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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2003)
Chalk Talk/Utah Up Next: Utah Utes Utah, under first year coach Urban Meyer, has an excellent football team with an outstanding running back, Brandon Warfield, who scored seven touchdowns in his team’s first three games. Oregon must stop Warfield, who is the catalyst for the offense. Meyer, who came from Photo courtesy: University of Utah Media Services b y K e n Wo o d y a very successful stint at Bowling Green, has done a solid job of getting Utah organized and back on track in the Mountain West Conference. While at Bowling Green, Meyer had a reputation as an outstanding offensive coach. Last year, his team was 61 of 63 in the red zone (52 touchdowns) for an amazing 97% DIAGRAMS B & C Utah’s Offensive Looks Brandon Warfield is third in the nation in rushing with 563 yards. #5 warfield warfield on option warfield on pitch/sweep The Utah Utes use a spread offensive formation, much like Washington State likes to do, although in Utah’s case, they spread the field to establish running lanes, while the Cougs are working to establish passing lanes. The Utah attack is built around running back Brandon Warfield (#5) who ran for 7 touchdowns through the first three games. Warfield will line up in a variety of positions to get him into both running and passing lanes quickly. Coach Urban Meyer has established his offense on a national basis in his first year at Utah and looks at his quarterback as a running- back passer, a somewhat different slant than most other teams. success rate. For the Ducks to win, they must keep Utah out of the end zone; they are scoring at an 82% rate this year in the red zone (inside the 20-yard line). Utah will line up with four wide receivers in a spread offense, which widens the defense and opens up potential running lanes for Warfield. In this way, Utah’s offensive philo- sophy is similar to Washington State’s. Oregon’s defense will line up a lot like they did against Michigan, but with the outside linebackers wider, in a position to help on the pass, but still more committed to stopping the run. Against the Cougars, the Ducks struggled to cover wide receivers deep. The keys to beating Utah are keeping Warfield from 100 yards rushing and not giving up the easy play through the air. With all the psychological ghosts that have been revived by the Cougar defeat, the Oregon coaching staff has their work cut out for them in practice this week. Utah beat Colorado State on the road and beat Cal at home earlier this season, which toppled number three ranked USC this past weekend. The season is on the line for the Ducks. Who will show up in Salt Lake? It will be interesting to find out. Ken Woody played defensive back, wide receiver and place kicker for the UO from 1966-70. He coached college football for 18 years, including stints at the UO, UW, and WSU. He was a head coach twice, at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He also did television football color commentary for KCPQ (Seattle-Tacoma) and Fox Sports Northwest for 14 years. NOW OPEN! All Your Favorite Sports Multiple Big Screens including a 15x15 Projection Screen in the Stadium Club NFL Sunday Ticket ESPN Gameplan • Breakfast - Sat. & Sun. from 8am • Lunch & Dinner daily • Private Banquet Rooms • Fan Club Rooms • Live Rock n’ Roll, 70’s & 80’s Friday nights • Live Blues Saturday nights 44 E 7th Ave • Downtown Eugene ( across from the Hilton ) 541-683-5160 DucksIllustrated OCTOBER 2, 2003 7
