Halfway through yet another week of practice, and the intensity inside the Moshofsky Center was still at its highest.
There were some big hits on the defense on Wednesday, and during the practice-ending clutch drill, quarterback Jeremiah Masoli scampered in from five yards out with 16 seconds to go to win the day for the offense.
“They did a nice job today,” head coach Chip Kelly said afterwards. “They worked really hard, we had a really good session in the weight rooms to start the day off and they did a really nice job paying attention to detail and finished out strongly.”
The beginning of the week is by far the toughest for the Ducks. Kelly said the team goes hard on Monday to sneak in an extra day of workouts during the week (most teams use Monday as a lighter day) and he said it’s a credit to the work they’ve also been doing in the weight room.
“I check in on those guys and see how everybody’s doing,” Kelly said of his daily walkthrough of the weight room. “Our guys are working really hard and I think the difference between the end of the season and the beginning of the season are the teams that continue to get stronger. I think that the weight program that we have here and the job the Jimmy (Radcliffe) does in the weight room is tremendous for us.”
One person in particular has been benefiting from the time in the weight room. Redshirt freshman running back
LaMichael James said that if he could, he would practice and work out “everyday, all day” and that mentality has shown on the field.
To date, the Texarkana, Texas native has 1,043 yards on the season and has already set the single-season freshman rushing record and has become the first freshman to ever rush for over 1,000 yards for the Ducks.
“If you’re a 1,000-yard rusher in this league, that’s saying something,” offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said. “The sky is the limit just because of the type of kid he is. He is
going to get faster, he’s going to get stronger. He’s going to get more savvy. And a veteran LaMichael James? That’s a really good player.”
It is scary to think for some that James is only a freshman. Over the next couple of weeks he will only add to his yardage total and break the top 10 single-season rushing list. He needs just six yards to tie Maurice Morris (1,049) and 15 yards to tie Onterrio Smith’s 1,058 for 10th best in a single season.
“We have some great running back here and obviously LaMichael is one of the best,” Masoli said. “He’s different in the way he does things kind of like a Jacquizz Rodgers type —kind of shifty.”
One part of James’ success is actually his stature. Because he’s shorter than most — he’s 5 feet, 9 inches — Helfrich says that he has heard that defenders sometimes lose track of him in the melee.
“You’ve heard a lot of opponents say that they couldn’t see him,” Helfrich said. “That sounds weird but that’s a factor. He’s learned to use that to his benefit and been successful so far.”
It doesn’t hurt that James has blazing speed, either. He’s planning on running sprint events for the Oregon track team this winter and spring.
But James is humble about his success so far. He says that he would have rather set the freshman rushing record in a win over Stanford than a loss, and winning is the only thing that matters to him.
“I’m completely focused on Arizona State,” James said. “Nothing else matters right now.”
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