Meet the Volunteers: the Justin Wilcox Factor

When the Ducks travel to Knoxville they'll face a Civil War of their own. On the opposite sideline will be defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, an all-conference defensive back at Oregon for the '99 Sun Bowl team, and Peter Sirmon, a fierce Duck linebacker in the late nineties who went on to a seven-year NFL career with Tennessee Titans. Wilcox's father Dave was a Duck linebacker who made the Hall of Fame with the 49'ers, and his brother Josh was a standout tight end at Oregon who had cups of coffee in various pro leagues, including the WWF. The Wilcox boys played high school football in Junction City, where Justin was the quarterback.

Of course the younger Wilcox is best remembered among Duck fans for two painful losses he engineered as defensive coordinator for the Boise State Broncos. In 2008 he bested his alma mater in Autzen Stadium 37-32, and last fall he embarrassed them on national TV in the season opener on the blue turf, 19-8. The Boise State defense completely shut down Oregon's spread, with the Ducks failing to make a first down until midway through the third quarter.

Wilcox is not the first ex-Duck to hold a seeming whammy over his former school. Former offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford has also given them fits, one game ending in an agonizing Cameron Colvin fumble at the goal line, another marred by a lightning storm and a blackout, a couple of others embarrassing collapses in Strawberry Canyon. The Duck-Bear clashes have been titantic, usually a crossroads game for both programs, where seasons turn, one team rocketing up the national rankings, the other in disarray. A little like Florida and Tennessee.

You wonder if Tedford and Wilcox ever compare notes. Probably not. They're too busy scheming their next victory. Wilcox has probably been breaking down Oregon film since spring practice ended, and the Volunteer players watched Oregon film and drilled on defensing Oregon plays in August workouts.

There's no secret to stopping Oregon's spread. The difficulty lies in the doing. The plan nearly everyone employs, or tries to employ with varying degrees of success, is to combat speed with speed, close gaps quickly, penetrate, attack, disrupt, and force bad decisions from a young quarterback who has to make quick and effective decisions on every play. Opponents want to get the Ducks to put the ball on the ground and make mistakes. They want to frustrate the Oregon playmakers and wrap them up before they can get untracked.

Opposing coaches try to couple this with a complementary offensive strategy, employing a ball control attack that runs the ball effectively and relentlessly right at the Ducks, nuetralizing or minimizing the speed of the Oregon defense. If successful, the grind-it-out attack is relatively safe and builds a huge advantage in time of possession. The Webfoots' potent skill players can't score with their chinstraps unbuckled and their arms folded, watching helplessly from the sidelines.

This strategy was employed with a high degree of effectiveness in all of Oregon's three losses last year. Running twice for every pass, Boise State built up a time-of-possession advantage of 42:32 to 17:28, rolling up 22 first downs to to UO's 8. The Duck offense never got in rhythm and stalled miserably. Stanford bulldozed Oregon behind Toby Gerhart's 223 yards rushing, controlling the clock 38 minutes to 22. The Cardinal got up early with some big return and downfield pass plays and never took their foot off Oregon's neck. The same tactics were used effectively by Jim Tressel in the Rose Bowl, keeping the Ducks off balance with Terrelle Pryor's surprising effectiveness in the passing game and timely scrambles, getting an early lead, and controlling time of possession 42 minutes to 18.

It's no secret how to beat the Oregon Ducks and disrupt their offense; the challenge lies in making it happen. Justin Wilcox is a bright, driven football coach with a promising future. He knows the x's and o's and the stark reality. This week he gave this evaluation of Chip Kelly's scoring machine: “Fifty-two points in 18 minutes, 8 seconds,” he said. Of course that's a coach-speak game-week embellishment; the dazzling output against New Mexico included two punt returns against a hopelessly discouraged coverage team and a generally undermanned opponent with their star linebacker on the sidelines with his ankle on ice, but the fact remains. Oregon's offense is prolific, loaded with speed and talent.

But Justin Wilcox has stopped them twice.