Tales from the Stat Sheet--Have You Figured Out the Oregon Offense Yet, Rick?

Darron Thomas has now completed 60.9% of his passes for the season, for 1530 yards and 17 tds. He's thrown 5 interceptions, none in the last two games, and has been sacked twice. Backup Nate Costa has chipped in for 286 yards and a td, no interceptions and no sacks. Statistically, the Ducks don't lose much when they go to the bench. Thomas' passer rating is 158.9. Costa's is 158.6. Thomas has rushed 42 times for 269 yards, a 6.4-yard average, while Costa has 19 carries for 152, a 8.0 average. In all the qbs have 1816 yards passing and 421 on the ground, and are responsible for a total of 22 tds, 4 on the ground.

Thomas' development has been astonishing. The season schedule laid perfectly for his learning curve, with some easy tests early and a gradual, almost perfectly calibrated increase in difficulty as the season wore on. The first difficult home game came in game 5, and now he faces the first imposing road game in game 8. By now his comfort, command and confidence have reached the level where he is an even match for Matt Barkley. This offense is his, and he's become such a threat in the passing game that teams are forced to play the Ducks honest. Overloading the run leaves huge holes in the passing game, which Thomas and his talented receivers can readily exploit.

The distribution yesterday was impressive, and creates extra motivation for a fiercely motivated team. Five different players scored, and third-string tailback Remene Alston had three tds off the bench. Freshman Josh Huff scored for the fourth time in five games. Every starting receiver had at least two catches, Jeff Maehl pacing the group with 8 catches for 107 yds and a td. Maehl had 10 for 119 yds last week against Washington State, and is rapidly climbing the Oregon career ladder and making a bid for first team all-conference.

The rout over UCLA was Oregon's eighth win in the last 10 meetings over the Bruins. Cue the laughing kid from the Simpsons.

It was the most complete, dominating effort by the defense yet this season. They forced three turnovers and had three sacks, allowing just 290 total yards and one penetration into the red zone. UCLA had some early success on the ground but converted it into only three points, and wound up rushing for just 131 yards on 47 attempts, 2.8 yards per carry, all well below their season averages. They came into the game 13th in the country in rushing at 223 yards per game.

Richard Brehaut had 159 yards passing, a season-high for the Bruins, but a large chunk of that came in the fourth quarter during mop-up time against the reserves. He had just 83 yards at the end of the third quarter.

The Ducks Tenacious D held the conference's 2nd leading rusher Johnathan Franklin to 69 yards on 21 carries, a 3.3 yard average. They adjusted quickly to the Bruin game plan, holding the running game in check after some early success in the first quarter.

The Bruins' longest plays from scrimmage were a 26-yard pass and a 21-yard run, both late in the game. Against the first team defense they managed a long run of 15 yards. For the game they held Neuheisel's squad to 4.1 yards per play. The defense has 25 takeaways this season, and three times they have turned over the ball to the offense inside the opponent's ten after recovering fumbles. Cliff Harris and John Boyett each have an interception return for a touchdown.

Oregon went 90 yards in 8 plays with their first possession in just 1:56, and led 15-0 with three minutes to play in the first quarter, 32-3 at the half. They set a school record with 386 points in seven games, which also the most they've ever scored in nine games.

Rob Beard is perfect this season: 40-40 extra points, 6-6 for on field goals. So far this season the Ducks have scored 50 touchdowns and settled for just 9 field goals, punting 23 times.

USC is next. The Trojans are 5-2, coming off a bye week and an impressive 48-14 home victory over Cal in which Matt Barkley threw for 352 yards and 5 tds. The Trojans' two losses came on last second field goals by Washington and Stanford.

***I don't have a statistic for it, but kudos have to go to Oregon center Jordan Holmes. After being plagued by high snaps and timing disruptions last season, Oregon's shotgun snaps have been flawless this season, a huge benefit for the timing of the offense. Freshman long snapper Drew Howell has also been reliable as well. These are two vital roles no one usually notices, but think how many times opponents have had a critical mishap in this area. Both UCLA and Stanford botched a snap on third down in scoring territory to kill drives.