GAMEDAY
LEAVING A LEGACY ROYCE FREEMAN HAS BEEN THROUGH the highs and lows of Oregon football, and during it all, he has built a record-setting career.
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GAMEDAY, the Emerald’s football edition, is published by Emerald Media Group, Inc., the independent nonprofit news company at the University of Oregon founded in 1900.
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Royce Freeman runs with the ball while escaping a tackle during the game against Washington. Photograph by Adam Eberhardt
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PLAYERS TO WATCH BY: Aaron Alter @aaronalter95
Arizona
Safety: Wide Receiver: Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles Shun Brown One of Oregon’s biggest assets on offense is speed. Players like Taj Griffin and Tony BrooksJames can wreak havoc if they get free. As Arizona’s dominant safety, Flannigan-Fowles will be responsible for shutting down big plays. e 6-foot-2-inch junior is a strong tackler and effective in pass coverage. If he has a big day, the Ducks will struggle to make an offensive impact.
While Arizona’s offense unquestionably runs through quarterback Khalil Tate, the Ducks would be remiss to ignore the Wildcats’ skill players. Brown is one of the team’s leading receivers and works out of the slot. He doesn’t have size, but he has the speed and elusiveness to give Oregon big problems if the secondary isn’t locked in.
Oregon
Defensive End: Jalen Jelks Jelks has been a force to be reckoned with as he is second in the Football Bowl Subdivision in quarterback hurries. Going up against one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in college football, Jelks will need to have a big game if the Ducks want to shut down Tate. Jelks’ speed off the edge and length give him the tools he needs to harass Tate. If he can get into the backfield and finish his tackles, he could throw a wrench in Arizona’s game plan.
Left Tackle: Tyrell Crosby With Justin Herbert at quarterback, Oregon is a runfocused team. With Braxton Burmeister under center, the team leans even more on the run. Left tackle Tyrell Crosby has played well on the offensive line all season. He is ranked in the top 10 nationally in run blocking and pass blocking by Pro Football Focus, and Crosby will need to continue to step up to give his QB a chance. Assuming Burmeister starts, the running game will need to be top-notch, and that means Crosby needs to play well. If Herbert returns, protecting the QB will be more important than ever.
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OREGON PREPARES FOR KHALIL TATE BY: Gus Morris @JustGusMorris “Gifted.” “Big-time.” “Versatile.” at’s how Oregon coaches and players described Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate this week ahead of the Ducks’ Saturday matchup with the Wildcats. Tate is one of the most dangerous playmakers in the country; a quarterback who punishes teams with his legs more than his arm. He presents a unique challenge for Oregon’s defense – one that few other teams have been able to solve this year. “He’s going to make his plays,” defensive line coach Joe Salave’a said. “ e goal is to minimize and put ourselves in a position to be successful.” Tate started this season as a backup to Brandon Dawkins, who served as Arizona’s starting quarterback for the first five games of the season. But Tate took over primary quarterback duties early in the Wildcats’ week-six bout with Colorado, which Arizona won thanks to 327 rushing yards and five touchdowns from Tate. In the five games since then, Tate has rushed for 880 yards and seven touchdowns, leading Arizona to a 4-1 record over that span. He currently ranks seventh in the nation in total rushing yards, reaching that point on 111 attempts, good for a nation-best average of 11.6 yards per attempt. No team has held him under 130 yards rushing since he entered the starting lineup. So what is Oregon’s plan to stop him? “We need a 12th guy,” defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt said. “ ere’s no question. We need 11 guys to play defense and another guy just to go run after [Tate].”
If only that was possible. Any other suggestions? “Pray,” head coach Willie Taggart said. In all seriousness, Oregon coaches said that they put an emphasis on tackling this week in practice. at was an area that Leavitt wasn’t satisfied with in Oregon’s 38-3 loss to Washington two weeks ago, and for good reason; all five of the Huskies’ touchdowns came on big plays of 30 yards or more. Oregon has had time to prepare for Tate, though, thanks to a well-timed bye week. ey’ve used that time to focus on tackling and creating defensive schemes to stop the dynamic quarterback. “We’ve got to do a great job of tackling and make sure we’re going to know where he’s at. We’ve just got to do a good job of getting to him and tackling,” Taggart said. “ ey’re a dynamic offense that has challenges, but if we’re on top of our game and play with a lot of emotion and passion and discipline then we’ll have a chance.” Tate has drawn some lofty comparisons due to his success as a dual-threat quarterback. Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb were several names that Salave’a threw out when asked if Tate reminds him of anybody he played against during his time in the NFL. “ e kid is gifted,” Salave’a said. “And there [are] some things he’s doing that you can’t coach. It’s a tribute to him and his competitive nature, but also in the scheme that Rich Rod plays, it’s a perfect match.” e Ducks will have their hands full on Saturday, but they know what it’s going to take to stop Tate. “It’s gotta be sound football, from the first whistle to the last,” Salave’a said.
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TOGETHER WE
SUCCEED
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ROYCE FREEMAN’S HISTORIC CAREER APPROACHES ITS END BY: Shawn Medow @ShawnMedow PHOTOS: Adam Eberhardt
Oregon running back Royce Freeman (21) runs down the field against Washington.
