09/12/19 Emerald Media - Gameday Edition

GAMEDAY

DEFENSE

KING

IS

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME, OREGON FOOTBALL IS ALL ABOUT DEFENSE

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Ducks defense Jevon Holland (8) and Verone McKinley (23) cheer each other on at the endzone.

(Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

RYAN BAY: FROM WALK-ON TO TOUCHDOWN

8

DEFENSE IS KING

10

“SATURDAY CAN’T GET HERE SOON ENOUGH”

12

PLAYERS TO WATCH

14

DEEP DIVE INTO MONTANA

Introducing

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GAMEDAY

RYAN BAY’S ROAD TO HIS

FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN WAS THE ONE ‘LESS TAKEN’

BY: Gabe Ornelas @gabe_ornelas | PHOTO: Sarah Northrop Oregon Tight End Ryan Bay (87) warms up before the game. (Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

Ryan Bay was told by coaches that he’d be a scout-team guy his whole career.

After five seasons of being with the Oregon football team, the Tigard, Oregon, native finally got his chance to celebrate inside the confines of Autzen Stadium. Bay scored his first touchdown as a Duck on Saturday against Nevada, but the road to this point has been

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anything but easy.

“It’s words undescribed. It’s the road less taken,” Bay said. “I’m not going to say any names, but there were times I was told that I’d be a scout-team guy my whole career.

I’ve been through three different head coaches, five different position coaches, and it’s been a battle that I wouldn’t change for anything.”

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e 6-foot-3, 237-pound tight end wasn’t always focused on football.

Bay, prior to becoming a walkon for the Ducks, only played two seasons of high school football and was primarily focused on basketball. After only playing football his freshman year in high school, Bay focused on basketball for his sophomore and junior years.

It was not until his senior year that Bay rediscovered his passion for football.

Before his senior year, Bay transferred to Tigard High School from Jesuit High School to focus on football. He finished his senior year at Tigard with 195 yards and three touchdowns. ose numbers helped him receive a full scholarship from Eastern

GAMEDAY Washington, but Bay had other plans.

After declining Eastern Washington, Bay chose to walk on at Oregon. And after five seasons, Bay got his chance to celebrate his road to No. 1.

With fellow tight end Cam McCormick nursing an injury, Bay, along with Jacob Breeland, has stepped up as one of the premier tight ends on the team.

“One guy goes down, the next guy has to step up,” Bay said. “A big thing about our culture is trust. … It’s a huge trust factor that comes through our coaching staff and our players, and we take a lot of pride in that.

When it’s time to do your job, do your job.”

It was time for Bay to do his job.

With the Ducks up 14-6 in the second quarter against Nevada, Oregon was in Nevada territory looking to score. Herbert took the snap, faked a handoff to running back Travis Dye and found Bay wide open in the middle of the field for a 16-yard touchdown completion.

“Another great guy that is so deserving and doesn’t get the credit that he deserves,” Herbert said. “One of those guys that just blocks so well. Made some big plays, and it was really cool to

see him score today.”

Prior to his first career touchdown as a Duck, Bay was known more for his blocking ability. He was helping aid the Ducks’ running game more than making big plays for himself.

From walk-on to scoring his first touchdown, Bay has been able to adapt to whatever the Oregon coaching staff has asked of him over the long, five-year process.

“One thing I’m going to learn from continuing on my business career or football career is adaptability,” Bay said.

“Learning how to adapt to different coaches, coaching styles, what’s required, emphasis on technique, you could go on forever.”

Bay, now a senior majoring in human physiology, will be looking to continue his career as Oregon’s tight end for now.

Whatever road they ask him to take, he wants to make an impact.

“It’s been a journey,” Bay said. “It’s a great story I can tell wherever I go as far as football afterwards. I can look back at myself and sleep at night knowing that I gave everything I had. I still have a long season to go and am counted on for a lot of my roles and making big plays.”

