Thursday, December 30
Oregon will test strong Minnesota defense
Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas -- The biggest reason No. 12 Minnesota had
its best season in 32 years was a miserly defense that yielded just
15.6 points a game.
But Golden Gophers defensive coordinator David Gibbs is troubled
by what awaits his troops in the Sun Bowl on Friday.
Gibbs has prepared for run-oriented Wisconsin and the Ron Dayne
Heisman train. He schemed for Drew Brees and the pass-happy Purdue
Boilermakers.
But never before has Gibbs needed to ready his team for such a
brilliantly balanced attack than the one Oregon boasts.
"They got a running back who can pound you to death and they
got two quarterbacks and wideouts who can out-skill you, throwing
the ball all over the field," Gibbs said. "You can't just line up
and play man coverage every single snap because their receivers are
good enough to beat you."
Even after losing quarterback Akili Smith to the NFL, the Ducks
(8-3) finished tied for second in the Pac-10 with Washington behind
two quarterbacks with little experience: A.J. Feeley and Joey
Harrington, who had a talented trio of receivers in Tony Hartley,
Marshaun Tucker and Keenan Howry.
Tailback Reuben Droughns rushed for 1,139 yards and was
particularly powerful during fourth-quarter drives.
Oregon finished 19th in the nation in total offense at 423.4
yards per game and averaged 35.1 points, 13th-best in the nation.
"They do everything, they're a prototype offense," Gibbs said
Wednesday after the Gophers put the finishing touches on their game
plan for their first bowl game since 1986.
What's the biggest concern with the Ducks, the run or the pass?
"Both," Gibbs said with a you'd-better-believe-it stare.
"They do both well. They can run it when they need to run it and
they can throw it when they need to throw it, so you've got to play
a good defense or they're going to embarrass you."
Gibbs said he's not seen such a balanced, potent offense
anywhere.
"You know, I don't think so. I think Purdue's pretty balanced
but they like to throw first and you know that," Gibbs said.
"Whereas, I don't know that Oregon wants to throw first but they
can if they want to."
And if they want to wear down defenses with the run, they can do
that, too, with Droughns.
Oregon is 12-3 in games Droughns has played since arriving from
junior college, 4-4 when he's been sidelined with injuries. He's
healthy for the bowl game.
"He's special. He's an NFL back. He's a Big Ten power back,"
Gibbs said. "And I say that because I don't think they're an
I-formation team, but they run I-formation plays because he's so
good. He's definitely one of the top two or three we've seen all
year. He's a special player."
Gibbs needs All-America strong safety Tyrone Carter and
defensive end Karon Riley, who led the Big Ten with 15 sacks, to
come up big Friday.
The Ducks, who won their last five games, are slight underdogs,
but they do have a huge advantage in bowl experience. They've been
to six straight bowl games and this is their eighth post-season
trip in 11 years.
"They obviously are a good program because they go to bowl
games every year and we have not," Gibbs said. "There's a lot of
distractions for our kids and hopefully they're mature enough to
overcome them." 
