No. 19 Oregon Faces Upset Minded Fresno State on Saturday

The Ducks and Bulldogs are meeting for a third consecutive season and eighth time overall.

Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon had 3 TD passes of 46 yards or more at Michigan. Photo courtesy: goducks.com

EUGENE, Ore. - Saturday’s kickoff between Oregon and Fresno State at Autzen Stadium is set for 4:00 p.m. PDT.

The game had been scheduled for 3:30 p.m. but was moved back to accommodate the Oregon Sports Network telecast.

After a decisive 39-7 win in front of nearly 110,00 fans at Michigan, the Ducks went from unranked to No. 19 in the Associated Press poll this week.

The Bulldogs suffered a tough loss at No. 23 Texas A&M, losing to the Aggies 47-45 in triple overtime.

Fresno State overcame a 19-0 first half score with a gutsy second-half effort, in which Tom Brandstater completed 16-of-21 passes and connected on three touchdown passes to tight end Bear Pascoe.

THE SERIES

The Ducks and Bulldogs are meeting for a third consecutive season and eighth time overall.

UO has won five straight in the series, dating back to 1996, and lead 5-2 all-time. Last season, Oregon won in Fresno, 31-24.

QUICK HITS

• Mike Bellotti is one victory away from his 100th as head coach at Oregon.

• Oregon has now been ranked in at least one of the two major polls at some point of all 13 seasons under Mike Bellotti.

• SR QB Dennis Dixon is fifth in the nation in pass efficiency rating (193.21).

• Through the first two weeks of the season, Oregon ranks third nationally in turnover margin (3.5). Last year, the Ducks finished 109th (-0.77).

• The Ducks are off to a 2-0 start for the third straight year and 11th time in their last 15 seasons.

• A week after scoring the most points of any Pac-10 team (48), Oregon allowed the fewest points (7) of any conference member in Week 2.

• Five of the Ducks 11 touchdowns have come from outside the Red Zone. Oregon has scored six TDs while in the Red Zone, but ranks second from the bottom in overall RZ efficiency at 70.0 percent.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS

The Ducks have amassed a 26-1 record in non-conference games in Autzen Stadium during Mike Bellotti’s head coaching tenure.

Their lone home loss during that span was dealt by Indiana (30-24) to open the 2004 season.

Overall, Oregon has accumulated a 36-5 non-league slate in Bellotti’s previous 12 years at the helm.

TOTAL ‘O’

SR QB Dennis Dixon cruised into Oregon’s career record book for total offense, thanks to his 368-yard effort at Michigan, Sept. 8. Dixon ranks 10th all-time with 4,289 yards.

ON THE RUN

When most people think of the spread offense, they perceive it to be a means to throw the football more.

While the pass remains a staple of the Oregon offense, the spread also has evolved as a way to run the football more efficiently in the three seasons since Mike Bellotti has implemented the system.

A year ago, the Ducks managed to lead the Pacific-10 Conference in rushing (182.2 avg.) for the first time since 1955.

After two games, Oregon not only finds itself atop the league in rushing (335.0 avg.), it ranks third in the country (behind Arkansas, 350.0 avg.; and West Virginia, 339.0 avg.).

While the Ducks have accumulated more rushing yards than passing in each of their first two games, it marks the first time the statistics have weighed in favor of the running game on consecutive occasions since the 2000 season.

They ran for 208 yards and passed for 153 against UCLA before running for 229 and passing for 119 vs. Washington.

TURKEY DAY

SR QB Dennis Dixon threw three strikes that resulted in touchdowns at Michigan, Sept. 8, matching a career high equaled twice before. His four TDs overall (1 rush) established a personal best for total touchdowns in a game.

DIXON IS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

SR QB Dennis Dixon was named the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week for Week 2 after guiding the Ducks to a 39-7 victory over Michigan. Dixon three 3 TDs, rushed for another and totaled 368 yards of offense.

Dixon was also the Rivals.com Pac-10 POTW.

In addition, Dixon has been nominated for the USA Today Player of the Week and AT&T All-America POTW award, which is determined by fan voting via text messaging and will be announced at halftime of ESPN’s game between West Virginia and Maryland.

FOLLOW THE LIGHTNING YELLOWBRICK ROAD

It certainly didn’t take long for the return of special teams coordinator Tom Osborne to make an impact following a six-year hiatus.

Osborne, who served in the identical capacity as the Ducks’ special teams coordinator/tight ends coach from 1995-2000 before spending the past six years at Arizona State, returned to Eugene prior to this season and so far has paid immediate dividends.

After the first two weeks of the season, Oregon finds itself ranked second in the Pacific-10 Conference in kickoff returns (15th nationally, 27.6 avg.); and fifth in punt returns (10.86 avg.) and net punting (36.43 avg.).

In addition, JR RB Jonathan Stewart is second in kickoff returns (28.25 avg). A year ago, the Ducks finished 10th in net punting (33.3 avg.).

GAME DAY HONOREES

During the Ducks’ home game versus Fresno State, Oregon will be honoring the 1957 team that played in the Rose Bowl during a halftime presentation.

In addition, former All-America Ahmad Rashad (Bobby Moore) will be recognized in a pregame ceremony for his recent selection to the College Football Hall of Fame. Rashad will become the seventh Duck enshrined in the Hall later this year.

BOWL PREDICTIONS

Website CBS SportsLine publishes Bowl predictions on a weekly basis, following the results of each week’s games.

In the first three weeks of their prognostications, Oregon has changed potential Bowl sites and opponents three times. Before the opener, the Ducks were slated to face Wyoming in the Armed Forces Bowl.

After beating Houston, UO moved up to the Emerald Bowl vs. Boise State, and after last Saturday’s win at Michigan, the Ducks are pegged for a Sun Bowl showdown with Rutgers.

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