“IT’S BEEN A BATTLE THAT I WOULD NOT CHANGE FOR ANYTHING” RYAN BAY

OREGON DUCKS

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OREGON

MONTANA OFFENSE

OREGON OFFENSE Penei Sewell No. 58 LT Shane Lemieux No. 68 LG Jake Hanson No. 55 C Dallas Warmack No. 75 RG Calvin Throckmorton No. 54 Jacob Breeland No. 27 TE Juwan Johnson No. 6 WR Jaylon Redd No. 30 WR Johnny Johnson III No. 3 WR CJ Verdell No. 7 RB Justin Herbert No. 10 QB

NEVADA

So. Sr. Sr. Sr. RT

Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Jr. So. Sr.

Conlan Beaver Angel Villanueva Cy Sirmon Tyler Ganoung Colton Keintz Colin Bingham Samori Toure Samuel Akem Jerry Louie-McGee Adam Eastwood Dalton Sneed

DE NT DT STUD MLB WILL SAM CB CB S S

Sr. Jr. Jr. Sr. So. Sr. Sr. Jr. Jr. So. Jr.

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No. 63 No. 42 No. 96

LS P PK

Joe Babros Jesse Sims Alex Gubner Dante Olson Jace Lewis Ryder Rice Justin Calhoun Dareon Nash Robby Hauck Gavin Robertson Josh Sandry

No. 56 No. 37 No. 99 No. 33 No. 34 No. 96 No. 3 No. 7 No. 17 No. 2 No. 13

So. Sr. Jr.

Matthew O’Donoghue No. 49 Adam Wilson No. 61 Brandon Purdy No. 39

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R-Jr. R-Sr. R-Sr. R-Fr. R-So. R-Sr. R-Jr. R-Jr. R-Sr. R-So. RS-Sr.

DE NT DT LB LB REB CB CB GRIZ S S

R-Jr. R-Sr. R-Fr. R-Sr. R-Jr. R-Sr. R-Sr. R-Jr. R-So. R-Jr. R-Sr.

MONTANA SPECIAL TEAMS

OREGON SPECIAL TEAMS Karsten Battles Blake Maimone Adam Stack

LT LG C RG RT TE WR WR WR RB QB

MONTANA DEFENSE

OREGON DEFENSE Gus Cumberlander No. 45 Jordon Scott No. 34 Austin Faoliu No. 99 Bryson Young No. 56 Isaac Slade-Matautia No. 41 Troy Dye No. 35 La’Mar Winston Jr. No. 32 Thomas Graham Jr. No. 4 Deommodore Lenoir No. 6 Jevon Holland No. 8 Brady Breeze No. 25

No. 78 No. 74 No. 66 No. 65 No. 76 No. 88 No. 8 No. 18 No. 16 No. 25 No. 11

LS P PK

R-So. Sr. R-Jr.

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PA G E 7

COVER

Oregon Ducks safety Jevon Holland celebrates a play.

(Devin Roux/Emerald)

AFTER YEARS OF BEING OVERLOOKED, OREGON’S DEFENSE FRONT AND CENTER BY: Brady Lim

Oregon football and defense didn’t always go together.

In the days of Chip Kelly, Marcus Mariota and a lightning-fast offense that changed the football world forever, defense often fell by the wayside in Eugene. e defense under then-defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti was known for its “bendbut-don’t-break” philosophy that prided itself on turnovers and stinginess in the red zone.

At the same time, those defenses far too often surrendered big yardage, and it put enormous pressure on the offense to light up the scoreboard game in and game out.

In recent years — 2015 and 2016 specifically — the defenses were just downright bad. ose groups

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averaged opponent points-per-game numbers of 37.5 and 41.4, respectively — both toward the bottom of the Pac-12 Conference. When those offenses dropped from “elite” to just “very good,” the defense was nowhere to be found to break the fall and the losses piled up rather quickly.

Now, with first-year defensive coordinator Andy Avalos at the helm looking to build upon what Jim Leavitt built for two seasons in Eugene, this year’s group already feels as good as it has in a long time.

“Last year, we had a pretty good defense, but we didn’t click like we have this year,” junior safety Brady Breeze said. “Between player-to-coach and player-to-player, guys are trusting each other. It’s working in all types of ways.”

One of the most impressive early takeaways from Avalos’ new defense has been just how effective it’s been for everyone. Freshmen and sophomores are thriving just as much as juniors and seniors, and that didn’t happen by accident. Veteran leaders like Jordon Scott and Troy Dye are setting an example for the less experienced guys, even as they adjust to a new defensive scheme themselves.