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After the Ducks’ 38-3 loss at Washington in early November, Royce Freeman spoke to the media with a football tucked under his left arm. “Coach [Donte Pimpleton] makes us carry it around,” Freeman said. “It’s my duty to carry it until I get back to Eugene.” If anyone has carried Oregon through the ups and downs of the past four years, it’s been Freeman. Freeman has seen it all during his time at Oregon. He nearly cut his collegiate career short to head to the pros but ultimately decided to return for his senior season to play for head coach Willie Taggart. He returned to Oregon as a team captain, and he has served as a leader for the Ducks in his final year in college football, further cementing his place in Oregon history. “He’s meant a lot,” Pimpleton said. “Most productive back in school history, you know, he’s a great guy on top of that which makes it even better. So when you get a guy like that, they don’t come around that often.” Soon after Taggart took the job at Oregon, he traveled to Imperial, California — one of several trips Taggart took to the town of 17,000 — to meet with Freeman to try and persuade him to return to Eugene for his senior season. It took some convincing, but in the end, Freeman returned. “He just came down so many times, it showed me his want for me to go to that school,” Freeman said after deciding to return. “I appreciated that because he came down to this remote place.” At the start of the season, Freeman focused on getting the program back on track. e previous season was disappointing for both Freeman and the Ducks and featured a plethora of injuries and brutal losses. Freeman wanted to lead the oncetop program back to glory. at and the possibility of breaking Oregon records lured him back. “It’d be very special,” Freeman said before the season on the potential of becoming Oregon’s all-time rushing leader. “It’d be an honor and something I’d relish for the rest of my career.” Freeman achieved that feat in October, adding to an already exhaustive list of Oregon rushing records he owns. He’s currently Oregon’s alltime leader in rushing touchdowns and set the single-season rushing yards record in 2015. But exceeding LaMichael James’ 5,082 career rushing yards was the feather in the cap for Freeman. “I’m pretty sure it means a lot to him, but he keeps it under wraps,” cornerback and Freeman’s former roommate Arrion Springs said. “I tried to bring it up to him like ‘congratulations,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ He’s just trying to keep working.” With 1,243 yards on 206 carries this season, Freeman is miles ahead of everyone else on the team. e next best is Kani Benoit, who has 466 yards. “He gets the technical stuff that he needs to
do to be the lead back that he is and achieve his goals,” Pimpleton said. “Talent-wise he has it all. All the tools, he has it. It’s just tweaking and refining some of the things he needs to do fundamentally.” At the start of the season, there was some gossip around the country, including mentions in Sports Illustrated, that Freeman could be a dark horse in the Heisman race after Freeman scored 10 touchdowns through the first four games. at hype simmered down after Justin Herbert’s collarbone injury in late September led to a losing streak and ended any chance of Freeman’s name being in the hat for the biggest personal award in college football. Freeman hasn’t scored a rushing touchdown since Herbert’s injury. At 238 pounds, mobility can be an issue for the 6-foot-tall back. However, Freeman has managed to show his speed, even drawing comparisons to Heisman Trophy runner-up and former Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, who Taggart coached during his time at Stanford. “I tell you what, Royce has some speed,” Taggart said. “It’s pretty cool to have a guy that’s big, strong, that can run some people over and run away from people too.” Freeman isn’t the fastest of Oregon’s running backs — Tony Brooks-James is the speedy back for the Ducks. ere’s also Kani Benoit as part of the corps of the running back unit, which has been the Ducks’ lifeline ever since Herbert’s injury.
at injury put more emphasis on Oregon’s running game with freshman quarterback Braxton Burmeister running the offense. Freeman took the reigns. He has rushed for 626 of Oregon’s 1,600 total yards with Burmeister at quarterback. Burmeister threw for 352 over that same span. While Freeman led the rushing charge, he also shared the load with his fellow running backs, highlighting the bond that the veteran unit has developed over the past several seasons. “ ey’ve got a unique relationship because they’re all around the same year,” Pimpleton said. “ ey feed off each other and they listen to him and they listen to each other. ey’ve got a good relationship on and off the field so that helps out.” at good relationship has grown in part due to Freeman’s relaxed personality. His teammates and coaches describe him as “laid-back” and a leader by example who is always observant. Once Freeman opens up, he can be funny, according to Pimpleton. But it’s hard to have those close to him give a “classic Royce Freeman story.” When asked what Freeman’s legacy will be at Oregon, Pimpleton said it’s not a closed book just yet. “We’ll see after these last couple games. He’s still got a couple things he can accomplish, so he’s gotta be right up there with the best of them,” Pimpleton said. “ e things he’s done, the production he’s had — he’s an all-time great here.” Oregon running back Royce Freeman (21) avoids a tackle against Cal.
