The Oregon men’s football team will have some experimenting to do when it comes to its special teams units at tomorrow afternoon’s annual Spring Game. The Ducks graduated several of their top special teams players from the 2008 season, and will now look to some of their less-experienced players to fill the openings.
Oregon will look to replace two-time Pacific-10 Conference honorable mention punter Josh Syria, as well as Oregon’s sixth all-time leading scorer Matt Evensen at place kicker.
With the departure of return men Patrick Chung and Jairus Byrd, there will be several young speed-specialists who should have no problem taking on that roll, while senior Walter Thurmond III and junior Aaron Pflugrad will continue their work from last season. Defensive back Kenjon Barner, who has also seen reps with the offense this spring, will likely field punts and kickoffs during the 2009 season. Redshirt freshman Scott Grady also will be a key contributor for the Ducks return teams.
One of the final factors special teams head coach Tom Osborne mentioned was the importance of his kickoff units on Saturday. Due to the fact the coaches have to try to split the teams up evenly, Osborne often finds himself in a tough situation.
“Sometimes we have some trouble when we scrimmage like this because we don’t want to plug in guys who haven’t practiced (kickoffs) live before,” Osborne said.
Senior free safety T.J. Ward, the Ducks leading tackler last fall with 101 takedowns, will continue to play an intricate roll on the kickoff team this season.
“T.J. is one of the best I’ve ever coached,” Osborne said, referring to his speed and tackling ability in the open field.
Ward will spend most of the season as a “spot” player for the kickoff unit, seeing action occasionally throughout the game so he can stay as fresh as possible for his defensive play.
Kickers and Punter
Oregon will bring in a pair of strong prep kickers on scholarship with Mike Bowlin and Jackson Rice to help fill the kicking void. Bowlin, standing 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, is the third-ranked place kicker in his class, according to the Scout.com high school football rankings. Rice, the No. 1 punting prospect in the country, will also look to have an immediate impact for the Ducks.
The team will only take three kickers into camp in the summer, whose performances tomorrow will be crucial.
“These last two weeks have been really productive,” senior punter Tim Taylor said. “We’ve gotten a lot of reps and we’ve gotten better.”
Taylor, however, is the only punter on the Oregon roster, so he has essentially been competing against himself for most of the spring.
“With Josh (Syria) around I could really see what level I was at each day. It made things more challenging,” said Taylor. “He was someone who was busy throughout the entire practice.”
Taylor also has worked in another area of the special teams that is still a little bit up in the air: placeholder. He, along with many of the quarterbacks, has spent time this spring mastering the art of holding, which can easily be the deciding factor in many close games.
At the start of practice Wednesday, the Ducks were going four-deep at the kicking position until senior Justin Dougherty went down with a pulled groin midway through team PAT drills.
“It was going pretty good until today,” Dougherty said. “I doubt I’ll be kicking on Saturday.”
Dougherty, like Taylor, commented on the absence of his predecessor. “Evensen was a great guy to have around. He was the most experienced and really helped me out a lot with technique.”
But at this point there is really no telling who will have the kicking job locked up come September.
“Morgan Flint has stood out with his consistency,” Osborne said. “But (Rob) Beard really has the power.”
Flint, now in his senior season, has the most game experience of the four, as he went 7-9 on field goals last season, and placed fifth among Oregon scorers last season with 49 points.
Beard, on the other hand, redshirted last season, and will look to make his first official appearance for the Ducks next fall.
[email protected]