For the first time in two weeks, Oregon has an opponent to prepare for, and the change in attitude around practice was more than evident early this week.
Monday practices of game week are usually lighter in intensity, focused on the mistakes of the last game with players dressed in shorts and shoulder pads. Veterans with any kind of health questions are typically held out for more recuperation.
None of that was the case this Monday at the Moshofsky Center, where players donned full pads and hit with full intensity after a three-day break given by the coaching staff.
“Normally we’re in shells and shorts but it’s uptempo and everything is conditioning, getting your legs back,” cornerback Jairus Byrd said.
Players and coaches said the break was necessary halfway through the season, but that they couldn’t wait to return to game preparations for Arizona State.
“I think they’re healthy, well rested and ready to go,” head coach Mike Bellotti said. “It’s just a well-needed break for mental health and physical health, and you don’t have the pressure of a game situation. You come back also a little hungry because you miss it. I missed not playing a game last week.”
That’s what he said before practice. After, he found out running back Remene Alston broke his foot during a kickoff drill after rolling his ankle over the foot of a teammate. With less than six weeks left in the season, Alston is expected to miss six to 12 weeks.
Oregon has LeGarrette Blount, Jeremiah Johnson and Andre Crenshaw on the active roster before they would have to turn to redshirt LaMichael James.
The Ducks conducted out-of-the-ordinary team drills last week at Monday’s “practice,” that was only used for stretching and rehabilitation. The point was to be as little mentally and physically taxing as possible. For wide receiver Terence Scott, who was eager to get to his next game, it was also the problem.
“It’s boring when you don’t have to prepare for nobody,” Scott said.
With the elimination of the usual Monday practice, the Ducks are moving their practice schedule up a day, closing practice Tuesday on what is typically another day of open practice to the public.
Many expect the time to be used to improve the passing attack that was limited against UCLA by dropped passes and the open running lanes the Bruins allowed. Jeremiah Masoli ran for 170 yards and a touchdown against the Bruins, the second-most rushing yards by a UO quarterback in history. Oregon still leads the conference in rushing with 275.1 yards per game, and Blount has scored the most rushing touchdowns in the Pac-10 with 10. Masoli threw for only 42 yards against UCLA, however, and former starter Justin Roper did not play despite declaring himself ready after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his left knee against Purdue on Sept. 13.
Bellotti said any announcement about who will start at quarterback Saturday will wait until the offense takes the field for its first series, but that competition for the spot will exist.
“I would anticipate he will compete head-to-head for playing time this week,” Bellotti said.
Since the UCLA game, Bellotti has made sure to point out that at least four of Masoli’s passes were dropped by wide receivers that would have added to his total. He believes the Oregon passing attack, which has averaged just more than 30 passes per game this season, will be back to normal this week, a notion Scott hopes is true.
“People outside of football are going to throw out suggestions and think what we should do and as a receiver, trust me I want the ball to be thrown every play. But you know, if my number is called to block then that’s what I need to do,” Scott said. “I don’t need to be on the field if I’m not blocking to help the team out.”
In the game against UCLA, freshman quarterback-turned-wide receiver Chris Harper was the leading Duck receiver with two catches for 25 yards. Jaison Williams did not catch a pass, leaving him still 16 catches away from tying the career receptions record of 178 by Samie Parker.
A weekend to get away
When you’re an Oregon football player, what do you do with your free Saturday when you’ve played a game each of the previous seven?
“I couldn’t sit in the house,” Terence Scott said. “I had to get out.”
Scott said he went to Portland for a break, while Byrd caught up on schoolwork with an eye on the TV.
“I watched football a little bit, just relaxed, caught up on some homework,” Byrd said. “Mostly tried to get away.”
Always a coach, Bellotti said he watched as many games as he could over the weekend, mostly concerned with teams the Ducks have yet to play, such as the Cal-Arizona game that the Wildcats won 42-27.
“It’s a great day in that regard,” Bellotti said. “I was looking more toward the teams I was going to play and some of the national games that had an implication.”
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