Cougars' spread leaves UO defense thin.

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

LAS VEGAS - Nick Aliotti doesn't have much use for names.

When he watched film of Brigham Young's offense, the UO defensive coordinator didn't see Jonny Harline at tight end, he saw No. 13. That wasn't Curtis Brown running the ball, it was No. 6.

What Aliotti also saw was a potent spread offense that kept defenses on their toes. And Thursday, he saw the Cougars do just that to his defense in a 38-8 Las Vegas Bowl loss at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"The guys that we went in the game and felt we had to stop - 13, 6 and the quarterback - were for the most part the same guys that hurt us," Aliotti said. "13 made plays, made a couple when we were on him. The quarterback was incredible. They didn't do anything we didn't practice or look at. They just outplayed us - outcoached me, outplayed us."

Aliotti preaches to his defense a desire to make the opponent one-dimensional. The Ducks were completely unable to do that Thursday, allowing BYU quarterback John Beck to throw for 375 yards - 181 of those to Harline - while letting Brown get loose for 120 rushing yards.

The Ducks used their traditional 4-3 front, they used an extra defensive back, they even used two extra defensive backs at times. Not much was successful.

"We really didn't click on any phase of our defense, anything that we wanted to do," UO linebacker Blair Phillips said. "We wanted to make them one-dimensional, take away the passing game and make them run it, and that didn't happen. So we tried to take away the running game, make them throw the ball a little bit. That didn't happen. We just didn't get the job done tonight."

Beck completed 28-of-46 passes, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. But his three leading receivers were his tight end - Harline, with nine receptions - followed by two running backs. Everywhere the Ducks looked, it seemed, there was a BYU player trying to find an area to receive a pass.

"Having the quarterback they did and multiple threats on the outside, we had to cover the receivers first," UO free safety J.D. Nelson said.

"A lot of times we were just leaving the backs in the backfield man-to-man sometimes, and there's a lot of field out there for linebackers and other people underneath to cover. Sometimes it was just real easy for them to get out of the backfield and run to where there was space."

UO coach Mike Bellotti said the Ducks sometimes rushed just three linemen, and dropped eight players into coverage. Still, Harline got open on numerous underneath crossing routes, and running backs found space in the flat.

"(Harline) and Beck have tremendous chemistry," Bellotti said. "We knew that going in. That didn't change today. There were several passes that Beck threw anticipating where Harline would be."

Perhaps the most striking was a route on which Harline lined up in the left slot inside another wideout and then crossed paths with that teammate as he headed for the sideline. Oregon rover Patrick Chung picked up Harline and had him covered, but Beck led him with a pass that dropped just over Chung and into Harline's hands for a 28-yard gain early in the second half.

"They have a pinpoint quarterback," Chung said. "John Beck is a good quarterback, I can't say much else. He has a good arm. He makes smart decisions. He picked us apart."