“Tweet!”
“Go!”
“Tweet!”
“Go!”
With the sounds of a whistle and the voice of a coach signaling when to sprint, the brief “vacation” officially came to an end for the Oregon Duck football team.
Last week, the starters got the chance to rest for most of the week. The bye came at a perfect time in the season and allowed them to heal up their bodies and let their minds relax after back-to-back showdowns against Washington and UCLA.
But now the Ducks (4-1, 2-0) are back at it in preparation for Saturday’s road game against Southern California (3-2, 0-2).
On Monday, head coach Mike Bellotti wasted no time in getting his troops back into the game week mentality. The Ducks practiced for almost three hours under the lights of Autzen Stadium, and closed the session with some fast-paced sprints.
“Last week was great because we got a chance to shut it down for a little bit,” defensive end Jason Nikolao said. “But this week, as you can see, on the first day out they put us in pads and let us bang a little bit. Taking three full days off over the weekend felt like an eternity to me.
“So it was nice to get back in the groove again.”
Many of the Ducks mentioned how it was strange to actually just sit at home on a Saturday and watch other Pacific-10 Conference football teams duke it out.
Oregon was able to check out the Trojans in their 31-15 defeat to Arizona, as well as catch Washington’s wild 33-30 victory over Oregon State.
“Arizona did a very nice job, and they’re a better team than I wanted them to be,” Bellotti said. “And that Oregon State game was a great game. It was a very exciting. Honestly, it was hard to root for anybody in that game, but both teams certainly played very well.”
As each week passes the conference race clears itself up little by little, but don’t expect the Ducks to get too caught up in all of the postseason implications.
“You have to take it one game at a time man,” senior wide receiver Marshaun Tucker said. “Because if you start thinking too far ahead, you’re going to slip. USC is a great team, and no matter how many games they’ve lost, it’s going to be a battle.
“That’s why we’re all out here working hard.”

Kicking his way back
For anyone who watched Oregon defeat the Huskies Sept. 30, it was clear what the glaring weakness was for the Ducks: The kicking game.
Place-kicker Josh Frankel missed three field goals as well as an extra point, giving Washington a chance to tie toward the end of the game.
Bellotti and Frankel have been going over film and seem pleased with some of the adjustments they’ve found.
“I really feel that Josh has improved over the week,” Bellotti said. “We worked some bugs out of a couple of things that were bothering him and I feel good where we’re at.”
Bellotti mentioned that the main difference that was made was that Frankel will be positioned closer to the ball to shorten up his leg kick. Frankel made about “90 percent” of his field goals using that approach during Monday’s practice.
“He’s hitting them very relaxed with good form and style,” Bellotti said. “He reminded me of himself of last year. Last game was just a bad day for him, but I’m confident he’ll come back.”

The Rookie Game
Oregon held a scrimmage last Friday and the five position players that impressed Bellotti the most were the quarterback, the receiver, the linebacker and two of the defensive ends.
But instead of names such as Harrington, Howry and Patu, the coach was speaking of Vossmeyer, Matson and Olshansky.
The scrimmage was a chance for the redshirt freshmen and some of the reserves to show what they can do in game type situations.
“It was nice to get those guys out there and let them play,” Bellotti said. “When you’re used to being the star and playing all the time, it’s a tough transition.”
Bellotti was especially impressed with wide receiver Paris Warren, quarterback Scott Vossmeyer, linebacker Jerry Matson and defensive ends Kevin Mack and Igor Olshanky.
Warren, the 6-foot-1 receiver from Sacramento, Calif., particularly caught Tucker’s eye.
“Parris went out there and shocked me,” Tucker said. “He was doing all these crazy moves that I have never seen. I’m telling ya, we got some future ballers on our offense.”

Duck dots…
Oregon now holds the nation’s third-longest home winning streak at 18 games after both Texas A&M and Marshall lost at home last week…
If Oregon wins on Saturday, it will equal its best start in league play since the 1957 team that won its first four league games…
Should the Ducks beat the Trojans, it will mark the first time since 1970 that they have beaten both L.A. schools in the same season…
Saturday’s game will be televised on ABC to a regional audience, with legendary Keith Jackson doing the play-by-play..