Oregon pulls away to road victory over Washington State

The No. 2 Oregon Ducks (4-0, 1-0) headed to Seattle for their first road game of the season to take on the Washington State Cougars. The Cougars (2-2, 0-1) came into the contest off of a heartbreaking loss to Colorado last week while the Ducks came into the contest fresh off of a 49-0 shutout of previously unbeaten and No. 22 ranked Arizona.

Kenjon Barner ran for 195 yards against Washington State

The Ducks were looking to expand on their defensive masterpiece and they did not disappoint early holding the Cougars to an early three and out. A short punt by the Cougars left the Ducks with excellent field position to open the game. Kenjon Barner capped a quick four play touchdown drive with a 22 yard touchdown run to give the Ducks an early 6-0 lead.

Washington State, averaging over 300 yards per game through the air coming into the game, would take to the air early looking to move the ball against a Duck defense that looked stout coming into the game. The Cougars found some success on their second possession completing short passes and working their way methodically down the field and into the red zone. A couple of pass interference penalties gave the Cougars a first and goal. Just like last week, though, the Duck defense stiffened and held Washington State to a field goal cutting the lead to 6-3 midway through the first quarter.

Marcus Mariota started hot for Oregon scoring his first rushing touchdown on the Ducks second possession. After fumbling the next kickoff, the Cougars got an emotional lift by holding the Ducks without a score when Bryan Bennett fumbled a fourth down snap and was unable to gain a first down.

After the Ducks held again, the offense went to work quickly scoring a touchdown with a pass to Kejon Barner giving Oregon a 20-3 first quarter lead. A long kickoff return provided some life for the Cougars. After appearing to intercept Connor Halliday, the Cougars kept breathing after a personal foul extended the drive. The Cougars quickly made the Ducks pay for the mistake with a short touchdown run by Carl Winston which cut the lead to 20-9 after a missed point after attempt.

After his hot start, though, Mariota threw an interception on the Ducks next possession giving Washington State possession deep inside Oregon territory. After exchanging field goals, Washington State was able to dial up a couple of long distance passing plays scoring on a 26 yard touchdown pass to Brett Bartolone to cut the lead to 23-19 and it began to look like the Cougars were going to challenge the number two ranked team in the nation. After cutting the lead to four, the much maligned Cougar defense began to control the line of scrimmage getting the ball back inside Oregon territory after a short punt by Jackson Rice. Suddenly Washington State began to look like the vintage Mike Leach offense from Texas Tech and the Cougars, filled with confidence, began to move the ball looking to take a lead into halftime.

Three consecutive sacks by the Ducks, though, left the Cougars with a 4th and 38 with just one minute left in the first half. The Ducks ran out the first half to take a 23-19 lead into the locker room.

After outgaining Washington State by nearly 100 yards in the first half, Oregon would receive the second half kickoff looking to get momentum back on their side of the field.

The Ducks took the second half kickoff and marched methodically down the field on an 18 play drive capped by a 4 yard touchdown run by De'Anythony Thomas to extend their lead to 30-19 with 8:39 left in the third quarter.

The Oregon defense, despite having given up 19 forst half points did not play poorly in teh first half holding the Cougars to negative rushing yards and just 137 overall. The second half, though, would test Oregon's defense and the Ducks would respond early. Avery Patterson, starting for the Ducks after All-American John Boyett went down earlier this season with injuries to both knees, intercepted Halliday and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown extending the Oregon lead to 37-19 midway through the third quarter.

Another three and out by the Cougars led to a 7 play,41 yard drive caped by Kenjon Barner's second touchdown run of the game pushing Oregon to a 44-19 lead late in the third quarter.

Halliday, who was under pressure from the Duck defense all night continued fighting and got the Cougars close to the goal line late in the third quarter, but was unable to capitalize on fourth down giving the ball back to Oregon.

The Duck defense would continue to harangue Halliday while the Cougar defense ran out of gas. Barner scored his third rushing touchdown of the night on an 80 yarder after breaking an arm tackle attempt by the Cougar defense to take a 51-19 lead with nearly eleven minutes left in the game.

The Cougars scored late to narrow the margin to 51-26 with just over four minutes left in the game.

