A FRIENDSHIP THAT POWERS THE DEFENSE.

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

In hindsight, Keith Lewis and Marley Tucker nearly came to blows over something petty.

Neither will reveal the subject now, three years later. But in early 2001, when Tucker first joined the Ducks after delaying his enrollment to the university for one fall, he and Lewis didn't click.

Lewis was an outspoken native of Northern California who had established himself as a promising prospect by starring on special teams as a true freshman the previous fall. Tucker was a soft-spoken native of Southern California who was a big-name signee from Long Beach Poly High School.

So there was already potential for sparks between the two. Then, within a week of Tucker's arrival in Eugene, word began to spread around the team that one of the two had a less-than-desirable opinion of the other.

Things came to a head early one morning, as the team gathered for a run just after sunrise. Tucker confronted Lewis. Words were exchanged, fingers were pointed. The tension was rising, until former Oregon cornerback Rashad Bauman stepped in.

The player with the reputation as perhaps the most feisty Duck ever was suddenly taking the role of peacemaker.

"The hothead himself was the mediator," Tucker remembers with a laugh.

Bauman told Lewis and Tucker to calm down, and the situation was defused. The point of contention between the two was forgotten, and they moved forward.

That's proving a good thing for the Ducks this season. Lewis is the starting free safety as a senior, and Tucker is his mate in the backfield at rover.

The two may not be best friends, but a mutual respect has been built. Throughout this season, as the UO coaches have introduced more and more complex zone packages in the secondary, the pair have responded with but one hitch, in the second half against Washington.

Lewis and Tucker helped Oregon shut out Stanford, then responded to the loss to the Huskies by closing out the season with three straight wins to help the Ducks reach Wednesday's Sun Bowl against Minnesota.

"He's a competitor and I'm a competitor, and sometimes competitors clash," Lewis said. "We figured we're the two people who are going to make the secondary run. It doesn't matter what we have against each other, we've got to find a way to make this thing run."

According to the two safeties, much of Oregon's new look in the secondary is based on more use of zone, along with myriad disguises of those zones. On any given play, Lewis or Tucker is likely to be involved in the deception, showing a zone coverage before the snap but then shifting into man, or even blitzing.

There may even be times when the offense shifts into a different set and the two need to switch responsibilities for a play.

"For every motion that happens, every backfield change, every tight-end shift, there's a different audible for the whole defense," Lewis said. "There's a lot of communication that has to go on."

Such a scheme requires constant interaction between the two safeties on the field, where any personal differences between the two are put aside.

"There's no hard feelings," Tucker said. "You can't get it done on the field without good communication and decent friendship between players."

These days, Tucker and Lewis have an amicable relationship. They're still not likely to hit the town together, but if they run into each other they're comfortable hanging out.

It's a professional relationship between two of Oregon's defensive leaders. For better or for worse, Lewis is the mouth of the secondary, while Tucker may be its brain.

Tucker is responsible for making calls in the secondary during games, and Lewis said his backfield mate nearly always makes the correct decision. That stems in part, Lewis said, from Tucker's astounding knowledge of the Oregon defense, and what every player's assignment is on any given play.

"If you gave him a pen and paper and told him to draw what every position did, he could do it," Lewis said. "I've been here longer than him, and I couldn't do that."

And though the laid-back Tucker will never be confused for his verbose fellow safety, that hasn't kept Tucker from developing into a leader for the Ducks.

He was always more of a lead-by-example player, but after Oregon followed up its win over Michigan with three straight losses, Tucker decided to speak up to his teammates.

"I just felt I was obligated to say something," he said. "I don't know if we were too comfortable or what after beating Michigan.

"I spoke my mind and said everything I needed to say at the time. I might be quiet, but I don't hold anything back. I pretty much called a lot of people out. l let them know, `I'm going to do it, are you going to back me up?' And the Stanford game, we came out with a shutout."

Tucker's words registered so much with his teammates that, at Oregon's banquet the day after the Civil War, senior quarterback Jason Fife acknowledged Tucker from the podium for his leadership.

As Oregon prepares to take on Minnesota on Wednesday, Tucker still defers to Lewis to do most of the talking for the secondary. The junior is more comfortable being the cerebral half of the duo, letting Lewis be the communicator.

It's all part of the bond they have forged over the past three seasons, a bond that was nearly shattered before it ever had a chance to strengthen.

CAPTION(S):

Marley Tucker (left), a junior, and Keith Lewis, a senior, didn't get along when they met in 2001, but now their teamwork and mutual respect set the tone in the defensive backfield.