Defense winning,
not taking names
■ The 2000 version of the
Oregon defense has emerged
as one of the best ever,
statistically better than 1994’s
famous Gang Green
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Call them the Mallard Curtain.
Call them Green Gladiators, the
Green Machine, the Quack Attack
or even the Flock of Pain.
By whatever name you call them,
there’s no doubt this Oregon de
fense is one of the best you’ve ever
seen. This Ducks defense is first in
the Pacific-10 Conference, 18th in
the country and unbelievable in
Autzen Stadium.
But the defense remains a mystery.
How did defensive coordinator Nick
Aliotti make so much out of a defense
that was supposed to be the team’s
weak link going into the season?
“We’re like a family,” junior de
fensive end Saul Patu said. “The
biggest thing in a family is commu
nication. We communicate a lot.”
“They’re just a bunch of guys play
ing together as a unit,” Aliotti said.
This defense wasn’t supposed to be
this good. They lost linebackers Peter
Sirmon and Dietrich Moore to gradu
ation. Free safety Brandon McLemore
and tackle Caleb Smith also flew the
coop. Michael Fletcher, a rover and
one of the most exciting players on the
defense, also graduated.
But Oregon filled those holes
with Patu and senior Jason Nikolao
on the defensive line, juniors
Rashad Bauman and Steve Smith at
the corners and senior Matt Smith
at linebacker.
“We’re very comfortable with our
assignments,” Nikolao said. “We’re
mixing up schemes, confusing the
other team.”
That description might conjure
up images of another Oregon de
fense: The celebrated “Gang Green”
team that put the Ducks in the Rose
Bowl in 1994. But Gang Green, com
pared to this year’s Oregon defense,
might be a little overrated.
The 1994 Ducks gave up 121.3
rushing yards per game, slightly be
low this defense’s 124.8 rushing
yards per game. Where Gang Green
gave up 205.2 passing yards per
game, this season’s version is giving
up just 164.3 aerial yards per game,
good enough for 12th in the nation
in passing defense. And in the ulti
mate test, the 1994 defense gave up
19.2 points per game, while the
2000 Ducks are giving up a mere
15.0 points per game.
The statistics do not lie. This
year’s Oregon defense has a plus-six
turnover ratio, has given up the least
amount of first downs in the Pac-10
and has only let opponents convert
26 percent of their third downs.
Top 10 Defensive
Nicknames (and who
came up with them)
1. Green legs and... BAM! (Lara
Nessel)
2. Flock of Pain (Matt O’Neill)
3. Mean Green Machine (George
Alvergue)
4. Mallard Malice (Jason Krantz)
5. Green Reign (Brian Johnson)
6. The Feathered Fence (Ryan Long)
7. Green “Ache”ers (Adam Quentin
Gould)
8. Mallard Curtain (Pete Hunt)
9. Aliotti’s Coyotes (Dave Taube)
10. The Green (Phil) Knights (Al
Johnson)
^Others receiving votes: Quacker
backer Quarterbacker Smacker
Pack, Green Horde, Demo Ducks,
Soilent Green, The Green Pile, Green
Gladiators, B’s Swarm, Looney D
Perhaps the most notable im
provement in Oregon’s defense has
come from its secondary. Bauman
and Smith have been amazing at the
corners, while Ryan Mitchell and
Rasuli Webster have been a force at
rover and safety, respectively. Bau
man and Smith have each broken
up nine passes — good enough for
third in the Pac-10 — and Bauman
has two interceptions on the season.
“They’re doing well,” Aliotti said
about his secondary. “But I think
they could play better.”
The never-satisfied Aliotti must
not realize the Ducks are first in the
Pac-10 in pass defense. Nikolao sees
that improvement.
“Our comerbacks are playing like
they’re the best cornerbacks in the
nation right now,” said Nikolao.
“They’re great athletes.”
That’s not to say that Nikolao and
the rest of the defensive line haven’t
done their job, either. The line held
UCLA to negative-nine rushing yards
and allowed Washington’s Marques
Tuiasosopo only 10 rushing yards.
But the defensive line has slipped
up once or twice, and Patu is the
first to admit it. The Ducks gave up
three big touchdown runs to South
ern California’s Sultan McCullough
and Wisconsin’s Michael Bennett
that totaled 193 yards and 18 points.
“[McCullough’s] run was a men
tal mistake,” Patu said. “He’s really
not that good. He’s all right, but we
made him look better than he was.
We did that with Bennett, too.”
Maybe we should call this the De
fense That Never Sleeps, or the Un
satisfied Defense.
But whatever you do, please
don’t call them Gang Green II.
Memoirs of a Florida
snob: the trek toAutzen
JACK
JACK CLIFFORD
The Oregon football team has
been slowly building a win
ning tradition through the
past four years, and I’ve
been a loser: Saturday’s game against
Arizona will be my first time inside
of Autzen Stadium, despite living in
Eugene since June 1996.
The reason isn’t a lack of interest
in football; I consider myself well-in
formed about the sport. OK, so my
pathetic 12-16 record in the weekly
Emerald Pac-10 picks column does
n’t exactly back up that claim.
No, the basis for my reluctance to
watch the Ducks in person is more
sinister: snobbery.
You see, I spent many years in
Tallahassee, Fla., before heading
west. Any sports fan with a hint of
Turn to Snob, page 8B
watch the uo homecoming game
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Saturday | October 21 kick-off | 7:15pm
All new college pricing:
Season pass: $475*
Daily lift ticket: $32
'Offer ends Oct. 31. Some restrictions apply.
I
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