The Oregon Ducks did just about everything right against the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, taking out their Pac-12 foe 49-0. And as David Piper over at Addicted To Quack mentions, it was quite the dominant shutout indeed.
Oregon took care of business on both sides of the ball, keeping the Wildcats in check in every aspect of their offense:
Arizona only averaged 3.83 yards per play on Saturday night. The Duck defense forced five turnovers. What was really impressive was that it was a complete defensive effort. Arizona never could get their running game going, gaining only 89 yards on 32 carries. This forced the Wildcats to pass -- a lot -- with 52 attempts in the game. Their strategy was to try and pick on Ifo Ekpre-Olomu by throwing it to a taller Dan Bucker -- and Ifo responded with two interceptions -- one in the red zone, and a pick six late in the game.
When the Ducks had the ball, they were troublesome for the Wildcats defense, even though they weren't as sharp as they could have been:
Offensively, Oregon was not on target. Arizona was doing a good job, especially early in the game, of containing Kenjon Barner and DeAnthony Thomas, and neither of them was able to break for a big play, get 100 yards, or score a touchdown in the game. The Wildcats wouldn't let the running backs get to the sideline, and did an excellent job tackling in space.
The Ducks moved to No. 2 in the latest AP Poll as they prepare for the Washington State Cougars next week at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.
For more on the Oregon Ducks, make sure that you head over to Addicted to Quack. For the Wildcats side of things, check out AZ Desert Swarm.
