After nearly one year in the program, Oregon quarterback Nathan Costa thought he had it all down.
But when offensive coordinator Chip Kelly replaced the departed Gary Crowton, Costa had to digest his second playbook. It wasn’t exactly the most pleasant task for an 18-year-old who still had to handle classes, let alone comprehend new offensive terminology.
“Your whole freshman year you’re learning one thing, and then going into your sophomore year you have to switch everything up and learn new terminologies,” Costa said. “It’s been sorta tough, but the transition was fun so I can’t complain too much about it.”
Fortunately, Costa was a spread-option phenom in high school. He understood the basics of the offense and learned how to run it effectively at the college level.
“It’s not really that different. The athletes that we’re dealing with are a lot bigger and faster, which is good because they’re on my side too,” Costa said. “I ran the option out of the shotgun in high school, which was a lot of fun. It’s kind of hard to stop in high school – it’s why I had some pretty big stats.”
While Costa hasn’t had trouble playing at the college level, he keeps having to learn the spread offense like another language. The words keep changing.
“We called everything one thing last year and now we have those same things but they’re called something else,” Costa said. “It’s learning all the new words. That’s probably been the hardest thing.”
The freshman signal-caller has received some help over the course of the year. Although learning the nuances of different coordinators might be a bit bothersome, he hasn’t struggled through it alone.
“It definitely was a little bit frustrating, but I can’t complain because Coach Kelly is such a great coach,” Costa said. “He expects so much of us. That’s what I like about him.
“Coach Kelly’s willingness to go the extra mile and sit down with you and talk to you a little bit more outside of the meetings has helped me the most.”
Although Costa is entering his sophomore season as the only quarterback with experience under seniors Dennis Dixon and Brady Leaf, Kelly isn’t grooming him for the job in 2008.
But Costa’s not being treated like a third stringer, either – he’s expected to do the same things as Dixon and Leaf.
“In my mind, and I told all of them this from day one: They should all be competing for the starting job and the best kid’s going to play,” Kelly said. “They all need to compete like they’re going to be the starter.”
Regardless of the competition, all three quarterbacks are there to help each other, Costa said.
“Brady and Dennis are the same way,” Costa said. “They see something that I make an error in, they’re probably the first ones in my ear telling me.”
During Oregon’s struggles at quarterback in the latter part of last season, Costa said he heard the rumblings, mostly from fans, about naming him as the starter in favor of Dixon and Leaf. Despite that, Costa didn’t anticipate starting anytime soon.
“I pretty much thought it was a joke,” Costa said. “But Duck fans are loyal fans, and I just hope they stay loyal to whoever’s starting.”
Costa appeared in two games during the 2006 season, taking snaps against Portland State and USC, completing all five of his passes for 73 yards. He also ran seven times for 39 yards. Still, he knows there’s plenty to improve on.
“You’re never complete in college football,” Costa said. “I’ve come to learn that.”
But there’s evidence that he’s maturing at a rapid pace. During last week’s scrimmage, Costa lifted a perfectly timed lob pass to sophomore wide receiver Rory Cavaille for a 25-yard touchdown.
“He’s definitely blooming,” Cavaille said. “It seems we’ve been clicking a lot. Whenever he’s in, I always feel like he’s going to make the right decision.”
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