The Ducks rushed for 300 yards en route to the blowout win over the Cougars. Despite giving up over 400 passing yards to Washington State, the Duck defense was in Halliday's face most of the night and recorded 7 sacks in the game. For the game, the Cougars mustered just minus 8 rushing yards.

Oregon returns home for a contest with the Washington Huskies next Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.

In depth: Oregon-WSU defensive match-ups

The Oregon Ducks (4-0, 1-0) take to the road for the first time in 2012 this Saturday heading to Seattle to take on the Washington State Cougars (2-2, 0-1) at Century Link Field.

Though both head coaches are known more for their offense, Chip Kelly has the Duck defense flying around and making plays. After a shutout in their conference opener, can the Ducks repeat their defensive masterpiece? Check out our exclusive in depth look at the defensive match-ups for Saturday nights game.

Coming into the 2012 season, there was renewed optimism in Pullman about the Cougar program and the direction it was headed. With former Oregon Athletic Director Bill Moos at the helm, the Cougars hired Mike Leach in hopes of bringing his Texas Tech "Air Raid" magic to the Palouse. The results, though, have not met the expectations of many Cougar fans early as Washington State has struggled to adopt Mike Leach's pass oriented spread offense. Last weekend, Washington State had a 31-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter with possession of the football inside the red zone, yet found a way to lose to Colorado. The 35-34 loss has emphasized just how difficult the transition of a new coach will be for the Cougars.

Oregon comes into the contest off of what is by far their best defensive effort of the season; an effort that ranks with some of the best defensive performances in school history. Oregon held an Arizona team averaging 596 yards per game and over 46 points per game to 332 yards en route to a 49-0 shutout of the Wildcats. The performance was enough to move the Ducks up to No. 2 in the rankings.

Defense has never been a hallmark of Mike Leach teams and the Cougars are having their share of defensive struggles again this season. Washington State runs a defense similar to Oregon with a 3-4 hybrid system. In this continuing series, Duck Sports Authority now takes a look at the defensive match-ups for Oregon and Washington State.

DEFENSIVE TACKLES

WSU: The Cougars run a 3-4 base defense which leaves them starting one defensive tackle. Getting the nod against the Ducks will be Ioane Gauta (6-3, 305) a junior college transfer in his first year with the Cougars. Gauta has played well early for the Cougars with 11 total tackles through four games including two tackles for loss. Behind Gauta will be Kalafitoni Pole (6-1, 277) a sophomore who started three games last season. Early this year, he has played well in his four appearances notching 7 total tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss.

The third nose tackle for the Cougars is a redshirt freshman who has not yet appeared in a game for Washington State.

Oregon: Oregon brings a wealth of experience at defensive tackle. Starters Wade Keliikipi (6-3, 295) and Isaac Remington (6-4, 301) both saw action as starters last season with Keliikipi starting the final 11 games. Keliikipi recorded a career high 5 tackles in the win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl while Remington recorded 31 total tackles on the season. So far this season Remington leads the defensive tackles with 9 total tackles and 3 tackles for loss and one sack. After a good performance against Arizona Keliikipi has raised his season total to 6 tackles.

The real difference for Oregon will come in the reserves as Oregon not only returns all the defensive tackles from last season, that depth took a hit with the injury to Jared Ebert (6-5, 260) who was playing well early after redshirting last year. Ricky Heimuli (6-4, 305) showing promise with 22 total tackles in his 14 reserve appearances last season for the Ducks has also recorded 4 tackles in 2012.

Deforrest Buckner (6-7, 265) a true freshman from Hawaii has played well this season notching 7 total tackles and 1 tackle for loss in the first three games of 2012. The Ducks are also versatile here as Taylor Hart can move inside if needed.

During the first three games the two-deep defensive line has been dominant.

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Early Washington State Game Thoughts

So, as I was working on the defensive match-ups for this game, I looked deeper into the Cougar defensive statistics. They are not as bad as they appear. Teams are not running the ball on them much as most teams have gotten sucked into a passing game with the Cougs. Do not expect the Ducks to fall into that trap.

