WEBVTT - Before The Whistle: Oregon 0:00:07.130 --> 0:00:09.369 What an exciting time to be a Bruins fan. It 0:00:09.630 --> 0:00:12.319 is nice to be back talking with you. A bye 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.380 week that frankly didn't really need to be there. Everybody 0:00:15.420 --> 0:00:17.500 was feeling so good about what happened at Maryland. You 0:00:17.540 --> 0:00:19.860 wanted to keep on playing. But there was a brief 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:25.820 pause and now it is. Number 21. UCLA at number 13, Oregon. 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:29.080 Josh Lewin is with you. We're going to preview it 0:00:29.100 --> 0:00:31.990 for you. Matt, it wasn't that long ago that we 0:00:32.030 --> 0:00:34.350 were both at Autzen Stadium, and it was actually a 0:00:34.350 --> 0:00:37.790 9 versus 10. It was a top 10 matchup. This 0:00:37.810 --> 0:00:41.129 was in 2022. We kind of knew about Bo Nix, 0:00:41.510 --> 0:00:44.390 and we certainly knew that Autzen Stadium was tough. The 0:00:44.430 --> 0:00:46.909 Bruins kind of had their hats handed to them that day. 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.360 Let's kind of start there. Every time that the Bruins 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:53.470 have gone up to Autzen, the last eight times they've 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.150 gone there, it has not gone well. Do you see 0:00:56.210 --> 0:00:58.010 a path where this time it could be different? 0:00:58.710 --> 0:01:00.890 Well, you know, Bob Chesney, I think his staff is 0:01:00.930 --> 0:01:04.890 at an advantage that JMU played a playoff game in 0:01:04.950 --> 0:01:06.190 Autzen Stadium last year. 0:01:06.209 --> 0:01:07.870 So they understand what's going to happen. 0:01:08.730 --> 0:01:12.270 And I think UCLA, too, the football team, that Cal game, 0:01:12.490 --> 0:01:14.010 I know it's not as many people, 55,000, but it 0:01:14.050 --> 0:01:14.440 was sold out. 0:01:16.690 --> 0:01:18.440 And the crowd was pretty loud. 0:01:18.530 --> 0:01:21.450 So, I mean, it's not like UCLA hasn't played in 0:01:21.510 --> 0:01:23.270 front of noise already and on the road. 0:01:24.010 --> 0:01:26.290 And the other good thing about UCLA, they want to 0:01:26.330 --> 0:01:26.789 run the ball. 0:01:27.250 --> 0:01:29.630 So, you know, they're not going to be doing a 0:01:29.670 --> 0:01:32.170 lot of check, you know, things at the line of scrimmage. 0:01:32.209 --> 0:01:33.390 You know, they're going to run the ball and go 0:01:33.490 --> 0:01:36.030 right at Oregon. So maybe it's not going to be 0:01:36.069 --> 0:01:38.630 a problem. And I think UCLA, they have nothing to lose. 0:01:39.030 --> 0:01:41.690 It's more Oregon with one loss. You know, they're concerned. 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.179 Weather should not be a problem. They have this funky 0:01:45.220 --> 0:01:47.179 thing they do up there where they claim it never 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.720 rains at Autzen Stadium. And you know what? It actually 0:01:50.780 --> 0:01:53.000 kind of doesn't. It sits down in a valley, so 0:01:53.020 --> 0:01:56.300 there can be drizzle all around, and usually we're kind 0:01:56.340 --> 0:01:59.340 of safe and okay. It is going to rain a 0:01:59.420 --> 0:02:03.340 little bit maybe in the morning, but by kickoff midday, 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:05.890 it looks like it's going to be clear, about 58, 0:02:05.890 --> 0:02:08.410 59 degrees. That sounds like football weather to me. 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:10.359 Yeah, that's good football weather. 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:12.940 And, you know, UCLA's coming off being on the road 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.489 of Maryland. And they had rain there, but it was 0:02:15.530 --> 0:02:19.270 the wind that was a problem in Maryland. So there's 0:02:19.310 --> 0:02:21.650 not much wind that's going to happen that day at Austin. 