While posing for a photo, Max Unger flexes his biceps believing the whole ordeal is a bit too self-centered for his taste. From a distance, his teammates walking back to the locker room are unaware Unger is only jokingly showing off his muscles and begin to reveal personal information about Unger’s off-the-field hobbies.
“He reads romance novels,” one yells.
Another chimes in.
“Max watches Sex and the City.”
Unger looks in their direction and responds.
“Maybe I should have a photo taken of this,” he says as he turns his backside to his teammates and pretends to pull down his pants.
Unger should be accustomed to being in peoples’ focus these days. After all, he is the center. Most eyes are on him before each Oregon offensive snap. He’s the one who has to get the ball into quarterback Dennis Dixon’s hands and his coaches say he’s handled the transition from left tackle to center extremely well.
The transition began in the spring when the Ducks were figuring out how to offset the loss of the graduation of first-team Pacific-10 Conference center Enoka Lucas. Initially, junior Jeff Kendall was receiving the snaps at center before he suffered an injury and the coaching staff had to figure out how to shuffle the linemen to get the five best players onto the field.
“He’s a versatile guy so he can play any of the positions,” offensive line coach Steve Greatwood said.
Fenuki Tupou emerged as a capable starter at left tackle and that allowed Unger, who was a second-team Pac-10 selection in 2006, to move to center.
“Basically we had a lot of guys who could play tackle and we were limited on the inside guys,” Unger said. “I got looked at playing guard for a while.”
Unger though, is glad he stuck at center. He feels more at home in the middle of the trenches than being isolated guarding a rushing defensive lineman.
“I really like center a lot,” Unger said. “I like it a lot more than tackle, actually.
“It’s a completely different focus because usually the first thing you look at when you’re the tackle is the defense and that’s what you worry about. Me, the first thing I have to worry about is snapping the ball. Nothing matters if you don’t get the ball back to the quarterback in the shotgun. It’s a different mindset.”
The snapping responsibility wasn’t as smooth a transition as Unger was hoping for, however. Although there weren’t any drastic first-game miscues, he wasn’t his usual self leading up to the first snap.
“I never played center for any significant amount of time before fall camp,” Unger said. “I had some serious issues. I was pretty nervous before Houston. It was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been before a game even though I had started for two years. I was freaking out just having nightmares about whipping the ball over Dennis’ head the first play. Once I got that first one down, I was good.”
The coaches have seen steady improvement in his ability. After the Houston game, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said Unger had played well but it still looked like his first game at center.
“I think he’s grown into the position every game,” Greatwood said. “His snaps – knock on wood – have been consistent.”
Before he handled the snap issues, Unger had to change his focus to the defensive tackles rather than the speed-rushing ends. That, and he had to figure out how to communicate with his teammates after reading a defense and tell everyone where the blitz is coming from.
“Our offense is a lot different than it was last year,” Unger said. “It’s still spread but there’s different responsibilities as far as play calling and line calls.
Greatwood explained the differences.
“I think he has to do more adjusting of protections than perhaps in a more normal offense where you can commit seven guys to block,” Greatwood said. “The center has to be able to read safeties, linebacker rotations and adjust protections.”
And with the way the offense has been working this year, Oregon is fourth in the nation and leads the Pac-10 in rushing, the linemen have had to become a bit more nimble with their run blocking techniques.
“You want a little bit smaller, more mobile line,” Unger said. “We’re running out there on screens and we’re doing a lot of stretch-action plays.”
But that doesn’t mean they’ve shied away from the more traditional power plays because those have helped the Ducks significantly.
“This year we’ve been mixing up the traditional power offense out of spread sets,” Unger continued. “In previous years we haven’t really run the power and counter plays – the traditional smash-football we’ve incorporated this season. I think it’s really paid off to mix the traditional offense with the spread.”
Unger has been called the best current Oregon offensive lineman and, being in the center of the running scheme, he’s sure to garner the attention of NFL scouts – ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. rates him as the fifth-best junior center – even if he’s no longer protecting Dixon’s blind side.
“He can play any of the five positions on the offensive line,” Greatwood said. “Scouts can look at him playing tackle, look at him playing center. If he’s good enough, they’ll find a place for him.”
Unger, despite his ability and versatility, isn’t as optimistic at becoming a professional tackle.
“I’m not big enough to play tackle,” Unger said. “If I have the opportunity to play in the NFL, it’ll be at center. (Geoff) Schwartz is an NFL tackle. He’s massive. I’m definitely suited for the inside.”
Schwartz confirmed Unger’s assessment about their size discrepancy, but it was only because Schwartz said Unger was the better suited to replace Lucas.
“I always thought he’d fit in there after Enoka left,” Schwartz said. “I can’t do it. I’m too big. I’m glad he was the one that was taken.”
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