Frederick, Zeitler Not Concerned With Oregon Comments

Chip Kelly talks about focusing on what you can control. He preaches this every day to his team. Oregon’s defensive line can do nothing about the size differential, so why be concerned about their size? There is nothing they can do about it. Oregon’s defense is going to do what they have always done, play Oregon football, and hope it is good enough to win. There is no disrespect meant in those comments, just a sense of focus and purpose.

Hey, that sounds an awful lot like what the Wisconsin players are saying. The truth is, that despite having different styles of play, my impression is that coaches Kelly, and Beilema are quite alike in this regard.

And finally, I would like to point to the article containing the comments in question, you guys can judge for your selves, but I do think it is interesting what you guys leave out of your discussion about the comments.

"It’s no concern," Oregon defensive end Terrell Turner said. "They are strong. We’re going to be just as strong as them. Everyone always looks down on our D-line and we go in there and play as hard as we can."

Now we can cherry pick three words out of an already cherry picked conversation, and try to make bulletin board material out of it, but I think his comment was more about defending his team’s abilities than as a commentary on UW’s O-line. He acknowledged their strength, but wanted to talk about what he could control, specifically the strength Oregon has on the D-line.

When asked about Monte Ball in the same article that I cited above:

"He has a great offensive line," Oregon defensive tackle Isaac Remington said. "He gets to the second level pretty easily because they do a good job blocking."

The rest of the article goes on to talk about how Oegon will deal with Wisconsin’s size advantage, and the answer was:

For the most part, Oregon’s players believe Wisconsin’s size advantage is overrated. First off, the Ducks have some size upfront of their own. Wade Keliikipi (6-3, 300) and Taylor Hart (6-6, 283) start at defensive tackle. Remington (6-6, 286) and Ricky Heimuli (6-4, 321) back them up.

"They forget that our defensive line is pretty big, too," Remington said.

And all of the above move well. So too can Oregon’s starting defensive ends, slight by comparison. Turner is 6-3, 265. Dion Jordan, 6-7, 240.

"We’re not your average defensive line," Remington said.

Furthermore, UO has been stout against the run all season, allowing a mere 3.6 yards per carry.

"I’m not concerned at all," Oregon safety Eddie Pleasant said regarding defending Wisconsin’s running game. "It’s college football. We’ve played against big lines, big running backs the whole year."

The truth is the REAL bulletin board material is Remington’s comments about gap assignments, and blocking schemes. I think he tipped Oregon’s hand a little, and that is the stuff your O-line will need to worry about. So please all you Badgers, read the article, don’t get offended by 3 word snippets taken out of context.

One final thing, Wisconsin has long been my favorite B1G team. I think this is due to the fact that the rising of both programs as forces to be reckoned with have followed similar trajectories. Both schools have been willing to keep coaches through rough patches, and it is that stability, that has built the foundation of both programs. Anyway these comments are meant to try and clear the air, but I am afraid they could be misconstrued, hopefully no offense will be taken, and I welcome the chance to discuss my comments with you guys.