All Eyes on Eugene as No. 5 Oregon Meets No. 4 Arizona State

You can hear the game live in Salem on 1430 KYKN AM, and in the Portland-metro area on 750 KXL AM.

Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart, right, evades Southern California defender Terrell Thomas on his way to a third quarter touchdown. Photo courtesy: goducks.com

EUGENE, Ore. - All eyes will be on Oregon this Saturday when BCS No. 4 Arizona State comes to Autzen Stadium to meet Pac-10 leading rusher Jonathan Stewart and the BCS No. 5 Oregon Ducks.

Kickoff is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. with a live national telecast on ESPN and regional telecast on FSN Arizona, FSN West and FSN Northwest.

THE SERIES:

• The Ducks have won the last two meetings, but ASU leads the all-time series 16-11.

• The Sun Devils have won two straight at Autzen Stadium, most recently beating UO, 28-13 on Oct. 2, 2004.

• ASU is 8-6 all-time at Autzen, but 3-6 since 1990.

• The last time the Sun Devils beat the a ranked UO team was Oct. 19, 2002, when the Ducks were No. 6.

QUICK HITS:

• After never hosting two top 10 teams (AP rankings) in it’s 41-year history, Autzen Stadium will do so for the second time in as many weeks.

• The Ducks have not surrendered a rushing TD inside the Red Zone in three consecutive games.

• Oregon boasts the top scoring offense in the Pac-10 (43.8 ppg) while ASU has the top scoring defense (15.6) in the conference.

• The Ducks rank No. 4 in the nation in rushing yards per game at 280.4.

• Jonathan Stewart became the 11th different player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, when he reached the mileston during the 24-17 win vs. USC on Oct. 27. The feat has been accomplished 13 times.

• SR QB Dennis Dixon has run for a TD in every game this season.

• UO’s last nine touchdowns have come via the run.

• SR QB Dennis Dixon had a streak of throwing at least one TD in eight straight games snapped vs. USC.

DIXON ONE OF 15 SEMIFINALISTS FOR DAVEY O’BRIEN AWARD:

SR QB Dennis Dixon, was elevated from the watch list to semifinalist for the 2007 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award.

The group of 15 quarterbacks will continue to jockey for position until the balloting for the three Finalists closes at 10 a.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, Nov. 18.

All Finalists will be in attendance in Orlando, Fla., where The O’Brien Winner will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN Dec. 6. Dixon is currently on the watch list for the Maxwell Award, give to college football’s most outstanding player.

HARPER LATEST TO EARN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

For the third consecutive week, the Oregon Ducks have a Pac-10 Player of the Week with SR S Matthew Harper taking home the hardware for Week 9.

The Union City, Calif., native had two key interceptions in Oregon’s 24-17 win over USC on Oct. 27, the first one setting up a touchdown and the second sealing the victory in the game’s final minute. He was also a candidate for the Pontiac Game Changing Performance on ESPN.com.

JR RB Jonathan Stewart earned the Pac-10 weekly offensive award for Week 8 and JR DE Nick Reed took home the defensive honor in Week 7.

ESPN BACK ON CAMPUS:

ESPN College GameDay will produce its weekly college football preview show from the University of Oregon for the second time this season prior to the Ducks’ home game vs. Arizona State.

The premier college football pre-game show, which has aired weekly on ESPN since its inception in 1989, also originated from outside of Autzen Stadium on Sept. 29, when Oregon, ranked 11th at the time, hosted then No. 6 California.

Saturday will mark the first time College GameDay as made two trips to the same Pac-10 school in one season. This will be the third Eugene appearance for the show, which includes features, predictions and highlights of some of this week’s top games from around the country, and the fourth time the Ducks have played a role in the network’s award-winning college football preview show.

The production’s first Oregon appearance occurred in 2000 when it made its first-ever appearance in the Pacific Northwest on Sept. 23 prior to the Oregon-UCLA game.

GAMEDAY TIMES TWO:

College GameDay on ESPN Radio will also be originating from Eugene on Saturday. The program, hosted by Scott Reiss, Trevor Matich and Todd McShay, will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. live from the Moshofsky Center.

SEEING RED:

The Oregon defense is the stingiest in the Pac-10 at allowing opposing scores inside the Red Zone. Opponents are converting 68 percent of their chances inside the 20-yard line. Offensively, the Ducks rank fourth with an 83.7 percent success rate.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE:

Accentuating Oregon’s 7-1 start and top 10 national ranking (No. 4 AP and USA Today, No. 5 BCS and Harris polls) is the fact that its schedule currently ranks as the seventh toughest in the country in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) based on the winning percentage of its 2007 opponents.

Those 12 foes have accumulated a winning percentage of .616 (53-33 vs. FBS opponents not including Oregon). Of the teams UO has already faced, Michigan (7-0) has lost since being defeated by the Ducks.

VS. THE TOP 25:

Although Mike Bellotti-coached teams have accumulated a 22-23 record against top 25-ranked opponents, the Ducks are 11-8 in Autzen Stadium since 1995 and 4-2 vs. the top 10 at home during that same span.

Saturday’s game vs. ASU will pit two top 10 teams (AP rankings) against one another at Autzen for the second time in the stadium’s 41-year history, and second time in as many weeks.

ELITE VISITORS:

Oregon has hosted an opponent ranked among the nation’s top 10 on 22 occasions since Autzen Stadium opened in 1967, with the Ducks accumulating a 9-12-1 ledger.

The Oct. 27 win over USC was UO’s first home victory against a top 10 foe since defeating Michigan in 2003.

The Ducks have played 25 games under Bellotti where both Oregon and its opponent were ranked among the nation’s top 26, with the Ducks accumulating a 15-11 mark on those occasions.

ON THE DUCK WALK:

The Ducks have worn a different uniform combination in every game this season. Oregon’s kit collection features jerseys and pants in black, green, white and yellow, and helmets in green, white and yellow. Every component has been worn at least once in 2007 with the exception of the yellow helmet.

SPECIAL DELIVERY:

With another unassisted tackle on special teams against USC Oct. 27, SO ROV T.J. Ward now has 13 such stops as part of his 15.0 total tackles on return coverage this season. The appropriately named FR FS Jeffrey Maehl is also delivering plenty of hits and ranks second to Ward with 9.5 special teams tackles (six solo).

LIGHTNING STRIKES:

Of Oregon’s 43 total drives resulting in touchdowns this season, seven have taken 18 seconds or less, 13 have occurred in less than one minute and 23 have lasted fewer than 120 seconds. The Ducks have scored on their first offensive play in two games (Stanford & Wash. St.).

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports