Los Angeles, Calif. – Looking back on it, offensive coordinator Scott Frost rattled off what seemed like a never-ending list. He wasn’t going to forget anyone when describing the amount of production Oregon got from its freshmen in the Pac-12 Championship.
“Devon Allen made plays as a freshman, Darren Carrington as a freshman, Charles Nelson as a freshman, and Royce Freeman as a freshman and Tyrell (Crosby) as a freshman.”
It didn’t stop there either. Frost mentioned sophomore offensive lineman Jake Pisarick and junior running back turned wide receiver Byron Marshall.
“I could keep going on,” Frost said. “It’s a testament to the type of kids we’re getting at this program.”
In total, Oregon freshmen accounted for 448 of the 627 yards of offense Oregon gained in its 51-13 route of Arizona on Dec. 5. Freshman wide receivers would also grab 19 of the 25 completions thrown by Marcus Mariota – a culminating stat line based on the inexperience the unit possessed coming into the year.
An ACL injury to Bralon Addison back in April seemingly eliminated all the production Oregon wide receivers had left from 2013. Addison was the top returning wideout, but his sudden exit from the playing field meant 70% of Oregon’s production was gone.
As Frost put it, the outlook was “bleak.”
“I was freaking out about the wide receiver spot,” Frost, in his second season as the Oregon offensive coordinator, said. “When Addison went down in the spring, he was going to be our go to guy. Dwayne Stanford still wasn’t healhty, Devon and Darren hadn’t played at all, we didn’t know what Nelson was going to be. Byron was still at tailback.”
Now however, Frost calls the unit a strength of this team. Oregon’s passing attack ranks 11th in the nation, averaging 308.9 yards per game and it hasn’t solely been because of who is behind center. Mariota won a Heisman Trophy and has conducted the most well-accomplished season an Oregon player has ever had. But, it’s difficult not to point to the impact a wide variety of freshman wideouts have made.
“There is no drop off,” Allen said. “Whenever somebody gets tired we can go out and there is no drop off and somebody is running out and we can score.”
Frost says this season’s contingent of wide receivers may be the best the unit’s had in his six years on the Oregon coaching staff.
In addition, another freshman has made a name for himself on the ground attack this season. Royce Freeman’s 1,299 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns are both school records for a freshman running back. He’s passed the century mark in six of the 13 games Oregon’s played, averaging 5.6 yards per carry in doing so.
His imposing physique hasn’t ever gone unnoticed either.
Elsewhere, on the offensive line, Crosby has continued to make contributions for the injury-ravaged unit. Despite all this, Oregon’s offensive scheme hasn’t pulled back. In fact, it’s only kicked it into gear.
“We have accelerated it and we have been able to accelerate it with a lot of young kids, which it speaks to their intelligence and maturity,” Frost said.
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise
