COLLEGE FOOTBALL.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Xs and Os

WITH KEN WOODY

Cal's high-powered offense presents a lot of problems. "There's no way to prepare for everything they do," UO defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said. "You just hope you can match their set with the right numbers of defenders in the box." The box is the area along the line of offensive linemen, back to three to five yards behind that line. Aliotti in the past has covered the outside receivers man-to-man and stacked the box to stop the run. Keep your eye on the number of linebackers and defensive linemen lined up in the box on running downs.

The Bears "run a lot of plays, with not a lot of tendencies," said secondary coach John Neal. The Duck defense has to play with great discipline and fundamentals (leverage, good angles, pursuit and great tackling) because of the pressure the Bears can put on a defense. "They will fool you," Neal said, "and you have to be able to recover before it's too late." If the Ducks can defend the run well, they can force Cal into having to deal with Oregon's defensive strength, the seasoned secondary.

Look for the Oregon offense to continue to run a lot of no-huddle against the Bears. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said that he's never been at a school with more good offensive players. This allows the Ducks to substitute on the move, while it is more difficult for the defense to do the same. Generally, there is a significant fall-off between a first- and second-string defense. Of course, if the Ducks turn the ball over like they did in the second quarter against Stanford, they lose the opportunity to press that advantage.

Talkin' Football: Two years ago, Cal coaches weren't aggressive in their play calling against a UO secondary considered suspect. Cal lost in overtime. Today, expect Cal to be aggressive in play calling against

a decidedly better group of pass defenders. The key for the Ducks is how they defend the "split belly" series, in which the ball carrier goes one way to get the defenders moving in that direction and then cuts back against the flow.

Former Fox Sports football commentator Ken Woody played defensive back, receiver and kicker for Oregon from 1966-70 and coached college football for 18 years. Read his analysis in The Register-Guard before each UO football game and go to www.registerguard.com/blogs for his postgame breakdown.

UO GAMEDAY: OREGON VS. CALIFORNIA

THE STARTERS

Oregon

OFFENSE

No. Pos Player Class Ht Wt

10 QB Dennis Dixon Sr 6-4 205

28 RB Jonathan Stewart Jr 5-11 230

4 WR Jaison Williams Jr 6-5 240

83 TE Ed Dickson So 6-5 240

78 LT Jacob Hucko Jr 6-7 317

66 LG Pat So'oalo Sr 6-5 332

60 C Max Unger Jr 6-5 300

71 RG Mark Lewis Jr 6-4 308

75 RT Geoff Schwartz Sr 6-7 337

3 WR Cameron Colvin Sr 6-3 210

21 WR Garren Strong Sr 6-2 203

DEFENSE

No. Pos. Player Class Ht. Wt.

49 DE Nick Reed Jr 6-2 255

90 DT David Faaeteete Sr 6-2 310

97 DT Cole Linehan Jr 6-4 295

39 DE Will Tukuafu So 6-4 279

34 WLB A.J. Tuitele Sr 5-11 226

40 MLB John Bacon Jr 6-4 230

13 SLB Jerome Boyd Jr 6-2 220

32 LCB Jairus Byrd So 6-0 208

6 RCB Walter Thurmond III So 6-0 185

20 FS Matthew Harper Sr 6-0 181

15 ROV Patrick Chung Jr 6-0 210

California

OFFENSE

No. Pos Player Class Ht Wt

9 QB Nate Longshore Jr 6-5 233

20 TB Justin Forsett Sr 5-8 196

33 FB Brian Holley So 5-10 221

2 WR Robert Jordan Sr 5-112 171

53 LT Mike Gibson Sr 6-5 302

63 LG Brian De La Puente Sr 6-4 302

51 C Alex Mack Jr 6-5 300

55 RG Noris Malele Jr 6-3 303

79 RT Mike Tepper Jr 6-7 308

19 TE Craig Stevens Sr 6-5 258

1 WR DeSean Jackson Jr 6-0 172

DEFENSE

No. Pos. Player Class Ht. Wt.

92 DE Tad Smith So 6-6 250

98 DT Mika Kane Jr 6-3 305

92 DT Cody Jones So 6-5 270

44 DE Tyson Alualu So 6-4 288

15 WLB Anthony Felder Jr 6-4 231

1 MLB Worrell Williams Jr 6-2 243

18 SLB Mike Mohamed RFr 6-4 220

5 CB Syd'Quan Thompsn So 5-11 181

3 CB Brandon Hampton Sr 5-10 193

4 FS Thomas DeCoud Sr 6-3 204

29 ROV Marcus Ezeff So 6-0 194

SCHEDULES

Oregon

48 Houston 27

39 at Michigan 7

52 Fresno State 21

55 at Stanford 31

Today California 12:30 p.m.

Oct. 13 Washington St. 12:30 p.m.

Oct. 20 at Washington TBA 

Oct. 27 USC Noon

Nov. 3 Arizona State 3:30 p.m.

Nov. 15 at Arizona 6 p.m.

Nov. 24 at UCLA TBA

Dec. 1 Oregon State 1:30 p.m.

California

45 Tennessee 31

34 at Colorado St. 28

42 Louisiana Tech 12

45 Arizona 27

Today at Oregon 12:30 p.m.

Oct. 13 Oregon State TBA

Oct. 20 at UCLA TBA

Oct. 27 at Arizona St. 7 p.m.

Nov. 3 Washington St. 7 p.m.

Nov. 10 USC 5 p.m.

Nov. 17 at Washington TBA

Dec. 1 at Stanford 4 p.m.

KEY MATCHUP

How about Nate Longshore vs. Autzen Stadium? The San Francisco Chronicle provides these nuggets: Cal's QB averages 45.5 fewer passing yards and suffers a 10 percent drop in his completion in road games, and his touchdown-to-interception differential on the road is 6-9, compared with 17-3 at home.

WHY OREGON WINS

These are two closely matched teams, and the home squad gets a winning edge.

The mobility of UO QB Dennis Dixon as compared with Cal's Nate Longshore is one of the rare differences between the teams.

Injuries to Cal's defense allow the Ducks to score at will, while UO comes up with just enough stops.

WHY CALIFORNIA WINS

The Ducks and Bears have equal turnover margins, so Cal punt returner DeSean Jackson could be the difference in the game.

The Ducks continue to fumble away chances. Unlike Stanford, Cal can score on drives that don't follow turnovers, too.

The weather forecast is more NorCal than winter in Eugene. Can the Ducks beat Tedford without a blackout or deluge of rain?

BY THE NUMBERS

90

Combined points the Ducks and Bears are averaging the season. Oregon (48.5) leads the Pac-10 and Cal (41.5) is third.

3-6

Cal's record under Jeff Tedford in road games against ranked opponents. The Bears are 6-2 at home or at neutral sites.