Staying Cooler than the Coburg Road Dairy Queen: How the Ducks Can Bring the Hot Feet and Big Beat to Martin Stadium

Right now the Ducks are cooler than a boxful of blizzards, but they want to keep the momentum, pride and progress going on their road trip to Pullman this weekend.

The Washington State Cougars are bent on making a name for themselves and turning their program around, and nothing would bolt them forward like an upset win over the high-flying Ducks.

Oregon needs to win, and win in a style that advances their growth as a team. It isn't about poll position or style points or dropping an impression on Heisman voters, it's about playing the right way and executing, approaching this game the same way they'll want to approach the USC game or the showdown with Arizona. Winning is a habit. And playing and conducting yourself like a champion is a habit. Like a blizzard, once a week is about right.

Here's what the Ducks have to do to bring the perfect mix and churn to Martin Stadium:

Get a hat on Alex Hoffman-Ellis, Chima Nwachukwu, Tyree Toomer and Travis Long

Beware of linebackers with quarterback jersey numbers. #17 Hoffman-Ellis is an active, intense middle linebacker who flies around, and so far this year he has 32 tackles, three for loss and one sack. He's intercepted two passes this season, and last year he returned one for a 52-yard touchdown in the win over SMU. The 6-1, 241-lb. junior transferred in from Moorpark JC after one season and led the Cougars in tackles his first year on campus. Despite playing only 11 games he downed 84 ballcarriers, including 12 against Notre Dame, 15 against Oregon State, and 10 against USC.

Hoffman-Ellis gets amped for big games, and this is homecoming against number three in the country. He'll want to make an impression and an impact, and if Weems, Asper, York, Thran, Kaiser, and Holmes can keep him off LaMichael James and Darron Thomas, the one-two punch of the Oregon offense will get favorable matchups at the second level.

#33 Tyree Toomer played in all 13 games as a true freshman in 2008 before sitting out last season with a torn pectoral muscle. He's the clean-up man in the Cougar secondary with 30 tackles, 23 of them solo. He's getting a heavy workload this year in a young backfield.

#89 defensive end Travis Long, 6-4, 258, started every game as a true freshman last year, and he is Washington State's best defensive lineman. Long had a sack and a forced fumble against UCLA and he's tied for third on the team with 22 tackles, including five for loss and two sacks. He's quick off the edge and has a Kenny Rowe-like motor. Long had 19 tackles in his first four college games last year, was the highest rated recruit the Cougars landed in 2009, number 17 on the Rivals Northwest 100 out of Spokane's Gonzaga Prep. He's the playmaker on the defensive line, the guy with the most potential to disrupt Oregon's zone read and passing pocket.

#21 Chima Nwachukwu (I wouldn't want to be Jerry Allen on Saturday) is a senior safety with 208 career tackles at Washington State, and had 11 against UCLA last week. Nwachukwu, from Allen, Texas, rarely gives up on a play and embodies the effort and attitude Paul Wulff is try to reintroduce on the Palouse. He too shows up in big games, with 10 tackles against Cal as a junior, and 13 as a freshman against USC. A well-rounded young man, he was 2nd team Academic All-American as a junior and President of Washington State's student-athlete advisory committee.

Wulff and his staff are shifting some assignments this week on the defense, moving Anthony Carpenter and Sekope Kaufusi to safety and linebacker to get more speed on a defense that has allowed 544, 407, 420, 613 and 565 yards in the season's first five games.

The Cougs have some playmakers on offense, and a key in the game is to discourage them early with some shock and awe. Three or four quick touchdowns from the Oregon offense should convince this undermanned squad that today is not their day. If the Ducks are businesslike and efficient in executing their assignments, getting blocks on these standout defenders, and getting the Oregon playmakers one-on-one at the second level, this game should go the way it's supposed to.

And I might listen to the third quarter on my way to the Beaverton Dairy Queen for a strawberry blizzard.

Update: the outlook gets worse for the Cougs. They've been riddled by injuries this season. Nwachukwu is ruled out with a hamstring, and linebackers Ledgerwood and Hoffman-Ellis have missed practice time this week, H-E with a sore back. Freshman C.J. Mizell takes over at middle linebacker, The Daily Evergreen reports.