The Ducks linebacker is ready to face the big boys.

(GoDucks.com photo)

EUGENE — The Pac-12 was the league of the quarterbacks. 

It’s where teams spread their players out and offenses let it rip. 

It was a fun, goofy and affable conference whose front runners often dealt with the perception of being flashy. 

Good luck playing that fancy football against the grit and grime of those corn-fed folks out in America’s heartland. In the Big Ten they play tough football. They’ll run it up the gut over and over and over again. 

Ducks linebacker Emar’rion Winston knows the type.

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Tyson Alger covered the Ducks for The Oregonian and The Athletic before branching out on his own to create and run The I-5 Corridor. He brings more than a decade of experience on the University of Oregon sports beat. He has covered everything from Marcus Mariota’s Heisman Trophy-winning season to the Ducks’ first year in the Big 10.