The moment sits in a season-long lowlight reel that defined Oregon’s 2002 season.
Autzen Stadium, filled to the brim as the Ducks take on hated rival Washington, welcomes quarterback Kellen Clemens onto the field at the start of Oregon’s first drive of the third quarter. It is Clemens’ first game action since Oregon played Portland State almost two months ago.
In Clemens’ first pass attempt, Washington cornerback Derrick Johnson steps in front of Duck receiver Keenan Howry, picking off the quarterback’s crisply thrown but off-target pass.
“It wasn’t the first pick of my career and it won’t be my last,” Clemens said. “It was my first one in college, but it won’t be the last. That’s part of the position. You’ve got to push through it and stay mentally tough.”
It’s easy for Clemens, now embroiled in a quarterback competition with Jason Fife during Oregon’s spring practices, to look back at the play and pick out the positives. After a season that saw the Ducks fall from No. 5 in the country midway through the year to eighth place in the Pacific-10 Conference, it’s hard.
But Clemens is doing just that.
There is no true starter at the position so far for the Ducks. Fife is listed as No. 1 on the depth chart, but in reality, he could be wearing “1A” on the back of his jersey. Clemens, on the other hand, could very well don “1B.”
Head coach Mike Bellotti likely isn’t going to name a starter until fall camp, and both know that.
“I don’t even think we’re thinking about it,” Fife said. “We’re just coming out here and playing and doing the best we can.”
So now, for Clemens, a redshirt sophomore-to-be, learning from last season’s perils can only make him better.
That includes a stint in the Seattle Bowl, Oregon’s reward for finishing the regular season with a 7-5 record. Clemens eventually finished the game 19-of-31 for 161 yards and one touchdown, coming in after watching from the sidelines for the first three series of the game.
He knew he was coming in, having heard from Oregon’s coaches one week prior to the game against Wake Forest. Still, it would be tough for the former Burns High School star to adjust.
“When we got on the bus to go to the game, I sat down and was sitting right behind (offensive guard) Joey Forster,” Clemens said. “He turned around and looked at me, and I’m sure my eyes were the size of golf balls, and he asks, ‘are you nervous?’
“‘Yeah, I’m nervous.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Don’t be nervous. At the chance of failing, be excited about the opportunity you’ve got to show everybody what you’ve got.’ I said, ‘Wow, this guy, who was a freshman All-American, has enough confidence in me to say that.’ I couldn’t wait to get on the field.”
The Ducks were lambasted by Wake Forest, 38-17, ending the dire season on a low note. What the game did do, however, was open the door for Clemens to possibly step in and take over the starting opportunity.
“Personally, each one of us wants to start for this football team,” Clemens said. “But at the same time, there’s something much more than Jason or I or Jason and I combined. And that’s the Oregon Ducks winning some games this year.”
At Oregon’s first scrimmage, held last Saturday, neither Clemens nor Fife played particularly well. Clemens, specifically, was 8-of-13 for 102 yards and one score. The touchdown throw came in his first series of the day, when Kellen Taylor beat Marques Binns on a 44-yard toss.
But Clemens, who stands 6-foot-2 and looks as though he could stand in as a linebacker, has the capability of doing much more, especially in Oregon’s scrimmages to come.
And yet, on the same token, he has a lot of room to improve.
“He still makes mistakes that I have a hard time with, in terms of flushing out of the pocket or rolling over to the top of the protection,” Bellotti said. “Those are some of the things that are a function of what he did in his last two years of high school. That’s no knock on him.
“He has spent time working on his throwing motion, but mostly on his read progression. He’s an accurate passer. If we can train his eyes correctly and keep his feet in the pocket more often, he will be a great player.”
Despite that first pass against Washington, Clemens hasn’t deterred from that goal.
“If I had to go back and do it again, I’d do the same thing over again,” he said. “I appreciate the coaches having the confidence to put me in that situation. I’d do it all over again if I had the chance.”
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