0:02:21.669 --> 0:02:23.790 That's what they're predicting. I don't think weather's going to 0:02:23.830 --> 0:02:25.010 be a factor. I think it's going to be a 0:02:25.030 --> 0:02:27.630 good day of football. I think the UCLA football team's 0:02:27.650 --> 0:02:29.170 going to be happy they're getting out of the heat. 0:02:30.490 --> 0:02:32.760 Yeah, no question about that. And, you know, again, back 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:36.419 to October of 22. And it was basically this weekend. 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:39.950 It was right in the early past. Part of October 0:02:40.650 --> 0:02:44.810 and very similar weather. The Bruins just did not have 0:02:44.830 --> 0:02:47.070 their A game. And we mentioned that they gave up 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:48.860 a lot of passing yards. I remember there was an 0:02:48.940 --> 0:02:52.780 onside kick that surprised the Bruins. And that led to 0:02:52.820 --> 0:02:55.920 a quick and easy Oregon touchdown. The Bruins needed to 0:02:55.980 --> 0:02:58.220 play kind of a perfect game back then. They did 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:01.389 not and they lost by 15 points. I think when 0:03:01.450 --> 0:03:04.730 Bob Chesney went in there with James Madison this past 0:03:04.790 --> 0:03:08.049 late December, early January... Kind of the same thing, right? 0:03:08.090 --> 0:03:10.930 And it just did not go well. They were down 0:03:10.950 --> 0:03:13.810 34-3 at one point. It was just over. From that 0:03:13.910 --> 0:03:17.230 point on, James Madison actually figured some things out, outscored 0:03:17.310 --> 0:03:18.829 Oregon the rest of the way. It ended up being 0:03:18.870 --> 0:03:22.530 a 17-point game and not an embarrassment. What do you 0:03:22.610 --> 0:03:25.540 take out of the fact that Bob Chesney's been there recently, 0:03:25.820 --> 0:03:28.560 the fact that UCLA fans have been there a lot? 0:03:28.900 --> 0:03:30.799 What can we learn from those last two games that 0:03:30.820 --> 0:03:31.440 we're talking about? 0:03:32.169 --> 0:03:34.269 Well, Bob Chesney was a JMU team, and I know 0:03:34.290 --> 0:03:36.490 there were some of the JMU players now on UCLA. 0:03:36.510 --> 0:03:38.700 But he didn't have enough Jimmys and Joes. 0:03:39.380 --> 0:03:41.520 This time he has a lot of Jimmys and Joes 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.060 on this UCLA football team. And this UCLA football team, 0:03:45.460 --> 0:03:47.280 having the bye week off, and I know Oregon had 0:03:47.340 --> 0:03:50.010 it too, they went back to the fundamentals, and they 0:03:50.030 --> 0:03:53.670 stressed about getting better. Bob Chesney is so good at motivation. 0:03:53.690 --> 0:03:56.530 He was saying, yeah, we're 4-0, but we're nowhere near 0:03:57.070 --> 0:03:57.330 where we. 0:03:57.310 --> 0:03:58.530 Want to be. We've got to play both sides. 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:00.780 A good game on offense and a good game on 0:04:00.820 --> 0:04:02.180 defense to compete with the Ducks. 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:06.460 So I don't know how you feel about it, but 0:04:06.500 --> 0:04:10.220 there's a national narrative that these are two of the 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:14.540 really great young coaching minds in college football and also 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.260 just two great dudes. We're talking about Bob Chesney, of course, 0:04:17.300 --> 0:04:20.230 on the UCLA side. We should throw a couple of 0:04:20.260 --> 0:04:23.330 flowers at the feet of Dan Lanning, I suppose, if 0:04:23.350 --> 0:04:27.419 for no other reason than he just torched USC. with 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:29.820 what he said when he went down to play at 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:31.900 the Coliseum. So I guess we kind of got to 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:36.589 love him for that. But Dan Lanning is 51-9 at Oregon. 0:04:37.070 --> 0:04:37.830 And you look at. 0:04:37.810 --> 0:04:40.190 These two hot shot young coaches. They did not exactly 0:04:40.230 --> 0:04:42.950 go to Notre Dame and Alabama as undergrads, by the way. 0:04:43.450 --> 0:04:47.090 Lanning is from William Jewell College in Missouri. Chesney is 0:04:47.150 --> 0:04:51.120 an alumnus of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It just 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.900 kind of goes to show that these great minds and 0:04:54.940 --> 0:04:56.440 great people can come from anywhere. 