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GAMEDAY
TAGGART: HERBERT IS
‘GETTING REALLY CLOSE’
BY: Kylee O’Connor @kyleethemightee | PHOTO: Adam Eberhardt It has been over six weeks since quarterback Justin Herbert fractured his collarbone against California, and one question remains unanswered: Will Herbert be playing on Saturday against Arizona? According to head coach Willie Taggart on Monday, he’s “getting really close,” but Taggart jokingly said he won’t make an official decision until 3:59 p.m. on Saturday, one minute before kickoff against Arizona. “Justin’s doing well,” Taggart said. “His bone is healing really well. Had a good week of practice last week. Had a good practice yesterday. … Probably get another X-ray, see where he is and hopefully he’s ready to roll.” Taggart said that if it were up to Herbert, he “would have been playing three weeks ago,” healed collarbone or not. Since Herbert went down, true freshman Braxton Burmeister has taken over the reins. During his time as starting QB, Burmeister has undoubtedly struggled throwing the ball. However, Herbert’s absence has allowed Burmeister to get the first team snaps throughout practice, and he has improved steadily, even winning a game as a starter against Utah. “With Justin, he can run the entire offense,” Taggart said. “With Braxton, he’s getting there. He didn’t have the luxury of going through spring ball, getting all the reps and going through training camp and getting all the reps.” ere’s no question that having Herbert start on Saturday would change the Ducks’ offense completely, but Oregon has another quarterback to watch out for:
Arizona’s Khalil Tate. e dual-threat quarterback may be more of a dynamic runner, but he can still throw the ball. “He’s pretty good at what they ask him to do,” Taggart said. “ ey only ask him to throw it 20, 30 times a game. e way they run the football, they don’t have to — again, it’s option football. But when they do ask him to throw, he’s pretty effective with that as well.” What does Taggart say they need to do to contain Tate? “Pray.” “No one’s stopped him yet this year,” Taggart said. “He’s a heck of a talent.” In addition to praying, Taggart emphasized discipline, wrapping up on tackles, running to the ball and, “the most important thing,” getting lined up. “A lot of the big plays they make, the defense isn’t aligned right,” Taggart said. “Part of it is because of tempo — they aren’t getting set up. I don’t think you can complicate things trying to defend him.” With two game left in the regular season and the Ducks’ needing to win one of those two games to be bowl eligible, they have a lot to play for. At this point last season, the Ducks were 3-7, without the chance of going to a bowl game. “We have a lot to play for,” Taggart said. “ at’s credit to our players for putting our football team in a situation where this time of year you’re still playing for something. … Even though we’ve had some bumps along the way, we’ve still got a chance to do some things.”
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DEEP DIVE: ARIZONA BY: Zak Laster @zlast3445
e Wildcats’ season started rather average. ey beat up on Northern Arizona and University of Texas-El Paso, but lost to the Houston Cougars, who are 6-3, and to the Utah Utes by six points. e next game on Oct. 7 in Boulder, Colorado, changed the trajectory of the Wildcats’ season. Arizona starting quarterback Brandon Dawkins left the game with an injury on the opening possession and so entered sophomore backup quarterback Khalil Tate. He set the Football Bowl Subdivision record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 327, adding four rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown in a win over the Colorado Buffaloes. Since then, including the win over Colorado, Arizona has won 5-of-6 games, with the only loss coming two weeks ago to the USC Trojans. Tate enters Saturday with six consecutive 100-yard rushing games and is ranked seventh in the nation in rushing yards with 1,293 and 11 touchdowns. “ e kid is gifted,” Oregon defensive line coach
Joe Salave’a said. “ ere’s some things that he’s doing that you can’t coach. It’s an attribute to him and his competitive nature. But also in the scheme that [Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez] plays. It’s a perfect match.” So how do you stop the sophomore sensation? “We need a 12th guy,” defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt said. “We need 11 guys to play defense and another guy to go after [Tate].” e majority of the offense goes through Tate, but the Wildcats do have a pair of running backs that help open up the field for Tate to run. J.J. Taylor has rushed 114 times for 699 yards and Nick Wilson has 88 rushes for 461 yards. Each have four rushing touchdowns. At wide receiver, Tony Ellison and Shun Brown each have 431 yards. Brown leads the team with five touchdown catches. “For us, it’s another opportunity to establish what we’re trying to build here,” Salave’a said. “You can’t go into a contest with a halfhearted attitude.”
Josh Pollack has handled the majority of the kicking duties this season. He is 53-of-55 with extra points and 10-of-14 kicking field goals, but he has not kicked from fifty yards or longer. Backup kicker Lucas Havrisik has made three kicks this season, from 43, 45 and 57 yards. Oregon should have success moving the ball against the Wildcats’ defense, which ranks 115th in the country. Opposing teams have averaged 459.2 yards per game against the Wildcats. However, the Wildcats have had success intercepting passes. Whoever Oregon has at quarterback will need to be careful. e Wildcats rank third in the nation with 16 interceptions and have returned two for touchdowns. e Ducks are going to need a big effort on Saturday in all phases if they’re going to pick up their sixth win and become bowl eligible. “You’ve got to go in full speed, and I don’t know any better,” Salave’a said. “In our room you’ve got to compete — compete to win — and let the chips fall where they may.”
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