LIGHTING IT UP.

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

Myriad signs indicate the likelihood of a high-scoring game Saturday between No. 11 Oregon and No. 6 Cal.

First there are the offenses. Oregon leads the Pac-10 and is seventh nationally in scoring at 48.5 points per game. Cal is third in the conference at 41.5 points per game.

Second there are the two defenses. Nationally, the Ducks and Bears are in the middle of the pack in points allowed, Oregon at No. 45 and Cal down 13 spots lower.

Then there's this: figure that the two offenses probably won't have all that far to go to score. By the numbers, most possessions should start close to midfield. The Ducks and Bears are the top two teams in the conference at returning kickoffs, but they're statistically among the worst in the nation in covering those plays.

For Oregon, the return game is built around tailback Jonathan Stewart. The powerful junior has led the Pac-10 in kickoff return average each of his first two seasons, and he's doing so again this fall at 31.9 yards per attempt.

Twice this season, Stewart has been forced out of bounds by an opposing kicker, and Saturday he avoided a similar fate by cutting inside the Cardinal kicker on a 64-yard return.

"We've had four or five returns now where we've got to the point where the returner's one-on-one with the kicker," said Tom Osborne, back as the UO special teams coach after a six-year stint at Arizona State. "If he's one on-one with the kickers, that's where our players deserve so much credit, because they've done a great job blocking."

If the blocking has been solid, Stewart said, Osborne deserves credit for some of that. Oregon's junior running back praised not only the new coordinator's ability to teach the nuances of special teams, but also his enthusiasm for doing so.

It's a big change from the past two seasons, when Oregon went without a special team coordinator, Stewart said.

"They're getting their assignments and they're blocking the heck out of people," Stewart said. "That's what he tells them, and they're executing it well."

Osborne also has implemented some new return schemes. The Ducks used a new formation against the Cardinal; rather than have five players at midfield, then three sets of two stacked behind them in rows, the four players in the middle of the formation were positioned in the shape of a diamond.

The Ducks averaged 30.5 yards per kickoff return at Stanford, and the average of Stewart's four returns was nearly 38 yards.

Osborne was loath to discuss details of his new schemes, but the Ducks at least acknowledge having more variation in their return game this season.

"It's more teaching and requires more practice time," UO coach Mike Bellotti said. "But obviously so far I think the results are good."

It's when the Ducks are doing the kicking that problems have arisen the past two weeks.

A hint of things to come came against Fresno State two weeks ago. The Bulldogs used a 47-yard return to set up their second touchdown, the returner running up the right side of the field before encountering a wall of blockers and defenders. Rather than get tackled, the returner bounced outside to the left, where the Ducks lost containment, and raced into UO territory.

After allowing about 20 yards per return in their first two games, the Ducks allowed 25.6 to the Bulldogs. Then, the Cardinal returned 10 kicks for 296 yards on Saturday.

Kicking off 10 times is certainly good news for the Ducks, in that it means the offense has scored nine times. But kickoffs probably put more strain on the coverage team, which has to sprint 50 or 60 yards down the field to make a tackle, rather than the return team, which has to cover much less distance in setting up its blocks.

"If we have one or two of them that aren't very efficient, we all get frustrated," Osborne said.

Bellotti said Saturday wasn't kicker Matt Evensen's best game in terms of hang time, a key component to kick coverage. The Ducks didn't get off blocks as well as they did against Michigan, which averaged a hair under 20 yards per return against Oregon.

"We just need to get down the field fast enough, get off blocks and get to the ball," said UO linebacker Jerome Boyd, a member of the coverage team.

Along with good hang time on the kick and coverage guys who can get off blocks well, Osborne said the third key to kick coverage is "second-level" players who keep return men from getting to the outside. All of those will be of importance this week, when the Pac-10's No. 2 return man behind Stewart, Cal's Lavelle Hawkins, is in town. Hawkins averages 30.1 yards per return, and had a 90-yard touchdown against Louisiana Tech.

As that challenge approaches, Bellotti said the coaching staff is discussing possible personnel changes in the coverage team. The players are taking accountability, as well.

"Everyone has to do their job," said true freshman linebacker Casey Matthews, another member of the coverage team. "We've had a couple slip-ups, but it's a team effort. If everyone does their job, we should be pretty successful."