Oregon-ASU: Ground Game, Defense Gain Steam for Ducks

I watched Oregon play on my computer almost 24 hours after the score became final. (Only students at the U of O and a few bars that got the signal could watch the game live. This is an issue I don't want to get into, but it needs to change.) Here are a few things I saw that made me feel like all parts of the Oregon team are finally starting to come together.

Oregon's running game looked amazing against Arizona State. LeGarette Blount and Jeremiah Johnson carved up the ASU defense from the start and quickly began to demoralize the ASU defense.

The Blount run where he rolled over a defender without hitting any part of his body on the ground, landed on his feet, and ran for a touchdown, was another amazing play by the junior college transfer. Johnson looked like his old self as he split two defenders and used his speed to get to the end zone.

Jeremiah Masoli looked more comfortable with the offense after the bye week. He made a lot of good throws and, for the most part, made good decisions with the ball. He led the Oregon offense in rushing and continued his rushing success from the UCLA game before the bye week. The only concern I have is that the offense does not take many shots down the field.

The best part about the game for me was the defensive performance by the Ducks. I never expected to see Oregon's defense look so bad, as it did a few weeks earlier, and then put in an outstanding performance. Nick Aliotti's defense put in a great effort, just a few weeks after being heavily criticized after the loss at USC.

The D-line was constantly putting pressure on Rudy Carpenter and was not allowing much on the ground. The defensive backs were locking down the receivers and capitalized on a few poor throws from Carpenter. Patrick Chung sacked Carpenter so hard that he was seen bleeding from the nose and mouth on the sideline.

ASU is now on a five-game losing streak and has a lot of problems on both offense and defense, but this week against Cal should be a true test for Oregon. The Bears' defense is much better and the Cal running game is very dangerous. I am hoping for rain at Cal, as it will benefit the Oregon rushing attack as well as help keep bay-area fans out of the stands. I hope I didn't miss anything, but, if I did, please leave a comment.