“Troy, he’s a fun dude,” freshman linebacker Mase Funa said. “He has so much energy. It doesn’t matter how much he plays in the game. It kind of just reflects off on everybody.”

Austin Faoliu is a little bit older, but he’s still learning every day: “I’m always picking at [Jordon Scott’s] brain, what he’s doing during the game, so I

can reciprocate the same thing.” e buzzword throughout fall camp was “culture.” Head coach Mario Cristobal stressed that more than anything, and it’s already starting to show just two games into the season. “ e most impressive thing to me was that the older guys held the younger guys accountable,” Cristobal said of Saturday’s win over Nevada in which the defense allowed just six points. “When the younger guys went in there from snap 40-whatever until the end, they made it known that they are held to the same expectation about keeping other people out of the end zone.”

In week two against Nevada, 10 true freshmen played on defense.

DJ Johnson, a backup linebacker coming off a year in which he sat out due to the NCAA’s transfer rules, led the team in tackles. Funa, through his first two collegiate games, leads the Pac-12 with four tackles for loss.

Redshirt freshman Steve Stephens nearly brought his first career interception back for a touchdown.

It seems that just about everyone is getting better, and that’s a testament to the standard Cristobal and the rest of the coaching staff set way back in the beginning of fall camp.

“Nothing’s gonna stay static around here,” Avalos said. “We’re gonna keep growing, and guys have an urgency. We want to grow everybody’s role throughout the course of the year, because it’s a long season.”

“If a backup comes in, he’s just as good as the starter,” Breeze said. “ at’s something that’s going to be important going down in the season.” ese Ducks defenders want to change the narrative surrounding Oregon football. Driving that desire is the need to prove the naysayers wrong.

“We wanted to make a name for ourselves,” Faoliu said of the defense. “When people look at Oregon, they always think about the O-line, the offense. And we just felt that was disrespectful towards us.”

Funa echoed a similar sentiment. “ e defense, especially the younger guys, wants to prove what kind of defense we are,” he said.

“We’re fast, tough, physical and we always want to finish.”

One of the team’s leaders and best players is just a sophomore.

His name is Jevon Holland, and his mentality embodies the new culture of defense at Oregon. Essentially, good isn’t good enough. “ e best thing that Jevon does is that he competes with himself,” Avalos said. “He’s got his own standard. He works every single day to his standard, and it’s a very elite level.”

Holland is often times his harshest critic, but that’s what makes him great.

“It’s hard to focus on the good things when the bad things are so keen in your sight,” he said following the heartbreaking loss to Auburn.

“So it’s all about correcting the things that are bad.”

It would be easy for Holland to be satisfied with what he did on the big stage at AT&T Stadium against Auburn: he picked off a pass, ripped off two big punt returns and overall looked like one of the best players on the field for either team for all 60 minutes. e defense as a whole looked, for the most part, very good.

But if this year’s defense really wants to take the program to the new heights it hopes to reach, good isn’t going to cut it. And everyone knows it, from Avalos to every member of the defensive unit.

“We’re chasing perfection,” Avalos said.

In game one, this group forced Auburn quarterback Bo Nix into a 42 percent completion percentage.

In game two, it surrendered just six points to a Nevada team that hung 34 on Purdue the week prior. Each passing day brings more experience for some of the most talented defenders to ever play football for the Ducks.

For the first time in a long time, defense is king in Eugene.

Oregon Ducks cornerback Verone Mckinley III at practice. (Kimberly Harris/Emerald)

Oregon Ducks safety Jevon Holland at play. (Devin Roux/Emerald)

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GAMEDAY

DESPITE BLOWOUT WIN,

DUCKS STILL HUNGRY BY: Shane Hoffman @shane_hoffman | PHOTO: Sarah Northrop

Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal leads warm ups before a game. (Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

Mario Cristobal addressed the media on Monday ahead of Oregon’s final non-conference game on Saturday against Montana.

After blowing out Nevada 77-6 last week in Autzen, the Ducks’ focus is on avoiding complacency and staying hungry for improvement.