0:04:57.390 --> 0:05:01.010 And both coaches really are defensive savants. I mean, Dane 0:05:01.050 --> 0:05:03.170 Lanning's a defensive mind and so is Bob Chesney. I 0:05:03.210 --> 0:05:06.570 think the difference between Dane Lanning and Bob Chesney is 0:05:07.010 --> 0:05:09.690 he had to replace two coordinators, two really good coordinators 0:05:09.710 --> 0:05:12.320 that he had there at a long term. Drew Meringer 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:14.440 is the offensive coordinator, Chris Hampton. 0:05:14.460 --> 0:05:15.620 So that's something. 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:19.640 New that Dane Lanning has to adjust to. Whereas Bob Chesney, 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:23.580 he brought his coordinators from JMU and there's a lot 0:05:23.620 --> 0:05:26.900 of familiarity and they seem to talk the same talk 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:30.770 and and they understand exactly what, you know, Bob Chesney 0:05:30.790 --> 0:05:32.910 wants to do. So I think that's advantage for UCLA, 0:05:32.950 --> 0:05:35.650 but still, you know, this is a team at Oregon 0:05:35.690 --> 0:05:39.530 that is returning 14 starters from last year's team that 0:05:39.570 --> 0:05:44.020 really almost went to the college football championship game. So 0:05:44.060 --> 0:05:47.060 there's a ton of experience. When you talk about recruits, 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.900 it's nothing but four and five stars. They're very fast, 0:05:51.220 --> 0:05:53.500 but I will say UCLA does have the fastest player 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.790 on the field in Pleasant who runs a 10 one. 0:05:55.810 --> 0:05:58.170 So that's sort of a, A little hiccup right there. 0:05:58.230 --> 0:06:00.630 But still, I think this is going to be very 0:06:00.730 --> 0:06:03.510 competitive and a very physical game that's going to be 0:06:03.529 --> 0:06:04.290 played in the trenches. 0:06:04.890 --> 0:06:08.510 You mentioned Pleasant, who started out at Oregon before boomeranging 0:06:08.580 --> 0:06:11.480 back to where he's from in L.A. And you've got 0:06:11.500 --> 0:06:14.540 to have somebody that can cover those wide receivers, very 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:17.280 speedy wide receivers, always for Oregon. I mean, it's just 0:06:17.380 --> 0:06:20.339 always been that way. They're a track school. And it 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:22.340 just kind of stands to reason that speed is a 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.380 thing spilling out of the football field. I want to 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:29.680 ask you about that field. Now, Autzen Stadium seats 54,000. 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:34.560 They wedged 60,000 into there when these teams met in 2022. 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.060 College game day was there. I remember walking around with you, 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:38.880 just kind of soaking it all in. It just felt 0:06:38.940 --> 0:06:42.700 like the best atmosphere you could possibly hope for, and 0:06:42.740 --> 0:06:44.960 maybe aspirational. It's what you and I hope the Rose 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.740 Bowl will get back to being as well. I'm looking 0:06:48.779 --> 0:06:50.800 at Oregon being 47-2 their last 49 home games. I mean, 0:06:50.820 --> 0:06:55.089 it's a It's going into the belly of the beast. 0:06:55.850 --> 0:06:58.110 Well, they're a professional crowd. That's what I call the 0:06:58.190 --> 0:07:02.670 Oregon faithful. They know when to cheer. They have a routine, 0:07:02.690 --> 0:07:05.500 you know, first, second, third, and fourth quarter. They do 0:07:05.540 --> 0:07:09.840 specific things. They really get on the opposing team. You 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.560 can't fall behind against Oregon, or you're really going to 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:14.400 have to climb back, and you're going to have to 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:18.100 battle the noise. And in listening to interviews for the 0:07:18.180 --> 0:07:22.060 UCLA players this week, Bob Chessing's really stressed the noise. 