PREVIEW “I’m very pleased that we have been able to respond and come
back to work and not point fi ngers,” head coach (and former Bruins quarterback) Rick Neuheisel says. To beat Oregon, UCLA will have to fi nd a way to slow the Ducks’ full-throttle attack in front of a raucous crowd at Autzen Sta- dium. “Home-fi eld advantage is huge for us,” Oregon head coach Chip Kelly says. “I know our fans are going to be in full force.” The “O” that those
fans like to create with their hands might as well stand for “Of- fense” as much as its does “Oregon.” The Ducks like to
spread the fi eld and put the ball in the hands of playmakers such as running back LaMichael James and running back De’Anthony Thom- as. James leads the nation with 142.7 rushing yards per game this season, while the speedy Thomas, a true freshman, equaled the team lead with 16 touchdowns scored. The Ducks play at breakneck speed and average nearly two points
Nelson Rosario
per minute of possession time. (They’ve scored a Conference-lead- ing 45.9 points per game while handling the ball a nation-low aver- age of about 24 minutes per contest.) That creates a special chal- lenge for UCLA defensive coordinator Joe Tresey. Ducks defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti (who coached at UCLA in
1998) has his own worries, though. The Bruins’ Pistol offense offers a host of players—including quarterback Kevin Prince—capable of breaking off chunks of yardage on the ground. “Our offense is predicated on being able to control the line of scrimmage and run the football,” Neuheisel says. But when teams stack the run, Prince has shown he has the
35
downfi eld passing ability to burn teams over the top. UCLA’s lon- gest play from scrimmage this season was Prince’s 76-yard pass to Nelson Rosario, a play that dealt a key blow to Arizona State in the Bruins’ week-10 win. Two weeks later, Prince tossed four touchdown passes, including two to tight end Joseph Fauria, in a rout of Colorado. “Our biggest challenge is preparing on a
short week, because we haven’t had to do this before,” head coach Chip Kelly said after the Ducks dismantled Oregon State 49–21 in the Civil War to clinch the Pac-12 North in the fi nal week of the regular sea- son.
But if he thinks it’s tough preparing for
UCLA on a short week, imagine how the Bruins must feel preparing for Oregon. In fact, consider this: Oregon has lost only one game in Kelly’s three seasons as head coach when the opposition has had only one week to prepare. Still, even with all the hard work at the
end of a long season, it’s a challenge both teams are excited to take. “One of the goals we established as
a team when we entered camp this fall was to play for the fi rst-ever Pac-12 title,” Neuheisel says. “We are very excited to go and represent the North,” Kelly says.
UCLA
6–6 5–4 17
TALE OF THE TAPE OVERALL RECORD
CONFERENCE RECORD
RICK NEUHEISEL (4TH YEAR) 193.2 199.8 393.1 23.2
178.2 233.8 411.9 30.8
ALL-TIME CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS HEAD COACH
RUSHING YARDS PER GAME PASSING YARDS PER GAME TOTAL YARDS PER GAME POINTS SCORED PER GAME
OREGON 10–2 8–1 9
CHIP KELLY (3RD YEAR) 291.0 219.6 510.6 45.9
RUSHING YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME 135.6 PASSING YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME 249.1 TOTAL YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME
384.7 23.0
All-Time Series Record: UCLA leads, 39–24 Last meeting: Oregon 60, UCLA 13 (October 21, 2010 at Eugene, Ore.)
ASUCLA Photography
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