At some point in the near future, Oregon head football coach Chip Kelly is going to have to make a decision.
Caught in a scenario where no clear-cut favorite has emerged during spring practices, Kelly must put the fate of the Ducks’ 2010 season in the hands of one of two very different quarterbacks.
The 6-foot-1-inch, 220-pound senior Nate Costa has been around the Oregon program for five seasons now and has seen almost nothing but injuries. After coming out of his redshirt season in 2006, Costa would have taken over for injured Heisman Trophy candidate Dennis Dixon in 2007, had Costa not been sidelined with torn knee ligaments of his own.
It was the same story the following year when he was penciled in as the Oregon starter — four slots ahead of Jeremiah Masoli — before enduring his second major knee surgery in as many years.
Costa’s knee looked more than capable during spring drills this year, leaving him the opportunity to finally get the starting nod he’s been looking for. Questions surrounding his mobility were all but silenced over the last month, as Costa frequently appeared to have the rushing edge over his sophomore counterpart Darron Thomas.
“To be honest with you, it is a little bit of a strange situation,” Costa said of again fighting for a starting job. “But it’s something I’m comfortable with. We’re gonna make it work because we know if we work together, we can’t be stopped.”
Arguably the biggest responsibility that comes with being the staring quarterback is leadership. But with neither Costa nor Thomas being given the No. 1 nod, approaching summer camp will take a team effort, Costa said.
“You know, we’re on the same team,” Costa said. “I know (Saturday) we were on separate sides of the ball, but we’re on the same team in the end, and we’re going to work together to get everybody in line.”
Thomas’ spring, on the other hand, may not have been what he and so many others hoped it would be. Despite hanging with Costa and improving daily, Thomas did not separate himself as the starter by any means. Thomas was much more of a vocal leader in the backfield than he was in the past; last year’s redshirt season may have helped the mental aspect of his game catch up to his advanced physical attributes.
Overall, Thomas had the stronger outing during the spring game, completing 15 of 23 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown. This led some to wonder if Kelly is leaning in the direction of a young, athletic playmaker, or a consistent and level-headed senior.
“I’m more inclined to go with the guy who’s going to help us win,” Kelly said.
With arguably the deepest running back unit in the Pacific-10 Conference, if not the nation, with LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner, Remene Alston, Lache Seastrunk and Dontae Williams all fighting for playing time, it’s hard to imagine that either quarterback will stray too far off the beaten path next year.
“I think we have two great quarterbacks that are going to battle day in and day out,” Barner said. “And we’ll be lucky to have either one of them.”
When Oregon met up with Boise State on the road in the season opener this past fall, it was a seasoned Masoli leading an inexperienced offensive unit with a particularly ragtag offensive line. But come this September it will be a veteran group of offensive linemen paving the way for an inexperienced starting quarterback.
“We’ve got an o-line that’s getting better everyday.” Thomas said. “It’s a little bit better for me that we’ve got seniors that know what they’re doing, so it’s helped me out a lot.”
In the end, Kelly seemed satisfied with his quarterback’s growth, just not happy enough to pick one over the other.
“They got better everyday and that’s what we hoped to get accomplished.” Kelly said. “We’ve got 27 some-odd opportunities (to name a starter) when we get rolling next August when we prepare for our first game — but it’s really what they do on their own.”
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