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:25.580 In fact, they had a speaker in the huddle, not 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.790 just on the sideline, but in the huddle and trying 0:07:28.810 --> 0:07:29.390 to communicate. 0:07:29.450 --> 0:07:30.150 Everything's going to be. 0:07:30.110 --> 0:07:33.770 Done silently, I assume, but still signals and stuff like that. 0:07:34.750 --> 0:07:38.920 It can be pretty tough on an opposing team. 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.880 Find some poise amid the noise. I'm with you. That's 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:44.700 one of the keys to the game, especially for a 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:48.690 UCLA team, Matt. that's at 10 penalties per game right now. 0:07:48.750 --> 0:07:51.990 That's one of the worst totals in the country, very 0:07:52.030 --> 0:07:55.030 close to being worst in the country. So you've had 0:07:55.170 --> 0:07:57.310 two weeks to get ready for this game. Is that 0:07:57.480 --> 0:07:59.880 one of the things that, because a lot of these 0:07:59.920 --> 0:08:02.820 penalties are not procedural. When we're not talking about they're 0:08:02.860 --> 0:08:06.480 lining up off sides, this is stuff that's happening with 0:08:06.740 --> 0:08:09.900 action on the field. Guys clutching and grabbing and holding, 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.180 and I get it. These are very fast Oregon players, 0:08:12.260 --> 0:08:14.440 but is that to you one of the big things 0:08:14.460 --> 0:08:15.510 that needed to be cleaned up? 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:18.220 Well, I mean, Bob Chessing said it best. I mean, 0:08:18.260 --> 0:08:20.380 there were a couple of head-scratcher penalties that he didn't 0:08:20.930 --> 0:08:24.910 agree with. But when you're playing 100% going as fast 0:08:24.950 --> 0:08:26.670 as you can and you get a penalty, he's not 0:08:26.690 --> 0:08:29.610 going to come up to the player's face and he's. 0:08:29.790 --> 0:08:31.990 Going to yell at him, berate him, or whatever. 0:08:32.150 --> 0:08:36.050 Yes, illegal procedure penalties, delay of game penalties, he doesn't 0:08:36.110 --> 0:08:39.170 want those. Those are mental penalties that he has to avoid. 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:41.460 But when you're going to play at Autzen, you've got 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.140 to play a pretty clean game. 0:08:43.700 --> 0:08:45.500 And that means you can't have a lot of penalties. 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:49.440 So UCLA battling the noise and all that, they're going 0:08:49.460 --> 0:08:54.010 to have to really concentrate in terms of not getting 0:08:54.030 --> 0:08:54.990 that yellow flag out. 0:08:55.890 --> 0:08:58.449 And we're burying the lead a little bit here, I guess, 0:08:58.590 --> 0:09:01.470 with Dante Moore unavailable to play, and we figured that 0:09:01.510 --> 0:09:04.929 would be the case. It's Raiola instead of quarterback, a 0:09:04.970 --> 0:09:07.270 guy the Bruins played back when he was a freshman 0:09:07.290 --> 0:09:09.340 at Nebraska and was supposed to be the next big thing, 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.040 and they actually kind of crushed his spirit. But this 0:09:12.059 --> 0:09:15.280 is a whole different team. Jalen Woods was on that team, obviously, 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.440 but everybody else has pretty much changed on the defensive side. 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:22.420 Has Raiola changed? His numbers are fantastic. He's 30 for 0:09:22.420 --> 0:09:23.230 36 so far. 0:09:24.170 --> 0:09:26.390 Well, I mean, when you talk about Dante Moore and Raiola, 0:09:26.470 --> 0:09:29.250 they're really the same kind of quarterbacks. They're not willing runners, 0:09:29.350 --> 0:09:32.589 but they can sit in the pocket and avoid the rush. 0:09:32.630 --> 0:09:36.330 They can buy time. They have different arm angles. They 0:09:36.530 --> 0:09:39.600 are really good at throwing a deep ball. They can 0:09:39.650 --> 0:09:41.850 touch a ball in there. So, You don't have to 0:09:41.950 --> 0:09:45.250 get ready for two different quarterbacks between Ryola and Moore. 