When Darron Thomas takes the field Saturday night against No. 18 Arizona State, a certain Heisman Trophy candidate will not line up alongside him.
LaMichael James will be forced to sit out Oregon’s third Pac-12 game with a dislocated elbow, and Thomas will instead be handing the ball off to junior Kenjon Barner. It might seem a daunting loss as Oregon faces off with Vontaze Burfict and a stout Arizona State defensive unit, but Thomas, for one, projected nothing but confidence heading into the game.
“We’ve got Kenjon in the backfield with me,” Thomas said. “That’s a step behind LaMike, doing the same things. We’ve got (freshman running back) Tra Carson also doing great things, and just can’t wait to see him play. And De’Anthony. Everybody know about De’Anthony.”
Indeed, the Ducks are loaded with talent at running back, which could perhaps mitigate the loss of James to a certain extent. Junior running back Kenjon Barner is no stranger to the field, and knows that his skills will be needed more than ever on Saturday.
“Everybody has to step up,” Barner said. “You know, (James is) a huge part of this team, huge part of the running game, so we all have to kind of pick our jobs up.”
The Sun Devils certainly won’t make it easy. Through the season’s first six games, Arizona ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (19.5 points per game) and total defense (349.0 yards per game) while also leading the conference in interceptions (10) and sacks (17).@@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/Football/2011-Stats/HTML/confldrs.htm@@
“(They’re) tough, athletic,” Kelly said. “They’ve got 30 seniors on their football team, and they’ve got a ton of experience … it’s a solid defense, very well coached, very gap sound; they have a great understanding of what they’re doing because they’ve been together in the same system for such a long time.”
Front and center on that defensive unit is linebacker Vontaze Burfict. The junior has already compiled four sacks and an interception in 2011, and the Ducks will have little choice but to account for him at all times. Thomas, for one, is looking forward to the challenge.@@http://www.thesundevils.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html@@
“He’s a great player,” Thomas said. “He’s an exciting player; love to watch him, can’t wait to compete against the best.”
Though some have thought Thomas will assume more of a burden on offense in James’ absence, Oregon’s signal caller insists that nothing will change, even against a talent like Burfict.
“(There’s) really no more pressure (on me),” Thomas said. “Because Kenjon is coming in the game, really running the same schemes, didn’t change up nothing. Running backs just gotta hold their own, and just do it for LaMichael.
“It’s not a lot of pressure on me. I’mma do what I have to do to win the game.”
Behind Barner, of course, freshmen De’Anthony Thomas and Tra Carson will likely see their workload increase. Both have played in every game for Oregon so far, and Kelly has come to look at them more like upperclassmen.
“(Tra) and De’Anthony are two of the smarter young men I’ve been around,” Kelly said. “They come in and pick up a system … I wouldn’t have any question putting Tra in on the first play of the game or having Tra in there on the last play. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
While Carson will likely remain strictly in the backfield, De’Anthony Thomas will once again split time between running back and wide receiver. As Oregon’s second leading rusher behind James, De’Anthony has also catapulted to the top of the receiver board with 17 catches for 286 yards and four touchdowns.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205266631@@
For Kelly and the Ducks, it has become a simple matter of getting Thomas the ball and letting him do the rest.
“For us with De’Anthony, it’s, ‘How do we get the ball in his hands?’” Kelly said. “If you’re using him in the backfield and handing it off to him, you’re not losing anything. I think he’s explosive in both roles, as a receiver and as a running back, and you’ll see him playing both again this weekend.”