Know the Opponent: Arizona offense presents major challenge for Ducks
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Perhaps it’s a good thing the Oregon Ducks football team got to play Washington State before heading down to the desert to play Arizona. The two offenses are similar and it gave the Duck secondary a good idea of what they’ll be facing in Tucson.
The Cougars and Wildcats are intertwined this season with Jayden de Laura being the Arizona quarterback. He transferred out of the Palouse after just one season. The scenery may have changed, but de Laura has not.
In the five games as a Wildcat, de Laura has completed 63 percent of his passes, averaging 327 yards through the air, and has 14 touchdowns. Unfortunately for Arizona, however, his ability to throw it to the other team hasn’t changed. De Laura has been picked off six times already.
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Despite those miscues, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning says de Laura is one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the conference.
“I think this quarterback really can play well. He throws lasers. He throws the ball on rhythm on a dart and he doesn’t need a big window to be able to attack,” Lanning said. “He’s able to extend play with his feet. This is a really good challenge for us.”
The receiver de Laura likes to throw to the most is UTEP transfer Jacob Cowing. He led the Miners in receiving in his previous three seasons and Cowing has just continued that success at Arizona. He leads the Wildcats with 40 catches and averaging 113 yards per game. He has found the end one seven times as well.
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But the guy on the other side of the field, Dorian Singer, is no slouch himself. The 6-foot-1 sophomore has 32 catches and averaging 90 yards per contest and has one touchdown.
The Ducks also can’t forget about freshman Tetairoa McMillan, the prized recruit that got away. He decided to go to Arizona at the last minute and so far, he’s played well for the Cats with 16 catches, three of those going for touchdowns. McMillan is the reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week.
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“They have speed and then really outside they have size and they make contested catches,” Lanning said. “So if the quarterback can put it close they have a great chance of winning on 50/50 balls. For them, I don’t know if you’d call them 50/50 balls, it’s more like 70/30 because they come down with it a lot of time.”
Oregon is also going to get tested along the line as the Wildcats have some major beef up front that would make Stanford jealous. Their largest lineman is right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea, who comes in at 6-5 and 335 pounds as a true freshman. The “smallest” starting lineman is center Josh Baker at 6-3 and 310 pounds.
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