0:09:45.290 --> 0:09:48.069 That's a good thing for UCLA. And then Ben there 0:09:48.150 --> 0:09:49.990 done that with Ryola. I mean, he played at a 0:09:50.010 --> 0:09:54.110 big-time program at Nebraska where they're selling out all the time. 0:09:54.170 --> 0:09:57.690 So he's not going to be intimidated by anything. We 0:09:57.730 --> 0:10:00.170 saw that at the Coliseum two weeks ago. when he 0:10:00.210 --> 0:10:03.510 played USC. I think UCLA, they're going to put pressure 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.220 on him. They want to knock him down. They want 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.199 to get him off his spot. They want him to 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.460 make tough throws. I think they want to get him. 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:11.420 Out of the pocket. That's going to be one of 0:10:11.460 --> 0:10:11.880 the keys. 0:10:12.740 --> 0:10:16.740 Oregon scores a ton, and I'm discounting that 84-0 nonsense 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.460 against Portland State because that's not a real team. But 0:10:20.580 --> 0:10:22.819 able to put points on the board on the road 0:10:22.900 --> 0:10:26.140 at USC got my attention. They scored enough to beat 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:29.040 Boise State. So yeah, whoever's a quarterback, they've got the 0:10:29.100 --> 0:10:31.640 weaponry to do it. They're 20 for 20 in the 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:35.540 red zone, brother. 17 touchdowns of those 20. So they've 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.660 settled for three field goals, but they don't miss when 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:39.479 they get inside the 20. 0:10:39.460 --> 0:10:42.199 Yeah, and they're a really good third down team too. 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:44.660 And both teams are really good. They're 50% on third 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:46.830 down conversions. But you get them in the red zone, 0:10:46.850 --> 0:10:49.550 they've got the running backs, they've got the great tight 0:10:49.590 --> 0:10:52.990 ends that are really athletic and they're physical and can 0:10:53.010 --> 0:10:55.610 go up and they can make plays. This is a 0:10:55.650 --> 0:10:58.940 team they capitalize once they get inside the 20. And 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.040 that's what good teams do. So UCLA is going to 0:11:02.100 --> 0:11:04.280 have to make some stops. But I think the stops 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:06.680 are going to have to be outside the red zone. 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:08.960 Don't get them in the red zone because that's where 0:11:09.059 --> 0:11:09.900 the Ducks are so good. 0:11:10.580 --> 0:11:14.589 And speaking of outside, I'm watching tape from the James 0:11:14.670 --> 0:11:17.959 Madison interview Oregon game from whatever that was nine or 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:21.620 10 months ago. And the speed that Oregon had on 0:11:21.660 --> 0:11:24.230 the edge, both when they were running the ball, they 0:11:24.250 --> 0:11:27.670 bounced it outside and James Madison couldn't contain. And they 0:11:27.730 --> 0:11:30.390 had wide receivers who would just streak down the sidelines 0:11:30.450 --> 0:11:33.530 and be gone. Now, I think the Bruins obviously are 0:11:33.570 --> 0:11:36.510 in better position to do things like hold an edge 0:11:36.530 --> 0:11:40.380 than James Madison was and compete on the boundary if 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.610 there's a deep ball. But Is it overstating it to 0:11:43.690 --> 0:11:46.550 say that if you let Oregon get out quickly on you, 0:11:46.590 --> 0:11:49.929 say they're up 14-0 or 14-3 and they have burned 0:11:49.970 --> 0:11:52.170 you a couple times, is that kind of the worst 0:11:52.220 --> 0:11:54.480 case scenario? Because then the crowd is gone and then 0:11:54.540 --> 0:11:56.320 maybe you've got to throw the ball to get back 0:11:56.420 --> 0:11:58.400 in it. Bruins are supposed to run, run, run. 