Webfoot gridders change look
following departure of Miller
By Aaron Knox
Of Km
The Oregon football team has the unen
viable task in 1987 of replacing its all-time total
offense leader, last season's top receiver, and its
entire kicking game
In all. the Ducks must replace 14 starters,
and their total of ten who are returning is the
lowest in the Pacific 10 Conference this year.
To make matters worse, the Ducks must do
all this against a schedule of opponents that, for
the second-consecutive year, includes eight
1980 bowl game participants. So why is coach
Kich Brooks smilingT
Perhaps it is because he knows so little is
expected of his team this time around, but there
is no question Brooks is making some decidedly
optimistic noises about the Ducks' chances to
surprise'some people.
"I'd like to see us play better against the
really good teams.” Brooks said before the
season opened. "We've been gePing beat by the
teams that were supposed to beat us. and the
worst thing is that we haven't even played them
very well." he added.
If Brooks' hopes are to be realized, it will
likely tie on the legs of the ground game
Sophomore Derek Loville rushed for 544 yards
and seven touchdowns last season, and fellow
second-year back Latin Berry amassed over 600
nw rwo
With an inexperienced quarterback Riling
Chria Miller's shoes, the Ducks will expect
more from tailback Derek Loville (32).
yards in total offense while playing behind
Ixwille at tailback for most of the year
Brooks has moved Berry to fullback, but the
Pac-IQ triple jump champion missed most of
spring drills competing for the Oregon track
team, and he will be scrambling to master the
new position in the fall. He should improve as
the year goes on.
Chris Miller may be gone to the greener
pastures of the NFL. but offensive coordinator
quarterback coach Bob Toledo and his system
remain. As Brooks points out. he has had one
outstanding option QB (Reggie Ogburn) and
one outstanding pro-set QB (Miller) in his
tenure at Oregon. Redshirt freshman Bill
Musgrave hopes to tip the balance to Toledo's
pro-set.
The Inexperience at quarterback and depth
at running back combine to shift the offensive
emphasis this year. Where Miller filled the
skies with an average of 36 passes a game.
Musgrave should only be attempting 25 or so. if
Brooks' game plan is clicking.
Musgrave will have at his disposal a core of
quality receivers, led by senior |.J. Birden. who
was leading the team in receptions last year
before a leg injury sidelined him. Berry and
Loville combined for 55 catches, and speedy
Rod Green averaged 17.6 yards on each of his
29 grabs.
Explosive redshlrt-freshman Tony Hargain
will start as a receiver, but may see action from
as many as four different positions, including
quarterback
The most glaring change on the field this
year, however, will be on defense, where
Brooks has scrapped the 4-3 alignment he
favored for ten years. In its place, Brooks has in
stalled a 3-4 defense (see related story. Page 9).
After watching his team finish dead-last
both against the run and in scoring defense last
season. Brooks figured it was time to shake
things up.
"They say if it ain't broke don't fix it. Well,
(the defense) is broke so we're going to fix it."
he said. Broke to the point that opposing
rushers averaged nearly five yards a crack, and
teams piled up more than 214 yards a game by
land agains the iwlencuered Ducks.
Impact players should include nose tackle
Rollin Putzter and strong safety Anthony
Newman. The untested linebackers will also
have to deliver if the defense is to carry this
team for any stretch.
Oregon football teams have found tbe running a little rough during
most of coach Rich Brooks' ten years at tbe helm, winning fust 38 per*
MU photo
cent of the time. But talented young players like Latin Berry (above),
and fiscal solvency make the future look bright.
Brooks reflects on his coaching tenure at Oregon
By Aaron Knox
Of IlMKawnM
The bright sunlight that floods
coach Rich Brooks' office on the ear
ly August afternoon of this inter
view is hardly a reminder that the
annual ordeal, which is the college
football campaign, is less than a
month away.
Hut to the seasoned eye it is mere
ly the calm before the storm. With a
decade of Oregon autumns under
his belt as coach of the Ducks,
Brooks is nothing if not seasoned.
His tenure is the second longest in
Oregon football history, and ranks
thin! among current Pacific 10 Con
ference coaches. Only Don James,
entering his 131 h season at
Washington, and Terry Donahue, in
his 12th year at UCLA, have remain
ed longer in the conference.
Looking back at his first ten years
at Oregon, Brooks displays the can
dor, intensity and self-deprecating
wit that have marked his career. The
tension of the season at hand,
though, is never far away.
A full five days before freshmen
report to officially open the 1987
season, Brooks' thoughts of the im
pending season betray themselves
occasionally in a restless reaching
for the telephone that rests behind
his desk.
The phone remains silent, and the
receiver on its cradle, but
periodically Brooks extends his
hand to it as if by instinct. He drums
his fingers nervously on the
mouthpiece for a few seconds before
releasing it. It is a gesture that sug
gests unspoken anxieties, but the
conversation is. for the most part,
upbeat.
"I know some people aren’t hap
py with the job I've done. Hell, I'm
not happy with what I've done."
Brooks said, his hand straying
towards the phone. "But the
pressure I feel most is the pressure
I've put on myself."
