University of Oregon students returned to class on Monday, and the Oregon football team returned to practice for the first time after its 41-38 loss to Colorado. The Ducks had a lighter day overall due to the new school schedule.
Oregon, which has suffered consecutive three-point losses to Nebraska and Colorado the past two weeks, visits Washington State on Saturday. Overall the team remains optimistic it can return to its winning ways in the Pac-12 Conference.
“You don’t change the formula because you had a couple of close losses,” defensive backs coach John Neal said. “… I’m not going to allow guys to think that they’re losers.”
Veteran offensive lineman Cameron Hunt said there was a players-only meeting on the field after practice on Monday. His position coach, Steve Greatwood, said the message remains the same from coaches to players.
“I told them this morning: ‘Let’s keep our heads down and keep on swinging,’” Greatwood said. “… If you’re asking if a panic button is going on, no. I think, again, continuing to stay the course — that’s the message we have to continue to deliver.”
Oregon, which stands at 2-2 overall, faces no easy task in stopping Washington State’s ‘Air Raid’ attack. The Cougars sit at 1-2 in advance of their Pac-12 opener against the Ducks.
“In some ways, believe or not, the secret is that it’s simple,” Neal said of Washington State’s offense. “But not when you watch it all at once — it looks like a Chinese fire drill.”
Neal said he hopes back-t0-back losses don’t begin to affect his players on the practice field. He said that’s when a loss can have larger rippling effects.
“I’m hoping that we don’t start to let losses creep into our minds,” Neal said. “All of a sudden you start to feel that. It’s a really dangerous path to go on. I just try and tell my guys that we have to get back to practice and do everything we can. … There’s no easy games.”
Other notes from practice:
— Oregon announced that its game against Washington on Oct. 8 will be a 4:30 p.m. kickoff, broadcast on FOX.
— Backup quarterback Justin Herbert, who has taken just one snap this season as a true freshman, said “there’s definitely a sense that we need to get back to Oregon culture.” Herbert also said in the fall he listened closely to the coaches’ recommendations on whether to redshirt or not.
“It’d be exciting,” Herbert said of taking more game snaps, “but I’m OK with learning from Dakota at this point.”
— Quarterbacks coach David Yost will this weekend return to Pullman for his first time on the visiting sideline. He spent three years as a wide receivers coach at Washington State before relocating to Eugene to coach the Ducks.
Neal joked that Yost has been more than helpful in breaking down the Cougars.
“He told us everything Mike Leach does and that’s great — and then we have to stop them,” Neal said.
Herbert added that Yost took time to talk to Oregon’s quarterbacks about the atmosphere in Pullman.
— Royce Freeman appeared to practice on Monday, departing with cleats on and pads. Ryan Thorburn of the Register-Guard noted that Jalen Jelks, A.J. Hotchkins and Kani Benoit didn’t appear at practice Monday.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne