If the Cougar football team is going to contain the speed of the Oregon Ducks, they will need to play to the best of their ability and muster all of their effort on both sides of the ball.

WSU football Head Coach Mike Leach and players Cyrus Coen, Dominique Williams and Kalafitoni Pole addressed these points at Monday’s press conference.

All the speakers emphasized that just because Oregon may be the most high profile opponent the Cougars will face all year, it will not change the way the team mentally approaches the game.

“It doesn’t matter who we’re facing,” linebacker Coen said. “We’re gonna give 100 percent every day and practice hard every day.”

Oregon, a team known for its lightning-quick offense, often overshadows their defense. However, the Ducks’ defenders move with a lot of speed themselves.

“They just fly to the ball,” wide receiver Williams said. “They’re a really good defensive team.”

Both Coen and Pole stressed the need for effort to stop Oregon’s offense. Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota was brought up multiple times during the press conference.

Players referred to Mariota’s ability to escape defenders in the Ducks’ game against Michigan State in week two of this season. The WSU defensive players were impressed by the job Michigan State did to put pressure on him. The Spartans sacked Mariota three times during the game, but he was constantly under duress.

“(Michigan State) did a good job of corralling (Mariota),” WSU defensive lineman Kalafitoni Pole, said. “But he managed to get himself out of weird situations.”

Pole talked about how studying last year’s game was helpful in preparing for the new Oregon attack.

“Looking back to last year’s game, most of the one on ones they had is when we weren’t in the right position,” Pole said. “We will put a big emphasis on getting to where we need to be.”

Last year the Cougars threw 89 passes in a loss against the Ducks and were criticized for the frequency of balls thrown by then Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti.

The criticism did not seem to strike much of a nerve with Leach.

“I mean if we throw it 110 times we would have won,” Leach said. “It’s pretty indisputable, if we get that many plays in we’re probably going to win.”

Last season the Cougars fell to the Ducks by a score of 62-38. WSU quarterback Connor Halliday threw for 557 yards, four touchdown passes and four interceptions.

The Cougars will host Oregon at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.