Even though Mike Leach is an offensive minded coach, right now the Cougar defense is performing better than their offense. But that is not saying much as the Cougar offense is worse this season than last. The team averages fewer passing yards per game this season by about 10 yards per game... but that has not translated into a better rushing team as the Cougars are now at almost half of what they averaged running the ball last season.

Defensively, their best unit, BY FAR, is their linebacker corps. It is the one position where they appear to be deep. Five of their top six tacklers are linebackers. But the group is not very athletic and is not very good in pass coverage.

The defensive match-ups come tomorrow. Not too many surprises!

In Depth Match-Ups: Oregon-WSU

Coming into the 2012 season, there was renewed optimism in Pullman about the Cougar program and the direction it was headed. With former Oregon Athletic Director Bill Moos at the helm, the Cougars hired Mike Leach in hopes of bringing his Texas Tech "Air Raid" magic to the Palouse. The results, though, have not met the expectations of many Cougar fans early as Washington State has struggled to adopt Mike Leach's pass oriented spread offense. Last weekend, Washington State had a 31-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter with possession of the football inside the red zone, yet found a way to lose to Colorado. The 35-34 loss has emphasized just how difficult the transition of a new coach will be for the Cougars.

Oregon comes into the contest off of what is by far their best defensive effort of the season; an effort that ranks with some of the best defensive performances in school history. Oregon held an Arizona team averaging 596 yards per game and over 46 points per game to 332 yards en route to a 49-0 shutout of the Wildcats. The performance was enough to move the Ducks up to No. 2 in the rankings.

QUARTERBACKS

WSU: The projected starter is still a game time decision. The listed starter, when healthy, is Jeff Tuel (6-3, 221) a senior who has been injury prone for much of his career at Washington State. Tuel comes into the contest having appeared in two games this season and completing just over 70 percent of his passes going 50-71 for 400 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Tuel has been successful in the past and, when healthy is a good quarterback with the tools to be successful. Tuel is not a fleet footed quarterback having been sacked 5 times in his two appearances losing 42 yards on those sacks.

If Tuel is unable to play, the start will go to Connor Halliday (6-4, 189) a sophomore who had some late season success in 2011. Halliday played in four games for the Cougars last season completing 59 -103 for 960 yards and 9 touchdowns against just 4 interceptions. This season Halliday has appeared in all three games but is completing just 54.3 percent of his passes going 63-116 for 855 yards with 8 touchdowns, but he has thrown 5 interceptions in those three appearances. Halliday is also not very fleet having been sacked 6 times losing 46 yards early this season.

Oregon: Marcus Mariota earns his fifth start for the Ducks against the Cougars. After a brilliant opening game for the Ducks, Mariota was a little shaky against Fresno State. He has appeared to settle down some, though still prone to a turnover. For the season Mariota has completed 78 of 112 passes for 934 yards with 10 touchdowns and 2 interception. On the ground, Mariota has carried the ball 27 times for 125 yards on the ground.

Behind Mariota will be Bryan Bennett. Bennett has one start to his credit coming against Colorado last season. This year, mostly in mop up relief of Mariota, Bennett has completed 13 of 23 passes for 135 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Bennett is dangerous with his feet last year accumulating 200 yards rushing in his brief 6 appearances. Through three appearances this year, Bennett has 12 carries for 61 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.

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Top trio: offensive line

After a convincing conference win against Arizona, the Oregon football team heads out on the road for the first time in 2012 with a game against Washington State in Seattle. With the ramping up of the schedule, Duck coaches will also be turning up their recruiting efforts. The past weekend saw several official visits followed up by the commitment of highly sought after recruits Tyrell and Tyree Robinson.

With the heart of football approaching and more prospective student athletes visiting campuses around the nation, talk about the top recruits is sure to pick up steam as well.

Today we continue our weekly series intended to rank some of the most talked about players on Oregon's recruiting board. During each week of the season we will look at a different position and the "Top Trio" at the position. The main factors for choosing which players we discuss will be need, buzz and interest; but not necessarily in that order.

Any and all opinions of these articles are purely that of Duck Sports Authority and do not reflect the opinions or thoughts of the Oregon coaching staff.

