Can UO solve identity crisis?

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

While all the pieces seem to be in place for the Oregon offense to have a big season, the Ducks' defense - and particularly the front seven - is the team's biggest question mark entering Saturday's opening game.

If the Pac-10 released a preseason all-conference team, it would likely include running back Jonathan Stewart and center Max Unger from Oregon. Receiver Jaison Williams might have earned mention, in the wake of Sammie Stroughter's turbulent fall in Corvallis.

But what about the other side of the ball? Would Oregon's Patrick Chung really beat out Chris Horton of UCLA or Taylor Mays of USC at safety? Could Jairus Byrd or Walter Thurmond III get more votes than Arizona's Antoine Cason or USC's Terrell Thomas at cornerback? Not likely.

Ever since Haloti Ngata departed after 2005, there's been a distinct lack of star power on the Oregon defense. Beyond his physical skills, Ngata provided an intangible boost to the other 10 guys on the field. They knew how much opposing offenses had to focus on Ngata, and how much their jobs would be affected by it.

This season, like last year, the UO defense again is without an identity. There are solid contributors throughout, but none who has proven himself such a game-breaker that he is the face of the unit.

Hence the efforts by the coaching staff this offseason to build more cohesion and team unity on that side of the ball. If the Ducks go down defensively, coaches would like to see them go down together.

"We've been talking about those things all the time," UO defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said. "It's been constant and ongoing."

Turnovers get the bulk of the blame for Oregon's struggles last season, and they affected both offense and defense. It wasn't only Dennis Dixon and company who suffered. On average in 2006, the opposition had possession of the ball 2 1/2 minutes longer than the Ducks in each game.

Factor in all the injuries the defense had in the front seven - to Cole Linehan, Jeremy Gibbs, Victor Filipe, David Faaeteete, Brent Haberly, Matt Toeaina, at various points in the season - and it's no wonder Oregon was ninth in the league against the run. The Ducks were as thin as paper up front, and then tried to stretch that paper too wide. Big surprise: it ripped.

With the offense unable to hold on to the ball late in the season, and the defense struggling to stop anyone - the Ducks allowed 30 or more points in each of their final four games - spirits lagged. The coaching staff has minimal control over turnovers, and no say in who gets injured. But this offseason, they took strides to make sure the defense won't again let its competitiveness and energy lag for any reason.

The tone was set in meetings, and carried over into spring drills. Nearly every drill the team did had elements of conditioning in it. Most notable was a warmup drill said to have originated with the University of Miami in the days of frenzied linebacker Ray Lewis. The defense would line up for a play, but at the whistle all eleven guys would sprint to different cones at yardage markers on the sideline, run in place, then sprint back into formation at a second whistle.

Since fall camp, some of the extra conditioning exercises done in the spring have disappeared as coaches work on game plans. But the staff has seen signs of improved energy. And if the players are in better condition, coaches hope, their fighting spirit won't wane as quickly.

"I think we're in better shape, really," defensive line coach Michael Gray said. "We did more running this fall camp. I think it was more competitive at certain positions. I know in the defensive line it was much more competitive. We had some depth, guys competing to get into the two-deep."

The infusion of a talented freshman class has helped. Oregon focused most intently on defensive linemen and linebackers in its most recent recruiting class, ending up with 11 signees at those positions. Two key defensive tackles didn't qualify academically, but the other nine recruits have raised the level of competition at their positions.

Almost immediately after the start of camp, Gray spoke glowingly of end Kenny Rowe. Sophomore transfer Will Tukuafu, who arrived for spring drills, is now a starter, and freshman Tonio Celotto is a powerful tackle who is in the mix to play as a true freshman.

At linebacker, Casey Matthews is already the backup to John Bacon in the middle, and Eddie Pleasant will contribute on special teams as a freshman. Terrance Pritchett is usually the first defensive player to hit the practice field each day, and he's typically the team's most vocal sideline presence for the ensuing two hours. Pritchett's shouts of "Lez-go-de-fennnnnnnse" are nearly constant.

Among the veterans, Chung and A.J. Tuitele were named defensive team captains for this season. Gray mentioned the leadership of both Tuitele and Faaeteete as having impressed him during the offseason.

Faaeteete, Gray said, "has taken a strong leadership role on this team this year. He's a senior and he's been here for a while, so he's seen the ups and downs of the seasons here."

The direction provided by those key veterans has trickled down to the rest of the team, Gray said.

"They took more ownership in it, and I think that's a quality that, as your teams mature, kids take more ownership, knowing what's expected of them, knowing the defenses, knowing the calls," Gray said. "I think that comes from the leadership, if you've got some senior leaders up there."

This fall has seen inconsistency from the Oregon defense. The unit played well in the first major scrimmage of camp. Then, a week before the season started, the offense used three big explosion rushing plays to win the day.

Injuries on defense again were a factor that day. And new middle linebacker Bacon said familiarity after three weeks of practice also was an issue.

"The offense has done a nice job of kind of scheming us over the last weeks," Bacon said. "And that's not taking anything away from them. We've got a lot of talent on offense. But when you play each other for as long as we have, it becomes more of like a science rather than an actual game. You're able to make adjustments and fine-tune plays that you really wouldn't normally be able to fine-tune and adjust to in the course of a regular game."

After that scrimmage, Aliotti was incensed. But by the following day, after watching film, his opinion had been modified. Yes, the offense had broken three long runs, untouched, totaling 170 yards. But that was most of the offense's rushing production for the day, as it got just 66 yards on the other 34 rushes.

Entering Saturday, Aliotti is withholding judgement on whether the staff's efforts to make their unit better conditioned and more mentally competitive have been a success.

"I hope they do have the message," Aliotti said. "I believe they want to get the message. I believe that they hear the message. How many guys the message got right in their heart and soul? We're going to find out."