“Lots of room for improvement,” Cristobal said. “What we gathered from the tape: Sure we’re getting better, but we still haven’t seen our best football. We still haven’t seen

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our best performance.”

When asked what was left to improve on before Pac-12 play, Cristobal hammered home the emphasis on physicality at the line of scrimmage — a recurring theme for the 2019 Oregon Ducks.

“You can’t let yourself lose eye discipline,” he said. “You still gotta play fast, you got to play physical, play blocks and knock back defenders, then figure it out on the run. Sometimes we just caught

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ourselves peeking or not completely finishing a block.”

Cristobal addressed injuries as well, saying that wideout Juwan Johnson is 50/50 for Saturday’s game against Montana. He said that if Johnson were to sit out again this week, he would almost surely be ready for the following week on the road at Stanford.

Having Johnson back this week could help depth and size to an injury-ridden group of wide

receivers.

In other news, tight end Cam McCormick is still day-to-day and Andrew Johnson is ready to play after tweaking a hamstring.

Freshman Mycah Pittman, who injured his shoulder back in midAugust still no timetable for return.

One of the offensive stars from Saturday’s blowout was backup running back Darrian Felix. Felix went for over 100 all-purpose yards, adding a touchdown — his second of

GAMEDAY the season. His recent performance could help him break out into a bigger role moving forward.

“He’s part of [the starter conversation] now,” Cristobal said of Felix. “He’s had some health issues early on … now he feels healthy, he is showing it in the way he practices and obviously the way he performed.”

Felix added: “We all bring something different to the table … we are very close friends, basically brothers in there. We try and keep the group close.”

Another theme of the young season has been the number of impact freshmen on defense. While many are seeing time in backup roles, when they do enter the game there is seemingly little to no dropoff.

Cristobal attributes their early success to preparation and a hunger to get better.

“You’ve seen the way we practice,” Cristobal said. “ ey’re very organized, very detailed …

ere is a rhyme and reason for everything, the what to do, how to do and why we do it that way.

And like any player, when they see themselves have success they want more.”

When the young defenders get an opportunity to play, they make the most of it. is shows up in the open-field tackling Oregon has displayed thus far.

“Our guys actually think they can get a lot better,” Cristobal said. “We work tackling drills on a daily basis … We’ve really emphasized rugby tackling as well, making sure that we’re wrapping up well.”

After a heartbreaking loss in week one, the Ducks are reenergized, rejuvenated, and ready to wreak havoc on the Pac-12. First, they have to get past one more non-conference test.

“Saturday can’t get here soon enough,” Cristobal said.

e Ducks run out at the start of the game.

(Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

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GAMEDAY

PLAYERS TO WATCH BY: Shane Hoffman @shane_hoffman

Montana SAFETY, ROBBY HAUCK True sophomore Robby Hauck is by no means the biggest, fastest or most physical player on Montana’s defense, but if you solely looked at the box score, you may think differently. rough two games, the 5-foot-10 safety leads the team with 19 tackles and 10 of those came last week in a game where he added a tackle for loss and an interception. If Montana has any hopes of slowing Herbert and the high-powered Ducks offense, it will start with the multifaceted play of Hauck.

RUNNING BACK, MARCUS KNIGHT Running back Marcus Knight led the way for Montana in their 61-17 dismantling of Northern Alabama. e 6-foot-1 back finished the day with 89 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to catching two passes for 14 yards.

While not the strongest runner, Knight possesses a good mix of size and speed.

After a mediocre week one, his week-two performance should help Knight take over the bulk of the carries on Saturday versus Oregon.

