal: a lot of rushing. The Bears are seventh in the nation in rushing yardage with 247 per game, and Cal is the only Pac-10 team that averages more by the run than the pass (215). Both starter Marshawn Lynch

 and backup Justin Forsett average 108 rushing yards per game.

That should provide a challenge for an Oregon defense that ranks third in the Pac-10, giving up 121 yards per game.  "It doesn't change it so much, it just means you have to batten down the hatches," UO senior linebacker Anthony Trucks said. "You've got to make sure you play strong gap defense ... (that) people are where they're supposed to be on every play 'cause you give up one big explosion play to the house and it can change the game."  

OREGON UPDATE

Ruling awaited: Oregon is awaiting an interpretation from the Pac-10 on a new ruling from the NCAA that apparently prohibits the Ducks from having Xboxes in the locker room.  The NCAA interprets the video games as a violation because they are extra benefits not available to the general student population. An Oregon spokesman said the school is unsure of whether the Xboxes are definitely an "extra benefit" if UO students in dormitories have similar electronic equipment available to them. There is also a question if the televisions in the locker room are also an extra benefit, and will have to be removed.  The NCAA ruling also didn't give Oregon a definite date for the electronic devices to be removed, so they were still in place as of Monday. While still unsure of how far-reaching the NCAA ruling will go, it obviously met with displeasure among the Ducks.  "About half the (NCAA) legislation over the past three years has been aimed at things we've done that have been innovative and are now considered an unfair advantage," UO coach Mike Bellotti said. "It's a little bit overreactive, as many of those things are."  Next game: Saturday against California at Autzen Stadium at 12:30 p.m. TV: Televised live by ABC.