Oregon
Ducks

"If I based this program on what public opinion is, I'd have a lot of problems," he said.

Popular or not -- and you can find strong opinions on both sides -- Kelly did what he thought was right for Blount by allowing him to come back after the running back accomplished certain academic and behavior goals.

The university sent a request for Blount's reinstatement to the Pac-10, which granted the request.

"I'm grateful to Coach Kelly that he cares enough to offer me this second chance," Blount said in the statement.

"Now it is up to me to prove to people that their lasting impressions of me are not what they saw in Boise. When I am ready to address this further with the public and the media, I will do so. Until that time, I feel my actions can speak louder than anything I could say. I just want to help my teammates who have been supportive of me."

Oregon plays host to Arizona State this week, and there is no guarantee of playing time for Blount, who was a 1,000-yard rusher last season in a time-share backfield with Jeremiah Johnson. Blount was working on the scout team during his suspension.

Blount, coaches said, has to start at the bottom of the depth chart and work his way back. The Ducks' running game has been just fine without him, as redshirt freshman LaMichael James has become a star.

"LaMichael James is our running back," Kelly said.

As for Blount ... can he contribute and rehabilitate his image?

"It's up to LeGarrette, and if anybody can do it, he can do it," quarterback Jeremiah Masoli told the Eugene Register-Guard. "He can come out shining, but it's up to him."

SERIES HISTORY: Arizona State leads Oregon, 16-13 (last meeting, 2008, 54-20 Oregon).

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: Oregon has been nearly unstoppable in Pac-10 play when QB Jeremiah Masoli plays. The Ducks have scored at least 42 points in each of the five conference games he has started ... and they have at least 514 yards in four of those games. The diversity, unpredictably and speed of the offense has overwhelmed opponents, and although Arizona State comes into the game with the league's top-rated rushing defense (87.44 yards per game), it's hard to see the Sun Devils' stopping the Ducks all game.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: Oregon's defense was run over by Stanford's Toby Gerhart last week, but Arizona State doesn't have anybody like Gerhart. The Sun Devils also don't have a quarterback like Stanford's Andrew Luck. The Ducks should be just fine against Arizona State, which doesn't have a lot of flash in its offense. ASU doesn't present any of the same personnel or schematic problems that Stanford did last week in the 51-42 victory over the Ducks. Oregon should be able to bottle up a below-average running game and put lots of pressure on Danny Sullivan or Brock Osweiler at quarterback.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "If we're going to work him into the offense, we're going to work him in to do everything he's done in the past. If a short-yardage situation came up where I felt like we needed his size, then yeah, we would probably put him in there for that." -- Oregon running backs coach Gary Campbell, in the Eugene Register-Guard, on the return of 246-pound RB LeGarrette Blount.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

DE Will Tukuafu -- The senior will be going against a sluggish Arizona State offense, trying to get to either immobile senior quarterback Danny Sullivan or 6-8 true freshman Brock Osweiler, a big target who can move a bit. Tukuafu has 6.5 tackles for loss this season and 32.5 in his three-year career, ranking ninth in school history.

QB Jeremiah Masoli -- The junior started slowly this season but has been hot for several weeks. In his past five games, he has completed 66.9 percent of his passes (89 of 133 for 1,082 yards), with nine touchdowns and no interceptions. He also is averaging 69.2 rushing yards (7.1 per carry) with five touchdowns during that stretch. It adds up to an average of 285.6 yards of offense in his past five games.

RB LeGarrette Blount -- Will he play or won't he? Will he be just a short-yardage back at first? Do the Ducks even need him? No matter what happens, people will be talking about it.

ROSTER REPORT:

--LB Eddie Pleasant (ankle) did not start against Stanford last week but he did play and made five tackles, including the only sack of QB Andrew Luck. Junior Bryson Littlejohn started in his place.

--Senior CB Willie Glasper is out for the season because of a non-contact knee injury suffered in practice Oct. 6.

--Senior CB Walter Thurmond III is out for the season because of a knee injury suffered in September.