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:00.520 Yeah, you know, I'm going to go back to that 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:01.880 JMU-Oregon game. 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:04.240 I was really impressed with Bob Chesney and his staff 0:12:04.300 --> 0:12:06.449 because they thought they could cover the wide receivers on 0:12:06.490 --> 0:12:09.690 the outside. And once they knew they couldn't go man-to-man, 0:12:09.710 --> 0:12:12.929 they changed their defense completely. And then on offense, they 0:12:12.990 --> 0:12:14.310 changed what they were going to do. They were going 0:12:14.330 --> 0:12:16.630 to run the ball, slow the game down, play zone 0:12:16.670 --> 0:12:19.010 on the back end. And, you know, they didn't get 0:12:19.070 --> 0:12:21.410 back into the game, but it was a decent second 0:12:21.470 --> 0:12:25.270 half for JMU. I think UCLA, they're going to continue 0:12:25.290 --> 0:12:28.660 to be aggressive at the line of scrimmage. Colin Hichler 0:12:28.700 --> 0:12:32.339 just can't help it. You know, he takes a little 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:34.680 bit out of Spagnolia in the Chiefs defense. He likes 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:39.059 to attack, but they can make changes. And UCLA, because 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:43.189 of the way they played, Each game, they were very 0:12:43.370 --> 0:12:45.530 slow in the first half and had to make a 0:12:45.570 --> 0:12:47.309 comeback in the second half in the opener. 0:12:48.290 --> 0:12:49.929 They had to win different styles. 0:12:50.330 --> 0:12:52.210 I don't think it really matters to UCLA. They're just 0:12:52.309 --> 0:12:54.630 a confident group of kids that really know each other, 0:12:55.309 --> 0:12:57.660 depend on each other, and lean on each other when 0:12:57.700 --> 0:12:58.459 things go bad. 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.760 And that run game, it's first nationally in rushing touchdowns. 0:13:02.780 --> 0:13:05.220 They're third in yards per carry. They're fifth in yards 0:13:05.300 --> 0:13:08.600 per game. There's so much to love about it, obviously. 0:13:09.170 --> 0:13:11.540 And Wayne Knight, who, yes, was at James Madison a 0:13:11.580 --> 0:13:15.760 year ago. Now, thankfully, he is a UCLA Bruin. The 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:18.540 Bruins are running for literally twice as many yards per 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.380 game this year as opposed to last year. It's just 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.400 an incredible thing to watch. How much of that, Matt, 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:28.710 is these, I guess, the three running backs themselves? I'll 0:13:28.750 --> 0:13:31.030 even put Troy Lieber in there since he had the 0:13:31.050 --> 0:13:33.850 63-yard touchdown run against Maryland. How much of it is 0:13:33.929 --> 0:13:36.910 those guys? How much of it is the scheme? How 0:13:36.970 --> 0:13:38.410 much of it is the offensive line? 0:13:39.420 --> 0:13:42.560 Well, you know, obviously the running backs are very talented. 0:13:42.660 --> 0:13:46.800 And Wayne Knight, he has such acceleration. And he's a 0:13:47.340 --> 0:13:50.440 real hard worker and understands how to set up blocks. 0:13:50.940 --> 0:13:53.179 And the offensive line, I mean, which are you talking about? 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:54.750 I mean, there's not five of them. There are ten 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:54.950 of them. 0:13:54.970 --> 0:13:58.210 They're always fresh. And it is a scheme. 0:13:58.510 --> 0:14:02.390 We've seen Dean Kennedy, the offensive coordinator, he'll shift and 0:14:02.429 --> 0:14:05.950 then shift again. And they'll put a guy in motion again. 0:14:06.490 --> 0:14:10.109 And he'll create holes just by doing that. But the 0:14:10.150 --> 0:14:13.460 most badass thing about the UCLA offense are the three 0:14:13.540 --> 0:14:14.320 tight ends. 0:14:14.380 --> 0:14:15.740 They absolutely truck people. 