During seven-on-seven drills on Monday, Chip Kelly was a bit more animated than usual.
As the first and second team offenses took their reps, Kelly could be seen pacing, clapping and imploring his players to pick up the tempo and intensity.
After a somewhat uneven performance against Arizona State on Saturday, one could hardly blame the head coach for cracking down during practice.
Though Kelly’s practices are notorious for their intense pace, he may need to turn up the heat even more as the team prepares for a primetime matchup next Saturday against No. 9 Stanford.
“Stanford is a physical football team in terms of what they do offensively,” Kelly said. “They run the ball really well, they present multiple looks, and they’re going to challenge you in terms of getting lined up.”
In particular, Kelly mentioned the need to work on blocking from an offensive standpoint.
“We’ve got to do a better job blocking up front,” Kelly said. “It’s a fundamental game. Offensively we need to improve our blocking; defensively we have to improve our tackling.”
Luckily for the Oregon defense, former Stanford running back Toby Gerhart is no longer an obstacle, since he was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings.
Stanford’s star quarterback Andrew Luck, on the other hand, remains a threat, and for Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris, the focus heading into the week is simple.
“We’ve just got to make more plays than we give up,” Harris said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to limit the big plays, and that’s really what it comes down to.”
After struggling to develop a consistent rhythm in the running game on Saturday, Oregon’s quarterback Darron Thomas and running back LaMichael James will also work this week on the hand off in the zone-read offense.
“Just all-around reads, getting it quicker,” Thomas said when asked about what they are focusing on. “Things like that, but it’s getting better.”
One thing Kelly and the rest of the team seem unfazed by is the national stage created by the presence of the ESPN College GameDay show this week.
Having been through the experience last year against USC, the Ducks will simply treat this week like any other.
“There are no distractions,” Kelly said. “GameDay is for this University. It’s for the athletic department. It’s for the fans. But our players have nothing to do with GameDay.”
Indeed, as Kelly pointed out, the team will have finished practice, gone to class, and departed for a stay in a local hotel before the GameDay stage is even set up on Friday.
For the players, it will be almost as if Chris Fowler and company were never even there.
“Then we come back, and it’s all gone,” Kelly said. “So it’s not a distraction. It’s a great atmosphere … it’s great for our fans, but it really has nothing to do with us.”
The focus, as always, remains on the field. The Ducks worked on kickoff coverage in the Moshofsky Center on Monday before moving on to seven-on-seven drills and ending with a clutch drill.
With Thomas at the helm during the clutch drill, the Oregon offense drove quickly up the field but ultimately was forced to kick a 34-yard field goal to end the practice.
Perhaps the Ducks were distracted by the music blaring through the sound system: “Circle of Life” from The Lion King.
Asked whether the selection had any correlation to Stanford, Kelly provided a simple answer.
“It’s loud,” Kelly said. “You guys are getting way too sophisticated. It’s a good song because it’s really loud.”
“Plus,” he added, “It was a good play that I liked watching.”
All seriousness aside, it is clear that Kelly has not lost his sense of humor.
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