Oregon's offense, defense switch roles
It seems the problems for Oregon football coach Rich
Brooks are never-ending.
Last fall, his senior-dominated defense was
unyielding, holding six opponents to less than two
touchdowns and finishing sixth in the Pacific-10 Con
ference in overall defense.
His offense, however, fired nothing but blanks all
year. They managed a meager eight touchdowns on the
yfarj an<* er>ded up finishing last in scoring, passing,
third-down conversions, first downs, and total offense.
This year, Brooks has eight of his starters back on of
fense, but he has to field a defense decimated by
graduation.
Any time you lose the number of players we did, you
have to be concerned," says Brooks of his defensive unit.
We graduated some very good football players and we
have some holes to fill."
Oregon will anchor its defense around seniors Steve
Baack and Jeff Williams, the fifth and sixth leading
tacklers on the team last fall.
Baack, who has earned a touch of pre-season recogni
tion, totaled 93 tackles from his left defensive end spot
last year and had eight quarterback sacks. Williams,
Oregon's starting free safety, had 91 tackles and eight
pass deflections last fall. He will have help in the defen
sive backfield from two players who played a lot last year,
but rarely in the limelight.
After spending most of the year as a relief defensive
back, sophomore Doug Judge finally earned a starting
role in the final five games. The strong safety finished the
year with 56 tackles, and with his 6-2, 215-pound size, sup
ports well against the run.
One of the cornerback positions will be manned by
junior Wendell Cason, who was the fifth defensive back
when Oregon went into its pass prevent “nickel defense"
in 1982. Although he only had 54 tackles last year, Cason
came up with 10 tackles in Oregon's season opener
against Pacific.
The linebacking corps is extremely young this year,
with a freshman and two sophomores starting.
Baack will be joined on the defensive line by senior
tackle Dan Ralph, who started five games last year. He had
six tackles and the Ducks' lone quarterback sack against
Pacific.
"We are very young on defense," says Brooks. "My
major concern on defense is gaining experience and
developing quality depth."
Brooks' concerns may not be as major as he thinks, if
Oregon's first two games are any indication. Against
Pacific, the Ducks lost on the scoreboard 21-15 but
Oregon's defense held Pacific to only 236 yards, including
a meager 95 on the ground.
And against then-sixth ranked Ohio State two weeks
ago, the Duck defense held the Buckeyes to below their
1982 season average of 425 yards per game.
On offense, the Ducks appeared to sputter in their
season opener against Pacific, as they could come up with
only 15 points. But appearances can be deceiving if you
only look at scoreboards.
Oregon's game total of 312 yards was a higher offen
sive production than in any of the 11 games the Ducks
played in last fall. And, Oregon scored more than 15
points only once in 1982, with 21 against Washington.
But the new firepower this year on offense has been
marred by a problem that was crippling the Ducks even
last year — turnovers. Oregon finished dead last in the
Pac-10 in 1982 in turnover differential, giving up 15 more
fumbles and interceptions during the year than the
number recovered.
This fall, Oregon's two fumbles led to Pacific
tnuchdowns, and against Ohio State the Ducks commit
ted five turnovers.
But while Oregon has had some problems at the skill
positions, Brooks has encountered few problems with his
offensive line. The Ducks return the entire center of that
line — Gary Zimmerman at right guard, Scott Shephard at
left guard and Ryan Zinke at center. Zimmerman, a senior,
finished second to pre-season all American Tony Slaton of
USC in the Pac-10 Skywriters poll of the top offensive
lineman in the league.
Zimmerman and his fellow linemen will be blocking
for either Mike lorgensein or Mike Owens at quarterback.
The pair waged a back-and-forth battle for the starting slot
all through spring and summer practices, with Jorgensen
winning the starting nod against Pacific and Ohio State.
But he was knocked out of the Pacific game with a bruised
knee, and Owens came on to throw for 122 yards and lead
the Ducks to their only touchdown of the day.
Whoever hands off, it will usually be to fullback
Ladaria Johnson and tailbacks Kevin McCall and Kevin
Wilhite. Johnson, who gained 332 yards in 1982 (4.4 yards
Continued on page 9
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