The No. 2 Oregon Ducks football team arrived safely in the Phoenix area Sunday afternoon at Sky Harbor International Airport around 2:15 p.m. local time.
The Oregon players wore new black and white warmups with, shockingly, new Nike shoes to accompany the outfit. The group made its way off the aircraft via a red carpet lined from the foot of the charter plane’s staircase to the doors of the busses en route to their hotel in Scottsdale.
The Ducks made quick work of their arrival and a short press conference was held inside a large tent set up on the tarmac, where Oregon head coach Chip Kelly greeted media members.
“The kids are fired up to be here to represent the University of Oregon,” Kelly said in his opening statement. “Getting a chance to play in the national championship is what these guys have worked for since actually last January when we came back after the Rose Bowl.
“We’re excited to be here. We’ve got another full week of preparation before we play the game. But we’re ready to go.”
Kelly said the flight was very quick and smooth, and he even showed his human side when he admitted the only hiccup Oregon encountered along the way was the added attention defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti received from airport security due to his two artificial hips.
Looking at Oregon’s schedule for the week, the team had no bowl requirements on Monday or Tuesday as far as media related events are concerned, but it will certainly be preparing for what lies ahead on Jan. 10.
“Our guys know we keep the same schedule when we leave the Cas’ (Casanova Center) ’til we get to the Eugene airport ’til wheels up,” Kelly said. “It’s just like any other away game for us in terms of how we traveled (Sunday). We’ve just got a couple more players with us than we normally do on a travel squad.”
At the press conference held shortly after arrival, Kelly was asked if it was important for the team to get a few good practices under its belt early in the week to set the tone, but having already mapped out a 35-day practice schedule practically to the minute, the idea had not occurred to Kelly.
“Every single day for us is extremely important,” Kelly said. “Our players’ mind-set since we got back at it after finals has been the same way, and they understand that we got a real good amount of work in when we were in Eugene, and now we’re down here to get six or seven days in here, and then we’ll be ready to play the game.
“But there’s no day that’s more important than tomorrow, and that’s what it starts with.”
Oregon’s opponent for the BCS title game, the No. 1 Auburn Tigers, was set to arrive around 5:30 p.m. Monday evening with a short press conference with head coach Gene Chizik following shortly thereafter.
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