Redshirt sophomore linebacker Spencer Paysinger was an unknown quantity when tabbed to replace the dismissed Kevin Garrett on the weakside of the Oregon defense at the beginning of fall camp. Paysinger was seen as one of the few question marks on a defense expected to be the best Oregon had fielded in years, perhaps ever.
The Oregon defense lived up to the hype Saturday night by holding Jake Locker and the Washington Husky offense to 10 points and shutting them out completely in the second half on the way to a 44-10 blowout win.
But if a statement was made by the Duck defense, then the question mark at the weakside linebacker position became an exclamation point for that statement, as Paysinger led all players with 12 tackles in the game, including 2.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack.
“People have question marks everywhere but when game time comes you either performed or you didn’t,” said senior rover Patrick Chung. “He performed, so there’s no question marks there, no doubts at all.”
For Paysinger to perform in such a dominant manner Saturday was a vindication for the young linebacker, who was out to prove to any and all naysayers that there should be no questions about his ability to fill the role.
“Hearing about me being a question mark here and there just made me work even harder to make people realize that I can actually step into this at a young age and fill in the gap with no questions,” he said.
But his steely resolve to prove them wrong was tempered with a touch of the first game jitters, which the veterans of the linebacking corps helped to ease.
“For my first start I was nervous and everything,” Paysinger said. “But the older guys like John Bacon and Jerome Boyd just kept building me up and telling me I got this.”
And “got this” he did, as his number 35 was flying to the ball on seemingly every play, including a sack of vaunted Husky signal-caller Jake Locker.
“Spencer runs to the ball. He played well,” said Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti. “The kid flew around and stuck with the plan and I’m very pleased.”
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti echoed Aliotti’s sentiments on Paysinger’s performance.
“Spencer was solid…He is a young man with a great deal of athleticism and a great deal of pride,” he said. “Spencer was a good example of a young player stepping in and making a positive contribution.”
And even if the first question was answered brilliantly by the young linebacker Saturday night, Paysinger knows that this was just the first query of a twelve-part exam. Don’t expect him to rest on the laurels of his first-start performance.
“I can’t get comfortable right now. If I get comfortable that means I’m getting worse,” Paysinger said. “I just have to go in tomorrow and watch film and look at my mistakes and learn from them. I need to keep pushing.”
For his part, Aliotti was pleased not only with Paysinger’s performance but with the performance of the entire defense. And, of course, the convincing win over the rival Huskies.
“To win a game is always a great drug,” he said. “Actually, it’s better then drugs because it makes you feel so good when you win a game.”