Finding Positives after a Sub-Par Performance: What the Ducks Have to Do Better to Turn Back Stanford

The Vegas line has Oregon a touchdown favorite,-7, but it's not clear whether the oddsmakers watched both teams last Saturday. They were probably counting their money while Stanford demolished Notre Dame or the Ducks were pushed all over the field by ASU. The Cardinal looked dominating. The Ducks looked ready for defense rehab and offensive line remedial school.

To win this Saturday Oregon needs a serious upgrade in scheme and execution. They've slid by for four weeks on a soft early schedule and deep talent, but now they're facing a team with a comparable arsenal and a tough attitude, and they'll have to play their best game of the year.

They can, but they'll have to be much more focused than they were last Saturday on the road. They must allow fewer explosion plays and big gains, shore up the soft spots in their run defense and against the mid-range pass, tackle better, and keep the front seven off Darron Thomas and LaMichael James. DT and LMJ got pounded in the Arizona State game. There were plays they could have sued their offensive line for nonsupport. It's amazing they're not in red jerseys this week.

In 17 games as head coach Chip Kelly has shown himself to be a master of preparation and development. The chief thing he's instilled in his team is resilience and focus, and they'll be ready Saturday with their best effort. Here are some impressions and notes on what will work for them this weekend, and what must:

Autzen and the home crowd

Conventional wisdom says home field is worth three points. That's a reasonable estimate, but Autzen is worth seven. The Ducks are so comfortable there, and so confident, and the unfailingly revved-up and knowledgeable home crowd is loud, disruptive, and a force in the game. Stanford will make brave statements this week about inviting the challenge and feeding off the competitive energy of a hostile environment, but nothing, nothing, prepares a visitor for the wall of sound that is Autzen in full throttle. Oregon State, right down the road and completely familiar with its imposing nature, came in last season and had seven false starts in a game for the conference championship. Andrew Luck is a great player, but the redshirt sophomore has never played in Autzen. Notre Dame is a football cathedral, but it's nothing like the home of the Ducks, not for noise or intensity. Nothing outside the SEC is. With GameDay in town, Eugene will be rocking like never before, and it's an atmosphere that matters, a visible, audible, physical force in the game. It lifts the Ducks and beats back the opponents. There's a divinity that shapes its ends, the fierce magic of all the magic that has happened there before.

Autzen will be a tangible difference maker in this game, and the home crowd will help itself by being in their seats for the second half kickoff. No glass of your favorite hooch is worth missing a critical moment of the most challenging game on the Oregon schedule. Drink later. Come to the stadium to watch football and celebrate a win.

The Return of the Burner Barner

The Oregon offense missed Kenjon Barner last week. If he is full-go this week in practice, and ready to run loose on Saturday, Oregon's offense has a critical dimension that was missing in Tempe. James and Thomas were getting beaten and battered, and the Ducks needed a counterpunch, need that vital third weapon that punishes defenses for overplaying and overpursuing and selling out to meet the zone read at the point of attack. Barner unleashed in misdirection exploits their aggressiveness. It gives them something they can't account for, too many options, too many keys. The defense has to choose, and suddenly every choice is wrong.

Oregon's return game was ineffective against the Sun Devils, and if Kenjon is back, so is another element of the Ducks potent equation. Big returns are momentum changers. They fire the crowd with energy and take the air out of opponents in a close game. Groin injuries linger, but if Jim Radcliffe and the Oregon trainers have stitched Barner back together, the Oregon offensive machine is dialed back to 11. Stanford's defense is good, but they haven't been tested, not like the Ducks can when they are playing well.

Taking the wraps off the Oregon offense, and Darron Thomas

Darron Thomas is ready to take a game into his own hands. Teams are committing to containing LaMichael James at all cost, and now the Ducks have to take the bold strategy of punching that strategy right in the mouth: use the pass to set up the run. Go up top. Find the seams, go downfield to Maehl and Tuinei and Paulson and Davis and Huff. Stretch the field vertically and sideline to sideline until they adjust, then give James the ball with lanes to run in.

Steve Greatwood has to lay down a challenge to the Oregon offensive line. They have to put their best four quarters together, give their tailback a surge and their quarterback room to set his feet. They've only allowed one sack this year, but Thomas has been hit and hurried far too often. They need to protect him. They need to give him time to scan the field and destroy the Stanford secondary. The Ducks have to puncture the Cardinal's arrogance, and the best way possible is to assert themselves with a fast start and a brutally efficient offense. The Ducks' front line needs to play its best, most complete game of the season. They need to make their young quarterback look good instead of putting him in harm's way and forcing him into hurried decisions. An extra second gives him time to set, survey and deliver. It turns those just-misses into long completions. He can choose his trajectory and put a little air under the ball. They need to pick him up and protect him.

Improved Defensive Technique

Oregon's defense has produced a lot of big plays, and played four dominating second halves, but they have come out flat and unprepared in two games against teams that could pass and run, Tennessee and Arizona State. In both those games they created a huge hole and a ten-point deficit for the Oregon offense, which the Ducks quickly erased, but they won't have that luxury against the Cardinal. A fast start would be a huge edge in this game, and a poor one could prove fatal. If Stanford gets up by ten they'll pound the Ducks with the power running game and it has the potential to be a very long day.

The Ducks must tackle better. The secondary has to give each other ball calls and defend the pass with more consistency, avoid those costly pass interference penalties. Most of all, they have to stop the run. Harbaugh wants to dictate the game with a physical running attack, and the Ducks have to use their quickness and athleticism and smarts to defeat it at the line of scrimmage. The defense needs to assert itself. They have to get some pressure on Luck, and force him into some bad decisions. Oregon can seize this game by the throat if their defense produces some turnovers and three-and-outs, particularly early.

Stanford is playing like the baddest, biggest bully on the block. The Ducks have to convince them that noise, swagger and cruelty won't win the day in Autzen stadium. The defending conference champions have to play like champions, inspired, disciplined, focused football from the opening kickoff on.

I don't bet college football, but if I did I'd give the points. A mature, businesslike team will play like a champion and defend their house on Saturday. Oregon will bring their best effort to Autzen, and answer the critics and the questions.