Almost everyone knows by now that the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes are traveling to Eugene to take on the No. 3 Oregon Ducks on Saturday. On Tuesday, October 8, reporters asked Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly about the memories of returning to Autzen Stadium and the challenges of facing the Oregon Ducks.

Kelly talked about prime time in Autzen, the plan of Oregon coach Dan Lanning and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi and Jordan Burch’s special athletic ability at defensive end for the Ducks. The former Ducks coach and current Ohio State offensive coordinator recalled some memories from his time in Eugene.

Here are the best quotes from Kelly’s pre-game press conference against his former team.

Q: How special is it for you? What are your strongest memories from coaching there and building that program?

Kelly: “Yeah, well I didn’t create the program. Rich Brooks and Mike Bellotti developed the program, and I basically joined after Mike. It’s a special place and I think it’s great for our players. A chance for them to play in one of the most special places in college football. They came here a few years ago and play at the Shoe, we get to play in Autzen. Autzen Stadium is really special at this time of day, so I think our guys are excited. They are a really good team and I think that will immediately grab your attention when you watch the film.”

Q: What makes the Ducks defense so good?

Kelly: “I think the way Jordan Burch is playing up front right now. They have a lot of seniors on their defense, I think nine of them are starters. Everyone in the background, the two linebackers, the one linebacker, Bassa, seems to have been there a long time, and Bryce Boettcher. . . Number 28, who is a really good player. Baseball player, played really well. Somehow he seems to be the heart and soul of this defense. And then they have veterans in the secondary. I know they are transfer kids, but they are all seniors who have played a lot of soccer. I think they form a group. They’re going to present a lot of different looks, so we have to be prepared for whatever they can throw at you, and they’re going to throw a lot of things at you.”

Q: You talked about Jordan Burch. What makes him so special?

Kelly: “I think his athletic ability is for such a big player. He is listed at 6-5, 290 but plays defensive end. Most guys that big are center backs. So he’s a really athletic guy and he had a great game against Michigan State last Friday night and really showed himself. I think he’s really starting to embrace the role that Tosh and Dan have given him. You have to know where he stands on every piece. He’s one of those guys who can disrupt a football game.”

Q: What have you learned about recruiting in Oregon? How is recruiting different from Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State? What’s different about bringing kids to the Pacific Northwest?

Kelly: “I think it’s a different era now, so I don’t think you can compare it to when I was there in 2012. When recruiting in 2012 and 2024, you might as well have been in a horse and carriage in 2012 like the rules say. “I think it’s a completely different game now in terms of the way people recruit and what incentives they receive to go to school. So I don’t even know if that’s true.

Q: You faced Dan Lanning once at UCLA, you had almost 450 yards. What did you like about what you did against Dan? What did you learn from the encounter with Dan that allows you to get another draw against him in this duel?

Kelly: “I can start by saying I didn’t like that we were behind, so we threw a lot more balls in that game because we were behind. Sometimes I think if you just look at the game and think, ‘Hey, you had X amount of offense. Are they playing the same defense they would play if the scoring was a little tighter? I don’t know if that’s the case if you look back at the game. “We had a lot of soft zones in the second half because we were down, so we had to throw the ball to get within a point or two. They’re Really Well Coached He comes from a really good coaching background, starting with Coach Saban and Kirby at Alabama and Georgia. They will be very close in coverage. They are very tenacious in their coverage when it comes to challenging your receivers. There are a lot of linebackers, but I think they’re linebackers that are really well-coached and I think they handle it well.

Q: How has your time in Oregon influenced some of your creativity? Whether it’s offensively, running a program, anything like that.

Kelly: “Well, I had the opportunity to work for a great head coach in Mike Bellotti when I was an assistant there for two years. More importantly, I think Mike’s team was together, a lot of these guys, for 20+ years, which was even rare back then, when Gary retired as running backs coach, he had been there for over 30 years, Nick Aliotti was over 20 years old, John Neal 15 years old, Tom Osborne 15 years old, Don Pellum 20 years old and more. I was the youngest guy there and had the least amount of time on the team. You couldn’t help but learn from these guys and they welcomed me with open arms. It was just a really cool experience for me, working as an assistant for three years before I became head coach, and then when I became head coach, those guys were all with me. It was like I had five or six other head coaches with me along the way as we went along. The most important thing was that we had great players. The success we had when I was there was directly related to how good our players were.

Q: Are you looking forward to going back there?

Kelly: “I am. I enjoyed my time there. In addition to the coaches and the players I was able to train, I met so many great people. The Phil and Penny Knight’s and the Pat and Stephanie Kilkenny’s and Ed Malitas’ And there are so many people who care deeply about this university. The only thing I can tell you is the passion that these people have for the University of Oregon, just like the people here, their passion. This place is not a passion for anyone.

Q: What are the keys to tackling Dan Lanning’s defense, especially at the front?

Kelly: “I mean, I’ve only played him against one other team, so I haven’t studied Dan to say those are his defining characteristics… I think there’s movement up front. They move in and out.” They can attack you from the inside, they can attack you from the edges. I think they always look like they’re close to cover. I think they do a really good job of mixing their cover with their fronts and it can present some problems for you if you’re not prepared for it. So that’s the challenge for us really well coordinated defense both front and back.”