In depth: Oregon-Tennessee Tech match-ups

Oregon continues the 2012 season with their third consecutive home tilt. The opponent in week 3 will be FCS foe from the Ohio Valley Conference, Tennessee Tech (2-0). The Golden Eagles, defending Ohio Valley Conference Champions are coached by Watson Brown. Brown is the brother of Texas cach Mack Brown and worked with Oregon defensive backs coach John Neal while at UAB.

Tennessee Tech (2-0) enters the contest fresh off of a victory over Division II opponent North Greenville last Saturday.

Oregon (2-0) enters the game with two major injuries having taken away the most veteran players on both offense and defense as fifth year starters John Boyett and Carson York both suffered season ending injuries against Fresno State. Once again, this non-conference match-up gives the young Ducks a chance to compete and become better players.

In this continuing series from Duck Sports Authority we bring you the head-to-head match-ups of the Oregon Ducks and Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Today the focus is on offense.

QUARTERBACKS

Tennessee Tech: Tre Lamb (5-9, 185) Is the starter for Tennessee Tech. A senior, Lamb started 11 games for Tech last season. He was successful at the FCS level completing 65.2% of his passes on 204 for 313 passing for 2,342 yards and 17 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. Lamb was also the teams third leading rusher with 90 carries for 355 yards. He was sacked 19 times, though, lowering his oveall totals to 109 carries for 213 yards.

Against Iowa last season, Lamb completed 14 for 24 passes for 128 yards and 2 interceptions.

Behind Lamb is Darian Stone (6-0, 185), a sophomore who has thrown 5 career passes in two appearances last season.

Lamb is a dangerous runner and scampers around looking for plays. In 2011, Lamb scored 6 rushing touchdowns including a 50 yard run.

Oregon: There were some questions for Oregon at the quarterback position heading into the 2012 season. The named starter, Marcus Mariota had never played in a college football game prior to Saturday's match-up against Arkansas State. Through two games this season, Mariota is completing 75.5% of his passes with 37 completions on 49 attempts for 366 yards and 4 touchdowns. Mariota, who fumbled twice in last week's win has yet to throw an interception in his college career

Like his Tennessee Tech counterpart, Mariota is able to run the ball effectively. Mariota has 18 carries for 91 yards through two games in 2012 including a 28 yard run against Fresno State.

Behind Mariota is a redshirt sophomore who appeared in 8 games for the Ducks in 2011 including the first start of his career. Bryan Bennett played well when he was in during 2011 completing 25-46 for 369 yards with 6 touchdowns and no interceptions. Bennett was an electrifying runner in 2011 carrying the ball 23 times for 200 yards. In his lone appearance of 2012, Bennett went 10-17 for 108 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also carried the ball 4 times for 34 yards.

EDGE: Oregon

Lamb is experienced and has the ability to carry the ball and make plays with his feet, but he has struggled with the passing game when opponents are able to contain him to the pocket. His height becomes a disadvantage against teams with tall defensive linemen. While Mariota struggled with ball security in the second half against Fresno State, his ability to put throw the ball down the field as well as his zip and touch on passes make him a considerably better passer than Lamb.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Tennessee Tech: The Golden Eagles returned no wide receivers who started for them last season. They did, however, get the leading receiver in the SEC last season via transfer as Da'Rick Rodgers (6-3, 205) who caught 67 passes for 1,040 yards and 9 touchdowns for the Tennessee Volunteers transferred after off-season trouble led to his dismissal from the Volunteer program.

The Golden Eagles use three wide receivers in their version of a spread offense. The second starter will be Ryan Tilghman (6-2, 190) a junior who caught 6 passes for 72 yards last season. The other starter will be Zack Ziegler (6-0, 200) a senior who was second on the Golden Eagle squad in 2011 with 37 receptions for 375 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Golden Eagles have two primary reserve receivers. Cody Matthews (6-2, 190) is a sophomore who caught 12 passes for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns as a freshman last year. So far this season, he has 3 catches for 89 yards through his first two games. The other receiver to see time for Tennessee Tech is Jordan Smith (5-10, 175) a freshman who has 4 catches for 83 yards and one touchdown.

Oregon: Listed as the...

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