Ask sophomore Chris Vincent how his 2003 season went, and he gives a definitive answer.
“Not good at all,” he said. “I had big expectations, but didn’t live up to them.”
Easily said. Vincent had a strong set of spring workouts — his first with Oregon — but then, by all counts, he disappointed during the regular season.
He began the year by gaining 49 yards in seven carries against Mississippi State, then 77 in 21 attempts two weeks later against Arizona.
After that, the ball fell off the cliff. Vincent ended the last nine games of the season by rushing for 41 yards in 28 attempts.
He missed two games during that stretch and suited up for, but did not make a rushing attempt, in Oregon’s loss in the 2003 Sun Bowl.
“I think he has the talent to play,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said, echoing Vincent’s thoughts that the 2003 season was disappointing. “He’s the biggest back we have. But he has to play with reckless abandon. And he has to be able to play if he’s not 100 percent. After the first game, very few players are 100 percent. That’s a very honest, a very frank opinion.”
Vincent was beset by injuries, most notably a sprained knee suffered in Oregon’s win over Mississippi State. Admittedly, he said he didn’t play through the pain as much as he should have.
“It was my first season of college football and my body was just shot,” Vincent said. “I felt like I was 50 years old after the injury. When you wake up, it’s hard to move around and get going. My main focus this offseason was to just build up my endurance.”
Vincent enters the same type of situation this spring as last year. He’s basically the team’s No. 1 running back because of injuries to Terrence Whitehead and
Kenny Washington.
When the duo returns, Vincent will essentially be fighting for the third spot with Ryan Shaw. In addition, the backfield gets a little more crowded when heralded running back Terrell Jackson arrives from Moreno Valley, Calif., in the fall.
“The coaches have seen the potential I have,” Vincent said. “It was just my part to bring it out.
“It’s going to be the same thing as last year; the battle to see who’s going to be No. 1.”
So far, so good this spring for Vincent.
“I think Ryan Shaw and Chris Vincent have made the most of their opportunities this spring,” Bellotti said. “Each has taken the opportunity to step forward and show some things I feel good about.”

Aiming for Saturday
The 2004 NFL Draft got a little bit murkier Monday when it was ruled that Ohio State’s Maurice Clarett and Southern California’s Mike Williams would not be eligible for selection.
The two, among a few other less notables, were denied early entry when the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “put a hold on a lower-court decision to allow” them to declare their intentions, according to the Associated Press.
What does that do for the group of Oregon athletes determined to hear their name called, beginning Saturday?
Probably not much.
No former Ducks have been rumored to go in the first round, according to a number of online mock drafts.
In a mock draft on ESPN.com, defensive tackle Igor Olshansky is slated to be the first Duck picked. If the chips fell as the Web site predicted, he would go to Tampa Bay at 79th overall (third round).
Two picks later, fellow defensive tackle Junior Siavii is predicted to go to New Orleans.
Olshansky and Siavii might be the least publicized of the Oregon players entering the draft, when compared to Samie Parker and Keith Lewis, but have the most upside, according to the site.
“The good news is that (Olshansky) is a very promising developmental prospect,” writes Scouts, Inc., which provides analysis for ESPN.com. “The bad news is that a team would likely have to draft him at a spot higher his current value warrants. Olshansky’s stock should rise because he puts up impressive workout numbers, but drafting him before the third round is a gamble.”
Theoretically, joining Olshansky and Siavii in the draft will be Parker (fifth round, 152nd overall, Denver).
The highest pick from the Pacific-10 Conference? According to ESPN, that would be USC defensive end Kenechi Udeze, slated to go eighth overall to Atlanta.
If SI.com had its way, Udeze would fall ninth to Jacksonville.
The draft begins Saturday at 9 a.m. on ESPN.