The next position we will discuss is one that has become a cornerstone of success at Oregon. Without stellar offensive linemen, it is difficult for the speed of Oregon to matter. Without protection, quarterbacks cannot throw the ball effectively and without a hole, the running backs have nowhere to go. Currently, Oregon three offensive line commitments with the earlier pledges of Evan Voeller, Alex Redmond and Doug Brenner. Nonetheless, with just one offensive line recruit signed in 2012, the Ducks look like they still have room for two more on the offensive line.

#	NAME	POS.	STARS	HT/WT/40	HOMETOWN	VIDEO
1	Reeve Koehler	OG		6'3"/280/5.46	Honolulu, HI
WHO: Reeve Koehler is the 6th ranked offensive guard in the nation and the 148th overall prospect by Rivals.com. The 2nd ranked player in the state of Hawaii, Koehler has great technique and is likely to play early where ever he chooses. SAY WHAT: "My overall aggressiveness is really what helps me right now. Local guys from Hawaii we have been raised that if you get punched in the mouth, you always punch back. That aggressiveness always keeps me ahead." "The relationship with the coach and the academic help that I can get," Koehler cited as two key factors in his decision. WHERE: Koehler is on the record as saying he wants to play in the SEC and it looks like the odds on favorite to land his commitment at this time is none other than the Tennessee Volunteers/.

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Lyerla breaks out with big performance against Arizona

Last season, Oregon faced the inventor of the pistol offense when Nevada made a non-conference trip to Autzen Stadium. Throughout the rest of the 2011 season, the Ducks showed glimpses of the pistol offense with Darron Thomas and LaMichael James. Saturday evening saw a new wrinkle for Duck fans under Chip Kelly's always imaginative offense. Call it the "Colt 45" package or simply call it using all of your athletes to the highest of their potential.

During a game that many thought offense would be everything and defensive stops a rarity, the raucous Autzen Stadium crowd instead saw a first half defensive slugfest with Oregon leading by a slim 13-0 halftime margin.

The second half would not produce many of the trademark explosion plays out of the running game, but it would give fans something to drool over while giving opposing defensive coordinators Excedrin Headache number 15; that is Oregon Duck number 15, Colt Lyerla.

Lyerla first garnered national attention at the end of his sophomore season in high school. Already 6-5 and 225 pounds, Lyerla attended the Schuman's National Underclassmen Combine in Salem in June of 2009. He put on an incredible show of sheer athleticism. Some folks at the time thought not to worry about his vertical leap because he was so big; then he jumped 38.5 inches. That was the highest vertical jump all year out of over 18,000 competitors in 2009. He followed that up with more impressive numbers on his way to an event record total.

When Lyerla committed to the Ducks during his senior season at the Army All America Bowl, there were quite a few Duck fans that cheered at the news. One of the best pure athletes in Oregon history, an athlete Rivals compared to former North Carolina great Julius Peppers, had committed to a program on the cusp of perennial elite status.

Lyerla addressed this when he committed to Oregon saying, "Oregon is recruiting me as an athlete for offense" Lyerla said earlier in the week. "They have a high-powered offense and I like the coaching staff. Chip Kelly has the program headed in the right direction." He had seen himself as an offensive player and, though there was some original hesitation on knowing for sure which position he was going to play at Oregon, there seemed little doubt that he was headed for offense.

As a freshman, though, he did not see the impact of fellow freshman De'Anthony Thomas. Playing behind David Paulson at tight end, blocking was a bigger deterrent to playing time than  ability. Blocking at the Pac-12 level is a difficult task for a 225 pound tight end. In high school, 225 pound athletic tight ends can have their way with defensive linemen. Not so in Division I NCAA football.

Despite the limited playing time, anyone who watched Colt Lyerla in 2011 could see the potential he brought to the football field. He caught just 7 passes in 2011, but made those catches count as he gained 147 yards and scored 5 touchdowns. Those were impressive numbers for such limited touches.

It would seem that the 2012 season would open up for Lyerla. Paulson was graduated and there were no other tight ends with any playing experience. Lyerla had worked hard in the off season, but missed the first 9 days of fall camp while attending to undisclosed personal matters. Colt had added 20 pounds to his frame and looked the part of a Pac-12 tight end at nearly 250 pounds.

Early in the season, small hints of the emergence of Colt Lyerla as a multi-purpose threat would begin to surface. During...

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