In a war-room atmosphere, one of the most crucial moments of Oregon football’s spring practice season hinged on a coin flip: Who gets to pick first for the spring game?
We will never know because, as coach Mike Bellotti put it at practice on Thursday, “If I go into it I’d have to kill you.”
However, when offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s White squad faces defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti’s Green squad, they will fight for locker room supremacy and bragging rights, which will last until fall training camp opens back up in the mid-summer.
Okay, maybe it’s not as much a matter of life and death as that. But it’s still important. As junior defensive end Nick Reed said, “It’s more important than all the other practices, but it’s just another practice.” The annual spring game, which will be played tomorrow at Autzen Stadium beginning at 2 p.m., is a last chance for players, coaches and fans to see how the team is faring until the summer.
The two coaches in charge of the sides of the game drafted players before practice Thursday, and Bellotti said, “It’s a pretty equally split team.” Coach Kelly’s White squad features quarterback Dennis Dixon, wide receiver Jaison Williams, and rover Patrick Chung. The other quarterback fighting for the starting job, Brady Leaf, will feature for Aliotti’s Green team, who also will have seven of the 14 returning starters from last year, including receiver Brian Paysinger, linebackers A.J. Tuitele and Kwame Agyeman, and leading rusher Jonathan Stewart.
Towing the Line
Also starring for the Green team are returning defensive linemen Reed and David Faaeteete. Both Reed and Faaeteete have worked on a defensive line crew that has overachieved this spring, working short-handed due to the loss of upperclassmen Cole Linehan and Jeremy Gibbs to injury for the spring, yet proving vital to the defense’s improved play this spring.
For their part, neither Reed nor Faaeteete are worried about the injuries.
“Just because someone goes down doesn’t mean you stop working,” Faaeteete said. “They’re working in the training room trying to rehab and get out here and help us. Springtime is for them to get better.”
Reed agreed. “We take pride in the fact that we work hard and we get a lot of reps,” Reed said.
Coach Bellotti has taken note of it as well, and is proud of the intensity with which his defense has played this spring. “The defense came out and played dominant football,” Bellotti said. Faaeteete is proud as well, saying “The defense has to be tenacious.”
Though they may have had to work harder than they would have liked in the spring, the strong play of returning players like Reed and Faaeteete, the breakout spring of junior Michael Speed and that impact players Linehan and Gibbs will be returning for fall camp means the hard work was worthwhile. Faaeteete is optimistic of his group’s future: “The only way to look is up right now.”
Spring Evaluations
Much of the talk before practice on Thursday was centered on evaluating strengths and weaknesses from different sections of the team so far this spring. Bellotti was very upbeat and happy with the performance of much of his team, and chose many players to single out for strong performances on both sides of the ball.
The offense’s improvement throughout the spring has been a storyline to watch. Though Kelly is implementing an offense that is similar to Gary Crowton’s spread last year, it uses a whole new language for the offensive players to learn. “From the start of spring ball, certainly the offense has improved dramatically because they were somewhat nonexistent early on, the defense was way ahead,” Bellotti said.
Offensive players Bellotti singled out include Dixon, who he has “high expectations and very lofty goals” for, and senior wide receivers Cameron Colvin and Garren Strong, who Bellotti says he is happy with this spring and needs them “to step up and be playmakers.”
Much like with the defensive line, the offensive line was a question mark – all five starters from last year missed out on spring practice. However, Bellotti is again happy with the performance of his line. “(The injuries) allowed some young players to get more reps, and that’s going to pay dividends again for us in the fall,” Bellotti said.
It wasn’t all about the offense, though. Bellotti singled out young defensive linemen Brandon Bair and Will Tukuafu as players who are “going to provide a lot of spark for the defensive line in the fall.”
Bellotti also noticed the play of junior middle linebacker John Bacon, noting his style of play. “He’s just gung-ho full-speed-ahead and that’s allowed him to make some plays and generate confidence,” Bellotti said.
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More than just a game
Daily Emerald
April 26, 2007
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