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.960 And when they go in motion, sometimes they go around 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:21.280 the center and they turn into pulling guards. 0:14:21.700 --> 0:14:24.020 I mean, these guys are as good as they get. 0:14:24.060 --> 0:14:28.320 Joshua Pfeiffer, I mean, he's as ornery and as mean as. 0:14:28.260 --> 0:14:29.680 Any player in college football. 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:33.250 So the tight ends really make playing UCLA in a 0:14:33.310 --> 0:14:35.830 phone booth. I mean, I don't care how fast you are. 0:14:36.650 --> 0:14:39.290 your secondary, your linebackers, you're going to have to get 0:14:39.310 --> 0:14:41.050 in front of people and you're going to have to 0:14:41.070 --> 0:14:41.930 take people head on. 0:14:42.770 --> 0:14:45.320 It's been a smattering of catches for those tight ends. 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:45.920 You're right. 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.240 They're blocking is the thing you go to first. But 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:52.720 at some point, do all these receivers, the tight ends, 0:14:52.780 --> 0:14:56.060 the wide outs, have to, as a collective, win a game? 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:58.450 Because it's been the run game that's kind of been 0:14:58.530 --> 0:15:01.050 the thing so far to get the offense purring, and 0:15:01.090 --> 0:15:04.990 that's lovely. But if Oregon is able to even slow 0:15:05.050 --> 0:15:07.620 down the Bruins run game. If they've stacked the box 0:15:07.660 --> 0:15:10.510 and say, we dare Nico Iamaliaba to beat us over 0:15:10.570 --> 0:15:12.850 the top. Can the Bruins do that? Can they win 0:15:12.890 --> 0:15:15.050 a game that way? Because frankly, we haven't had to. 0:15:15.010 --> 0:15:17.280 See it yet. Well, you've had to see it. 0:15:17.410 --> 0:15:19.670 I mean, Maryland and Purdue played that defense where they 0:15:19.690 --> 0:15:22.580 bring the safeties up and they don't even care who 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:24.400 guards the middle of the field because no one's even there. 0:15:24.860 --> 0:15:27.220 So you're seeing a lot of one-on-one coverage. 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:27.640 On the outside. 0:15:27.700 --> 0:15:30.480 And yes, you know, Nico and the wide receivers are 0:15:30.500 --> 0:15:33.440 going to have to, you know, complete passes against one-on-one. Now, 0:15:33.790 --> 0:15:36.540 When you're one-on-one and have the whole field to run to, 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.560 that's the receiver's advantage. And UCLA has some guys that 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:42.080 can do that. I mean, they have a bunch of 0:15:42.100 --> 0:15:45.420 guys that can do that. And you've seen Dean Kennedy 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.480 be interviewing and he's saying, hey, the practice, the practice, 0:15:49.540 --> 0:15:51.490 and the practice these guys are getting in, the wide 0:15:51.510 --> 0:15:54.050 receivers and the quarterbacks, they're just getting better and better. 0:15:54.130 --> 0:15:56.989 So I don't think that UCLA can't do it, and 0:15:57.030 --> 0:15:58.480 I think UCLA will do it. 0:15:58.530 --> 0:16:00.670 But from now on. 0:16:01.010 --> 0:16:04.790 Every college defense that plays UCLA, those safeties have to 0:16:04.830 --> 0:16:07.350 stop the run and also not get trucked by those 0:16:07.390 --> 0:16:07.930 tight ends. 0:16:08.950 --> 0:16:11.090 And if there is a stopping of the run, it 0:16:11.150 --> 0:16:13.530 seems like there's no panic. Like they don't have to 0:16:13.590 --> 0:16:15.550 go away from it because it seems like the whole 0:16:15.630 --> 0:16:19.010 point of this is to, we've used the phrase tenderize 0:16:19.610 --> 0:16:22.250 an opponent defense, kind of like the San Diego Chargers 0:16:22.330 --> 0:16:25.530 used to do 20-ish years ago when LaDainian Tomlinson was 0:16:25.570 --> 0:16:29.350 the guy. LT sometimes would be through three quarters and 0:16:29.390 --> 0:16:33.040 be at something like 19 carries for 32 yards. and 0:16:33.100 --> 0:16:35.280 they just kept running the ball. And then what do 0:16:35.300 --> 0:16:38.340 you know, in the fourth quarter, with the defense worn down, 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.800 he'd pop a 20, a 40, and a 60-yard run, 0:16:41.820 --> 0:16:43.960 and it was game, set, match. Does that kind of 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:46.180 remind you a little bit of what the Bruins are doing? 