Oregon OUTSIDE LINEBACKER: DJ JOHNSON As a freshman at the University of Miami, DJ Johnson saw action in eight games. A year later, he found himself at the University of Oregon sitting out his sophomore year due to transfer rules, utilizing a redshirt. Entering the 2019 season, Johnson was just one piece in a deep, complex front-seven rotation in which playing time was far from guaranteed. He learned this early, as he didn’t see the field in the season opener versus Auburn. Coach Mario Cristobal made note of his absence and promised Johnson would play against Nevada. While he played a majority of his time in the second half, the hulking, 6-foot-5 edge rusher impressed in his debut. He racked up a team-high seven tackles, three

RUNNING BACK: DARRIAN FELIX Darrian Felix hasn’t played much in a crowded Ducks backfield over the past few seasons. is year, however, Felix has made the most of his minutes. In the season opener against Auburn, he only had two carries, but he converted one into a touchdown after an impressive cut-back run in the red zone. Against Nevada, Felix broke several explosive plays, including a 60-yard touchdown and a 20-yard catch and run. He ended the evening with 11 touches for over 100 yards. Felix figures to see extended time again this week versus Montana. If he can build on last week’s performance, he could carve out a more meaningful role in the offense.

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GAMEDAY

e Duck does pushups to celebrate the touchdown.

(Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

DEEP DIVE INTO MONTANA BY: Oscar Duyck | PHOTO: Sarah Northrop

Oregon will close out its nonconference schedule against the Montana Grizzlies on Saturday night at Autzen Stadium. e Grizzlies will be heavy underdogs, especially after the Ducks dismantled Nevada 77-6 last weekend. In order to win, Montana will need to play a near-perfect game on both sides of the ball. ey aren’t an FBS team, but the Grizzlies come to Eugene ranked No. 18 in the most recent FCS Coaches Poll. Montana is 2-0 to start the season and is fresh off a blowout win against North Alabama, 61-17. In that game, wide receiver Jerry Louie-McGee returned a punt for a 74-yard touchdown and earned Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week. Louie-McGee returned five kicks for 150 yards in the game.

On opening week, Montana won convincingly on the road against South Dakota 31-17. Quarterback Dalton Sneed threw for an eye-popping 430 yards and three touchdowns. e explosive Grizzlies offense finished with 510 total yards. e Grizzlies will come to Eugene hoping that their high-octane offense will be effective against a top-15 team; they are averaging 46 points per game

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so far on the season. Montana’s air attack averages 361 yards per game and the team, on average, gains 158 yards on the ground. However, these gaudy statistics are against non-Power 5 teams, and the Ducks will be the biggest challenge Montana will face this season.

Quarterback Dalton Sneed will lead the offense against Oregon; the redshirt senior has thrown for 696 yards and four touchdowns on the young season. He’s also a dual-threat scrambler that can use his legs to get a first down when needed.

Sneed’s college football journey started at UNLV, where he had a memorable 91-yard touchdown run, the longest in program history. He then transferred to Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, before joining the Grizzlies in 2018.

At the skill positions, Samuel Akem will be the name to watch against Oregon’s experienced secondary. e wide receiver from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma is the Grizzlies top pass catcher and the No. 2 returning receiver in the Big Sky Conference.

In Montana’s season opener against South Dakota, Akem caught nine passes for 158 yards and a touchdown. Montana will need the Sneed-Akem

combination to be firing on all cylinders if they want a shot at keeping it close against Oregon.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Grizzlies have only conceded an average of 17 points in two games. Montana’s leading tackler is safety Robby Hauck, who has 19 tackles and an interception heading into Saturday. e sophomore has an impressive resume, finishing seventh in the voting for the FCS Jerry Rice Top Freshman Award in 2018.

Linebacker Dante Olson has a team-high two tackles for a loss, and fellow linebacker Jace Lewis leads the team with a single sack. is Montana defense will be tested against an Oregon offense that put up 623 total yards and 77 points against Nevada. e Grizzlies are 37.5-point underdogs, but they’ll present some challenges for the Ducks. Montana’s offense boasts a talented veteran quarterback, an elite pass catcher and a return man that has a knack for finding the end zone. Don’t expect them to win this game, but there will certainly be intriguing matchups all over the field.

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5 STEPS TO CAMPUS!

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115 W. Broadway | Jamesonsbareugene.com > Wifi in Every Apartment > Washer and Dryer > Individual Bedroom Leases > Individual Locking Bedrooms > Courtyard-BBQ Area > Lobby Lounge > Outdoor Deck > Bike Storage > Electronic Rent Payments > Roommate Matching > Controlled Access > Water, Sewer and Trash Included

1414 Kincaid St, Eugene, OR 97401 541.246.1229 | livek14.com

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