Our system [at Oregon] isn’t necessarily unique. I always compare it with what Nebraska used to run, the option, when I was there. When I was in school, a lot of teams tried to run some of the option stuff we ran, just like a lot of people try to run what Oregon runs. It’s not any kind of fancy scheme that nobody else understands or knows about. It’s just the system. What we do is run a complete system. It has answers for everything a defense can throw at us. I think when you just try to run a piece or two of a system, and you don’t have the complete thing, it’s hard to get really good at it. It’s hard to have answers when people have answers for what you’re doing. That’s really the beauty of what Chip does. We’re 100 percent sold out to do what we do. We’re really good at it, and we know all the adjustments no matter what’s going on with the defense.”

. . . “The big thing is this: It helps greatly when an offense has a definite mentality to it. It helps greatly when you have a defined personality and set of standards. When I was at Nebraska, our calling card was we were a tough, physical team. Everybody knew it. We knew it. We were proud of it. We embodied it. We embraced it. We loved the fact that we were going to try to completely beat up a defense. Nobody wanted to play us because of the physical nature of our team.

At Oregon, to a man, everybody on our team has bought into the fact that we’re going to play fast, we’re going to wear you out, and we’re going to attack you. There’s absolutely no hesitation. I think when you have that kind of personality as a unit, offense or defense, and everybody knows the common goal and mission, then I think it’s really easy to get everybody on the same page and be successful. When people don’t know exactly what they want to do, they struggle.

. . . “I’ve actually been going to work trying to restudy what we used to do at Nebraska. . . . [W]hat we ran at Nebraska in a lot of ways is very similar to what Oregon runs right now — we’re just out of the shotgun versus under center. But a lot of the concepts of the option game are the same. . . . I would love to see somebody go back to doing what Nebraska used to do. Maybe the Huskers are going to do that this year. Personally, I’d love to someday mix a lot of the concepts that Oregon runs with some of the aspects Nebraska used to run. . . . The one thing I wish we could do at Oregon is be a little more physical. I don’t think that’s a secret. I think everybody on our staff wishes we could be a little more physical on offense. That’s what Nebraska’s calling card was. If we could play fast and physical, I don’t think there’s anybody in the country who could stop us.”