0:16:46.220 --> 0:16:48.830 Because in the fourth quarters this year, Matt, they're outscoring 0:16:48.850 --> 0:16:52.530 the other guys 76-17. Yeah, I mean, a lot of 0:16:52.570 --> 0:16:54.970 it has to do with rotating 10 offensive linemen. I 0:16:55.010 --> 0:16:57.970 think by the third and the fourth quarter, you're seeing 0:16:58.010 --> 0:17:00.910 guys come into the offensive line that are really fresh. 0:17:01.670 --> 0:17:04.070 And that defensive line has had to stand up for 0:17:04.130 --> 0:17:04.650 two and a half. 0:17:04.710 --> 0:17:07.169 Three quarters. And all of a sudden, here come the 0:17:07.210 --> 0:17:09.770 fresh guys. And, you know, they're in for a battle. 0:17:10.730 --> 0:17:14.080 And we've also seen the Wildcat in an innovative way 0:17:14.540 --> 0:17:17.760 where it's a running back who's taking the snap and 0:17:17.780 --> 0:17:20.720 a running back alongside him. And Nico lined up as 0:17:20.780 --> 0:17:24.120 a wing tight end. And he's still calling the cadence. But, 0:17:24.500 --> 0:17:26.270 you know, you can hand that ball off. You can 0:17:26.310 --> 0:17:26.629 run it. 0:17:26.970 --> 0:17:28.270 And it looks like a kickoff, too. 0:17:29.210 --> 0:17:32.450 Both the running back and the running back playing quarterback, 0:17:32.490 --> 0:17:34.570 they pause for about a second and they find a 0:17:34.630 --> 0:17:36.410 hole and they just run that way. 0:17:36.430 --> 0:17:37.810 I think it's very innovative. 0:17:38.910 --> 0:17:41.350 So one final, I guess, kind of key to the game, 0:17:41.390 --> 0:17:43.790 not like we did a whole one, two, three on 0:17:43.850 --> 0:17:46.050 this of what are the keys to the game. But 0:17:46.130 --> 0:17:48.320 one thing Oregon has done really well, Matt, is their 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.680 third down defense is elite. It's best in the nation 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:55.100 right now, actually. 21% is what they're allowing. Two for 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:59.740 their last 22 third down makes. So The Bruins, I think, 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:02.340 have done a lot of great things on third down 0:18:02.420 --> 0:18:05.140 both ways this year. Maryland, for example, just went one 0:18:05.220 --> 0:18:08.520 for 15 against UCLA on the other side, and the 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.840 Bruins were converting third downs. So is that part of it? 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:13.760 Do the Bruins have to put themselves in a position 0:18:13.780 --> 0:18:16.200 where it's not third and forever, and you can just 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:18.320 keep running the ball or have options on what to 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:19.920 do if it's third and three, third and four? 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:22.720 You got to remember, too, these stats are a little 0:18:22.740 --> 0:18:26.390 skewed because Oregon played Portland State and beat them 84 0:18:26.390 --> 0:18:29.350 to nothing. And I think Gorland State had two yards 0:18:29.410 --> 0:18:33.320 rushing and 38 yards passing. And they didn't get, you know, 0:18:33.340 --> 0:18:37.600 a third down conversion. UCLA, I think they can't get 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:39.960 behind the chains. No one wants to get behind the chains. 0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:42.570 But I think they're going to challenge the Ducks in 0:18:42.630 --> 0:18:46.350 terms of rushing the football. And you've seen Oklahoma State. 0:18:46.410 --> 0:18:49.250 They beat the Ducks by running over 100 yards. And 0:18:49.550 --> 0:18:52.010 for some reason, I don't know why, Lincoln Riley and 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:54.859 USC just didn't keep giving the ball away. 0:18:55.619 --> 0:18:56.760