It took some time this year, but Oregon is starting to build momentum in one of the most important aspects of a complete college football program: special teams.
Third-year head coach Chip Kelly@@CE@@ has continuously referred to special teams play as an extension of the Ducks’ prolific offense, and a year removed from scoring eight defensive@@CE@@ and special teams touchdowns en route to the BCS title game — thanks in no small part to five scores from Cliff Harris alone@@CE@@ — the Ducks’ depth in those areas has finally started to show through in 2011.
Sophomore Boseko Lokombo@@CE@@ returned a blocked punt 25 yards for a touchdown@@CE@@ in the first quarter against Washington State on Saturday, which provided one of very few first-half highlights for the Ducks. And later, true freshman De’Anthony Thomas@@CE@@ took a kickoff 93 yards@@CE@@ for a touchdown to give Oregon a 16-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter@@CE@@.
To be clear, neither of those two players are unaccustomed to finding the end zone. The scoop-and-score was the third touchdown of Lokombo’s career@@I counted@@, while Thomas’ second score of the game gave him a freshman-record 11 touchdowns on the year@@CE@@. The latter was Oregon’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since Kenjon Barner@@CE@@ took a kickoff 100 yards to pay dirt at UCLA as a redshirt freshman in 2009@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204790739@@.
Through eight games this season, Oregon leads the Pac-12 in defensive and special teams touchdowns with five, ahead of Arizona State and Oregon State with three each.
By now, surely you’re wondering how any of these obscure special teams stats are relevant?
Well, Saturday was a shining example.
As Oregon’s opponents only get stronger from here on out, teams will continue to play keep-away from the Oregon offense. A decent Washington State team dominated the time of possession by more than 20 minutes@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205266631@@, and by converting on so many third downs, they kept Oregon’s offense off balance and — more importantly — off the field.
Keep-away is nothing new for the Ducks. Neither is losing the grossly unimportant time of possession battle.
“We understand that people are going to try to keep the ball away from us,” Kelly@@CE@@ said on Saturday. “We just have to keep plugging away and understand that we’ve got to play a full game.”
This is why the Ducks have been such an impressive second-half team in recent years. But when those teams have success defending against Oregon’s offense with their own offense, special teams play becomes even more amplified. And as Oregon has shown through a bumpy eight weeks on the injury front, it’s ready to make those plays even without some familiar faces.
Barner has over 1,600 punt and kickoff return yards in his career@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=1550399@@ but has been used sparingly in that regard this season. Josh Huff, who tallied over 500 return yards as a true freshman last season@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3378&SPID=233&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204971243&Q_SEASON=2011@@, has only fielded one kickoff in 2011@@CE@@. And of course, there’s Harris, who returned four punts for touchdowns last season@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3378&SPID=233&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204782074&Q_SEASON=2011@@. He still leads the team in punt returns this season but hasn’t been on the field consistently, which doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.
Instead, Oregon has turned to the rookie Thomas to field kickoffs and a handful of others on punt returns. Most recently, they’ve used walk-on wide receiver Chad Delaney, a 2009@@changed from 2008: http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204920061@@ Elmira High School graduate, in the punt returner role.
Regardless of whom the Ducks have back deep, they usually seem to make positive plays. This speaks to the work of special teams coordinator Tom Osborne@@CE@@, as well as the list of athletes rotating through those positions in practice.
And while a team can never rely on consistent special teams touchdowns, the Ducks know they have proven playmakers capable of it on every return. Thomas showed that with a block or two and a pinch of daylight, he can burst through the line for a score in a matter of seconds.
If the injuries keeping Barner and Huff mostly out of the return game don’t regress, rest assured there will still be plenty of stunning special teams highlights to come.
Clark: More to come from Oregon’s special teams
Daily Emerald
October 31, 2011
0
More to Discover