COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL September 20, 2017
3B
One-on-One with
Ken Woody
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Last Thursday, Oregon football expert Ken
Woody visited the Cottage Grove Rotary Club
where he talked all things Oregon football. The
former Oregon football player, Division I coach,
Fox Sports television analyst, current Regis-
ter-Guard columnist and author of “After Further
Review” sat down with the Sentinel and talked
about a little of everything. Here is an excerpt of
the conversation that has been edited for clarity
and fl ow.
Ken Woody: Really, when I got out of school
before I got involved in coaching I wanted to be
a play-by-play radio broadcaster for ice hockey.
Cottage Grove Sentinel: That was the goal?
Why hockey?
KW: It’s probably the best spectator sport there
is. I love football but I love hockey, too. Lot of
action and it is a game where defense can be ex-
citing.
CGS: On the Ducks though, on that side of
things, how do you think Justin Herbert compares
to the rest of the Pac-12 quarterbacks?
KW: Favorably. I wouldn’t take any one of
those other guys over him.
CGS: If you had the chance for USC’s Sam
Darnold on the Ducks?
KW: We know Darnold is good, but Herbert is
smoother. We know Herbert is just like Mariota.
We know that he is an All-American boy, he’s
smart, he studies, he obviously has taken to being
more of a visible leader.
CGS: You mentioned your prediction at the be-
ginning of the year was that the team would fi nish
6-6. How has it changed after seeing the Pac-12
not being as strong this year and the Ducks being
better on defense than expected.
KW: I am absolutely marveling at how much
better they are on defense and it’s all coaching.
You see them run to the ball. Pass plays there are
guys around the ball and they are going to it. They
are making plays. Defensive line is so much dif-
ferent. They have lower pad levels and they are
staying square. They were struggling a little bit at
times but you’re gonna. Their pass rush was unbe-
lievable. Last year they would blitz a linebacker
and it would be ho-hum, he would never get there.
CGS: There was never much pressure.
KW: I’m seeing a totally different defense. I
just see a different intensity in the players and
coaches. And the players love the coaches. They
will play hard for them and they will have fun.
That’s one thing about Taggart that I really, really
like is he says guys you got to have fun. Because
when you are having fun you will work hard and
you will practice hard and you’ll be together. Ev-
erything you are doing is with a positive look on
it. Oregon needed the change that they got.
CGS: Do you have a record that you think this
team can get to?
KW: You look at teams and how they have
played so far and you would have them favored
over Arizona State. Cal didn’t look as good
against Weber State as they did the week before
but they’ve got athletes. Then they play Washing-
ton State. I would have Washington State favored
in that game because they’ve got more experience
but the Ducks keep improving, it might be a toss
up.
The Ducks could very well be favored against
UCLA, it could be a toss up. Washington may be
the only game that I don’t think they can win right
now. I think they could win all the others. A lot of
people think Utah is kind of a gimme but they are
really good.
CGS: Do you have an all-time favorite Oregon
team?
KW: The ’94 Rose Bowl team. I was doing
color for Fox at that time and that team changed
things around. I don’t know if you remember it,
how old were you then?
CGS: I was born in ’95.
KW: [Laughs] Here is what you missed. Ducks
win big against Portland State in their opener.
Then they go to Hawaii, and I did that game live
back to Portland and the Ducks lost like 37-14.
Then they played Utah at home and they got beat
but they played a little bit better.
So then Nick Aliotti, we were close friends and
I was talking with him, and the captains came to
Rich Brooks and said we need to condition more.
And they all got together and they said we’ve got
three goals, and Aliotti tells this to me, we’re go-
ing to play hard, try to get better and we’re going
to have fun. And that’s it.
The next week they play Iowa at home and
Iowa is good. There are now fans that are excited
about Oregon losing because they think we can
now get rid of Brooks.
They ended up kicking Iowa’s butt. There were
fans that were there that were upset that Oregon
won. The next week they go to USC and they
win. They go to Washington State and they get
screwed on a couple of calls but then they end up
running the table.
It was just amazing. Sitting there in the Rose
Bowl there was one of my former teammates in
front of me and there were tears coming down his
face and he turns to me and says I can’t believe
we’re here.
That team had some great personalities. Just
really good guys that they molded together and
they were a fun time. They are the ones that raised
the bar.
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