TUCSON, Ariz. -- Stanford, everyone thought, had the blueprint to beat Oregon. Power trumps speed. Be physical. Win the line of scrimmage and quickly disrupt the Ducks' precision on offense.
The Cardinal won matchups in 2012 and 2013 and went on to be champions of the Pac-12 North.
None of which explains Arizona.
"Everyone was assuming that it was just the physicality and the toughness you had to have to get in there and get in a phone booth and beat them up and hold the ball for 40 minutes to beat this Oregon team," said FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt, "but Arizona has proved a little differently."
The Wildcats have won the past two meetings -- a 42-16 rout in Tucson last season and a 31-24 win in Eugene on Oct. 2. Each time they were about a three-touchdown underdog.
Arizona is not big like Stanford, not powerful like Stanford, not physical like Stanford.
So, what exactly is going on here?
Well, you can't escape the "players making plays" explanation, but here are three reasons why the Wildcats have won the past two meetings and are looking for a third when they play the Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship Game at Levi's Stadium on Friday night (FOX, 7 p.m. MT).
Oregon was third nationally in plays of 30-plus yards last season and is tied for ninth in that area this season, averaging about three per game over that span. Against Arizona, though? The Ducks had one play from scrimmage of exactly 30 yards vs. the Wildcats last season and a long play of 34 yards this year.
That's it.
"You want to know how to lose to Oregon?" said former Arizona linebacker Jake Fischer, who had a game-high 14 tackles last year vs. the Ducks. "You try to get too cute on defense and you try to throw a bunch of elaborate schemes and blitzes out there."
Fischer said the UA's plan has been to play a Cover 4 defense, essentially a prevent-style defense that makes long completions difficult.
"On third downs every now and then, when they have to regroup and put a play in, then you throw something in," Fischer said. "But sit back in Cover 4. You already know what they are going to do. They run three to five plays really well, and they have a couple of things to spin off that, but when you sit back in Cover 4, you make them drive the length of the field.
"You've seen us make them drive the length of the field the last two times. They get upset when they don't get those big plays and they have to start trying to push it down the field."
He's right.
Oregon has had seven scoring drives against Arizona in the past two games, and none has been one of those super-speedy strikes that make the Ducks so lickety-split dangerous. They have needed drives of 11, 12, 11, 8, 10, 8 and 9 plays to score.
Here's more: Oregon has averaged 47.9 points per game vs. teams not named Arizona in the past two years. The Ducks have averaged only 20 points vs. the Wildcats.
Beyond the prevention of big plays, Arizona is used to defending a fast-tempo offense (seeing one every day in practice) and essentially plays with six defensive backs in its base, as safety Tra'Mayne Bondurant has moved to outside linebacker. Bottom line: The Wildcats are built to play in space and they don't get tired, two areas Oregon typically exploits.
And then, well, there's Scooby.
"I think the personnel matchup that has allowed them to have success is the fact that Scooby Wright in the best defensive player in America," Klatt, part of the FOX announcing crew for Friday's game, said of the sophomore linebacker.
"He leads the defense in the 3-3-5 scheme that adjusts well to the spread, and they tackle well in space. I think that's a big reason why they have held this offense to limited production."
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, the leading Heisman candidate, has gotten his yards against Arizona -- 637 in the past two games -- but he's had to nibble at the Wildcats to get them. And if he can't devour the defense in one bite, then he might end up making a mistake. He has four turnovers vs. Arizona in the past two losses, and a total of six in three games against the Cats.
"There's a bunch of factors that went into that," Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said of Mariota's two turnovers in this year's meeting. "The overarching factor is they're good."
First it helps to get the lead. Arizona rushed 65 times against the Ducks last season, feeding Ka'Deem Carey a school-record 48 times as it sat on its big advantage. The Cats ran 55 times this season behind the combination of Terris Jones-Grigsby (27 rushes, 115 yards) and Nick Wilson (13 rushes, 92 yards).
Arizona churned out 29 first downs in each game, converting 20 of 33 third-down chances, rushing for a total of 512 yards.
When the Wildcats had no worse than third-and-4, it converted 15 of 20 chances vs. the Ducks in the past two games. Just keep moving the chains.
"It's critical because of the ability to get first downs and get the tempo going," Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said. "In this game, we've got to get first downs and try to stay on schedule. Mariota, let's face it, he's going to get his stuff. We have to try to limit his opportunities."
Since this season's victory at Oregon, Wilson has become the lead back, rushing for more than 100 yards in four consecutive games, including 218 at Utah two weeks ago and 178 in Friday's victory over Arizona State.
Wilson is a Carey-esque runner who doesn't have to come out of the game. He's good for 30-plus carries; if he gets there, that's a great sign for Arizona.
In last season's game against Oregon, Arizona had only two penalties for 20 yards, was not sacked, did not turn the ball over and was tackled only twice behind the line of scrimmage (other than taking two knees at the end of the game).
This season, Arizona had nine penalties for 78 yards, was sacked four times and committed two turnovers.
Not nearly as "clean," but Oregon was slightly worse in penalties (10 for 79), sacks (five) and was equal in turnovers (two). So the Wildcats, like they did in other areas, made the Ducks earn what they got. They didn't make things easy for Oregon.
"Playing a clean game against this Oregon team is imperative," Klatt said.
"Rodriguez did say that last year against this Oregon team at home that they played as clean a game as he has ever coached in his entire career, going back to any level. That led to the dominating victory they had."
On top of all that, Fischer said, is Arizona's mindset.
"Last year, we got it done and now we know we can beat them," he said.
"Now, it comes down to this: They are going to come out swinging. If we are able to take a couple of punches and swing back, and kind of get everything back on even ground, it's going to be another close one."
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