In 1977 there was almost no
pressure on Brooks as he took over
the Ducks in his first head coaching
assignment. Oregon had gone 4-7
under Don Read in 1976, but the
decision was made to go with the
untested Brooks, who was an assis
tant at UCLA and had previously
coached at Oregon State and in the
professional ranks with the I>os
Angeles Rams and San Francisco
49ers.
Brooks and the Ducks struggled
together to a 2-9 mark in that in
augural campaign, but Brooks
remembers some good that came out
of it, including the emergence of
Vince Goldsmith on defense.
"We started a true freshman
(Goldsmith) against Georgia in the
first game of the year, and he made
13 unassisted tackles," Brooks
recalled. Goldsmith went on to start
for four years and earned Canadian
Football league Rookie-of-the Year
honors before moving to the NF1,.
“Plus we had a remarkable
recruiting year that paid dividends
later," Brooks said of the year that
produced Brian Hinkle and Scott
Sutterland on defense and Vince
Williams and Goldsmith on offense.
The Ducks also ended the year in
what has become the expected
fashion when they beat Oregon
State. It continued Brooks'
remarkable string of unbeaten Civil
War contests that continues to this
day. In 19 meetings between the
Ducks and Beavers in which Brooks
participated as a player or coach, his
record is 17-0-2.
It was the next season that placed
the burden of expectations squarely
on Brooks' shoulders. Although
they finished with another 2-9 mark,
the Ducks lost four straight games
they led going into the last six
minutes, and six by a combined total
of 19 points. In spite of the record,
Sporting News magazine named
Oregon the nation’s most improved
team.
“It was tremendous disappoint
ment after disappointment after
disappointment," Brooks recalled.
"But the players kept bouncing back
and making a great effort.”
Brooks calls it his most difficult
year.
"You start to wonder if you're
ever going to win, but we stuck with
it. won a couple games at the end
and came out strong in ’79.” he
said.
Brooks had made the decision
Turn to Brooks, Page 10D
Brooks employs 3-4 alignment
to improve defensive quickness
By Gary Henley
Of IIm Kmor«M
There’s no question Oregon football will
seem a little unusual with someone other than
Chris Miller taking the snaps at quarterback this
year.
Not only will the Ducks look a little different
offensively, but Oregon will have a new look on
the other side of the ball as well.
Head coach Rich Brooks and his staff have
done away with the old 4-3 flex defense in favor
of the 3-4 alignment
The flex defense was made famous by the
Dallas Cowboys during the 1960's when Tom
(.andry and his staff were trying to find a way to
stop the effectiveness of the pulling guards on
ninning plays.
With the four defensive linemen and three
linebackers, the flex was designed to encourage
the one* and two-yard gains but give up
no more than that something the Ducks had
trouble accomplishing during 1086.
The Oregon defense gave up 4 8 yards per
run last season and 214.2 rushing yards per
game. Four teams gained over 3(H) yards
rushing in games against the Ducks, including
Colorado who gained 368.
The 3-4 will simply have three down linemen
instead of four, with two inside and two outside
linebackers It’s the first defensive change the
Ducks have make since Brooks' first year at
Oregon, when the Ducks went from the 50
defense to the 4-3.
*‘We looked at our overall performance at the
end of the (1086) season and decided we need
ed a change.” Brooks said
Defensive coordinator Denny Schuler pin
pointed three reasons for the change.
"First of all. we had a lack of proven defen
sive linemen. We have some good young
players, but we had some injury problems, and
we felt it would be easier to field a three
linemen team instead of four.
"Secondly, we wanted to improve team
speed. And third, we want to utilise our per
sonnel better We need to have our best people
in there — the best linebackers and the best
defensive lineman over the center."
The "best defensive lineman" will he senior
Rollin Putzier. who started all II games, receiv
ed Pacific 10 Conference honorable mention,
and led the Ducks with 71 unassisted tackles
last season.
"Rollin had a g«*od spring He had a lot of
success at the new position (nose tackle). He’s
ft-5. 275, anil he has excellent strength,”
Schuler said Putxier may get double-teamed
throughout the season, he added
“We don't anticipate him getting doubled
that much." he said.
Brooks maintains that Putzier's heighth will
not be a disadvantage.
"There's a lot of nose tackles out there that
are 6-foot or 8-1. but he has the strength and
ability to perform well," he said
Schuler Is in his second year as the Ducks
defensive coordinator, a position he has held
with Utah State and California He spent the
1985 season as a special defensive assistant
with the 1,08 Angeles Rams
The flex defense has a history of being one of
the most unique and complicated defenses, but
Schuler said it's no more complicated than the
3-4.
"With the 3-4, we've developed a more at
tacking defense," he said "It involves more
moving and shifting of linebackers. One
linebacker will always rush you just don't
know which one. The 4-3 was more of a 'read
and react' defense, with very few stunts "
Brooks added that one advantage is they will
have quicker people in the lineup, having trad
Turn to Defense, Page 10D
Defensive lineman Kollin Rutzier (75) will be
an integral part of Oregon 's new 3-4 defense,
which has been employed to increaae speed
and mobility.
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