“We’re really fired up.”
Those were the first words out of a cheerful Don Pellum‘s mouth when he addressed the media today following Oregon’s practice.
Asked about Oregon’s past struggles with Stanford against the run and how he planned to address the issue, Pellum responded, “When you’re playing teams that run the ball, first you have to play with a better pad level. Second, you have to get off blocks, and third, you’ve got to get a lot of people to the ball. Those are the three things that we’re planning to do, and you know, you’ve obviously got to pick and choose when you’re going to try and pressure with those things.”
Last week Stanford’s offense had a new look against Oregon State. The Cardinal ran a little over 20% of its plays out of the no huddle (as opposed to 8% the rest of the year). Pellum was asked if this recent development changed the way Oregon’s defense prepared for Stanford.
Derrick Malone runs down Stanford QB Kevin Hogan
“The way that we view Stanford, is that Stanford is Stanford. They’re a tremendous running team, and they’ve always had some tremendous skill players, so we have to prepare for everything. They’ve opened up their arsenal, so we’ve got to come out prepared for whichever way they try to attack us,” Pellum said.
Stanford also runs a different style of offense than the rest of the Pac-12 traditionally runs. Pellum addressed the issues that come with preparing for the Cardinal. “When you play Stanford it’s a shorter work week because it’s such a different offense. So, you have to have a defensive scheme that you can get ready in two or three days, as opposed to the defense that we’ve been running against some of the other teams. You’ve got have a package or two that you can apply to a spread, and you need two or three packages that you can apply to a two tight end or two running back set,” Pellum said.
Pellum was very optimistic, and it sounds like the Ducks will be more than prepared when they take on Stanford this Saturday at Autzen Stadium.
Top photo by Kevin Cline
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Tyler graduated from the University of Oregon’s journalism program back in the spring of 2010. Tyler has loved the Ducks since the days of his youth, and that love has only grown as he’s gotten older. Outside of Oregon football Tyler dives deep into Major League Baseball every year, and considers himself to be a baseball historian of sorts. He also has a Black Labrador named “Page” after Jimmy Page of the mighty Led Zeppelin. In his spare time he enjoys fishing, golfing, and snowboarding even if his skills are questionable at best in those areas.