Oregon Vs Arizona: Why All Eyes Are On Autzen

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Jeffrey Martin, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Autzen Stadium

It won’t be the only televised game Thursday night, but the undefeated clash between Oregon and Arizona, the nightcap of an ESPN doubleheader, is the game with all of the intrigue, the one college football fans will be watching.

Why? For Oregon's breast-cancer awareness uniforms, of course.

Maybe, but mostly because there is the lingering perception that the fourth-ranked Ducks aren’t legit. Oddly, the presence of Heisman Trophy frontrunner Marcus Mariota seems to fortify this line of thinking - UO hasn’t overwhelmed foes with as much precision as in past years despite having arguably the nation’s finest quarterback.

And then there's the rising skepticism regarding the Pac-12’s collective strength. The league might not be that good.

Plus, the visiting Wildcats are the last team to defeat the Ducks, a 42-16 beatdown in Tucson on Nov. 23 that dashed Oregon’s national title dreams. That had to have left a mark, and Mark Helfrich admitted as much Tuesday during the weekly coaches’ teleconference call.

“Any time you don’t give somebody your best shot, that should leave a bad taste in your mouth,” the Ducks coach said. “I think there were some guys that felt that way and certainly looked that way on film. Again, hopefully that contributes to fuel the engine of your process.

"It doesn’t mean we don’t try to kill Arizona this year - it means we work that much harder in the off-season to never, never let off the gas and let that even enter our mindset for anybody…

“It reinforces everything we stand for. When we watch this film, do we feel good about it? No, we don’t.

"If that contributed to our guys lifting more weights last spring, great.”

So, sure, Arizona has Oregon’s attention, but you know what? Besides a hyper and amply lubricated primetime home-field crowd, the Wildcats should be licking their chops as well.

Under new quarterback Anu Solomon, Arizona is averaging 594 yards per game. The Ducks, meanwhile, are surrendering 443 per game.

Know this - points will be scored. Plenty of points, in fact; Eugene Register-Guard columnist Austin Meek took a hard look at the very topic in his latest column.

UA coach Rich Rodriguez acknowledged Tuesday that his team essentially pitched a perfect game last year - no turnovers, just one costly penalty.

Plus, the Wildcats didn’t allow many yards after catch or contact, which is vital for the Ducks.

It was revealing, then, when Rodriguez also said his redshirt freshman will likely make a few mistakes Thursday. How Solomon rebounds from those mistakes, however, just might decide the outcome.

“He’s kept his poise pretty good and this will be a test,” Rodriguez said.

Incidentally, Mariota and Solomon are both not only dual-threat quarterbacks, but natives of Hawaii.

Should be must-see TV.

Banner Photo Credit: rayterrill via Compfight cc