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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cougars’ focus will be on Oregon’s Royce Freeman

Oregon running back Royce Freeman runs through and around defenses. His work load figures to increase against the Washington State defense on Saturday. (Associated Press / AP)

PULLMAN − Oregon does not have a prototype running back, although the current one is the prototype.

The last four or five uncatchable UO backs have all shared a similar profile. Small guys who could burst 20 yards upfield while the defense was making sure the whole thing wasn’t a fake to divert attention away from a running quarterback.

LaMichael James zipped his way to 3,200-plus rushing yards in two seasons and when he left, his carbon copies named Kenjon Barner, De’Anthony Thomas and Byron Marshall made for seamless transitions with their similar styles and similarly unmatchable speed.

“They’re all quick,” Mike Leach said. “Every one of them are quick and they all have really good lateral movement.”

While speed has been the touchstone of the UO offense since even before Mike Belotti hired Chip Kelly to be his offensive coordinator, that did not always mean diminutive.

In fact, two of the first three running backs in UO’s current run of eight consecutive seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher, Jonathan Stewart and LeGarrette Blounte, were built like fullbacks, flattening the scales at 235 and 250 pounds, respectively.

So consider Royce Freeman a throwback to the early days of UO’s running back lineage, not a departure from it. And not since Stewart have the Ducks had a back who seemed so tailor-made for the NFL.

Freeman, only 19, stands 5-foot-11, 230-pounds. Last season he became the program’s first true freshman to rush for more than 1,000 yards, finishing the season with 1,365 and 18 touchdowns.

He’s not just a load, either. Freeman’s size comes with speed and no college football player has more rushes for 10 or more yards than the Duck.

“That’s just it, they’re going to get him in space at times and he’s going to create his own space,” WSU defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said. “He’s another quality back. We’ve seen a couple of them this year and unfortunately, they keep getting better.”

Freeman isn’t the only UO back the Cougars will need to be prepared for on Saturday. Fellow underclassmen Taj Griffin, Tony Brooks-James and Kani Benoit each average 5.5 yards or more per carry and have each scored at least one rushing touchdown.

But until starting quarterback Vernon Adams returns, the Ducks are likely to rely even more on their rushing attack than usual, and running backs coach Gary Campbell hinted this week to The Oregonian that Freeman could see an even heavier workload than the 27 carries he had against Colorado last week.

Campbell is the architect of UO’s house of rushers. The longest-tenured football coach in school history has been on the coaching staff since 1983 and has recruited and developed a few conference’s worth of star running backs and coached 15 of the school’s 17 players with at least one 1,000-yard rushing season.

His record for success while coaching various types of backs is part of the pitch UO coaches use to bring talents like Freeman to Eugene.

“Not only pointing to our sheer yardage but the stable of guys that have come out, have been developed by him is something that guys are certainly drawn to,” said head coach Mark Helfrich. “Whether it’s their college numbers or guys in the NFL, (Campbell’s success) is remarkable.”

To slow down Freeman, the Cougars will have to continue to build on a rush defense that has played pretty well for about six consecutive quarters, minus one disastrous 42-yard carry by California running back Vic Enwere on third-and-very-long last week.

Other than that carry, the WSU defense has been controlling leverage, taking better angles and tackling much better than it did in its games against Portland State, Rutgers and the first half against Wyoming.

That alone isn’t going to stop Freeman, who is likely going to have some big runs and set up a score or two regardless of how locked in the Cougars are. But the Cougars aren’t facing Marcus Mariota this year, and the UO passing game isn’t the threat it once was.