Doug Worthington

Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock has seen a lot of great offenses come and go in his 38 years as a college football assistant coach.

He told reporters covering the Rose Bowl media events on Tuesday, though, that in his time as an OSU assistant he can’t recall an opposing offense that poses as many potential problems as Oregon does.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve seen a lot of great offenses over the last 14 years,” Heacock said. “To say it’s the best we’ve seen, it’s hard for me to compare things like that. I don’t recall seeing any that were any better. It’s just the talent level at each position and the preparation.”

Certainly, Oregon has earned those kind of kudos. The Ducks come into Friday’s Rose Bowl with the nation’s sixth-best rushing offense (236.1 yards per game) and as the country’s seventh-best offensive unit in scoring (37.7 points per game).

With run/pass specialist Jeremiah Masoli piloting coach Chip Kelly’s spread option offense, the Ducks have the attention of Heacock and the vaunted OSU defense. Aside from the unique talent of Masoli and the scheme, Oregon also utilizes a hurry-up approach to keep defenses off guard.

“Poise is the key word for us,” Heacock said. “You know they’re going to get it and they’re going to have some success with it. They’re averaging, what, 38 points a game. There are a lot of great defensive coaches and teams in the Pac-10 that have played them. They are obviously very talented and very good at what they do.

“They present a lot of problems and the hurry-up adds to the problem. You can’t slow them down. They can go once the official sets the ball down. You can call timeout, but you only have three of them. You have to match their speed and intensity. You have to get the call in, get lined up and your guys have to know what you’re doing.

“If you’re lined up, you will at least be gap sound. If you’re not lined up and you run around crazy, that’s when things can get ugly.”

Of course, Ohio State’s defense doesn’t have to take a back seat to anybody. Heacock is wrapping up his fifth season as OSU’s defensive coordinator and in each of those years the Buckeyes have had a defense ranked in the national top 15. This year has been no exception. The unit ranks in the top 10 in five defensive categories, including fifth in total defense (262.5) and fifth in scoring defense (12.1).

Heacock and the defensive staff got creative in preparing the defense for Oregon, even using two alternating offensive units to run plays quicky in succession to emulate the Ducks’ attack.

“You can do a lot of things in practice, but game-time is different,” Heacock said. “When the tempo is up and the bands are playing and they’re moving the ball a little bit, that’s when you find out how much poise you have and how much discipline you have. That’s where the intensity and the tempo play into their favor. They get you back on your heels a little bit.”

In terms of the scheme, OSU has seen some of the same attributes in its preparation for Michigan.

“They do a lot of the same things as Michigan,” Heacock said. “We watched what West Virginia did when Coach (Rich) Rodriguez was there. That’s what their working toward. I guess it would be similar.”

Much of the focus for Oregon is on Masoli. But one of his best traits, perhaps, is the way he distributes the ball to a wide array of weapons.

“To me, that’s the challenge you have with them,” Heacock said. “It’s the number of weapons they have and they dish it out to everybody. They have a couple of running backs, some receivers and Masoli himself. I keep talking about the tight end. I think he is as impressive a tight end as we’ve seen in a while as far as catching the ball and blocking.

“The scheme is a big part of it and they fit talent into that scheme that gives you a lot of problems. You can’t zero in on their tight end or their running back or their quarterback because somebody else will get you.”

Defensive tackle and co-captain Doug Worthington said the Ducks look impressive on film.

“They get a lot of respect and they deserve it,” he said. “That’s a great offense. That’s not a regular offense. That’s one of the best offenses in the country and we’re up for the challenge. They do a lot of things and they are very efficient.”

Safety and co-captain Kurt Coleman, who was recently named an All-American by The Sporting News, said the Buckeyes are not backing down from the challenge.

“Of course, we’re confident,” he said. “We know what we’re capable of and what we can do. It’s just about us executing and everybody doing their job.

“It’s really about being disciplined. (Tight end) Ed Dickson is a good blocker and he’s also a good receiver as a tight end. There are so many keys that we have to be specific on and if we’re not reading the right thing, we’re going to get exploited.

“It’s also about recognizing sets and formations and how they go about things. Then, hopefully we can make the play. It is a chess match trying to get into each other’s head. You want to distract them from doing what they want to do.”