Oregon’s 45-20 loss to USC on Saturday means the Ducks must win their three remaining games to become bowl-eligible.
Head coach Mark Helfrich acknowledged the Ducks’ current situation during his weekly press conference with reporters on Sunday.
“Is our back against the wall? Absolutely,” he said. “And hopefully they learn that that’s how you have to be every single day if you want to be great, if you want to be elite. It’s not just doing it on Saturday, just rising to the occasion. That’s a myth. We have to rise to every single minute.”
He added that he wants his players to “seize every minute” during their film review, recovery and preparation for Stanford on Saturday (1 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
One area Oregon hopes to improve is its rushing attack. Against USC, the Ducks tallied just 85 yards of total rushing while USC recorded 270 yards. Royce Freeman (1o carries for 38 yards) and Tony Brooks-James (eight carries for 25 yards) had the most carries.
Helfrich said USC deserves praise for its defensive effort against Oregon.
“Give them a ton of credit for how they got it done,” Helfrich said. “I don’t know if we sat down and wrote a yardage goal, but we have to be able to run the football. Again, had a couple very basic assignment errors early that got in our head for a few more drives.”
Helfrich was also asked directly about a tweet that ESPN reporter Darren Rovell posted during the game. It suggested that Phil Knight would contribute $10 million for a new coach in Eugene.
There’s talk heating up in Oregon that Phil Knight is ready to throw insane $10M+ a year money at a football coach. He’s 78, wants a title.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 5, 2016
“That’s the nature of the profession,” Helfrich said. “It would be cool if it was that easy.” He then joked, “I take it wasn’t me that was getting the $10 (million).”
In the lead up to Oregon’s game at USC, the Ducks did their best to simulate the noise of the Coliseum. Helfrich said he didn’t think the noise affected Oregon’s communication.
“I think again the noise wasn’t really a factor in our false starts,” he said. “It was guys kind of being unsure, for whatever reason.”
In the waning minutes of Saturday’s game, quarterback Dakota Prukop entered the game in place of Justin Herbert. Oregon’s former starter completed 2 of 4 passes for 41 yards. He also scrambled for a 15-yard touchdown run, the final score of the game. Helfrich said Prukop has remained “outwardly supportive” despite losing the starting job.
“I’m not intimately involved as far as their conversations, but he’s been very positive in a tough situation,” Helfrich said. “That’s a hard situation to manage [for] a guy that is competitive and prideful.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
