While the focus was on the quarterback competition between Bryan Bennett and Marcus Mariota, Saturday’s spring game provided a valuable learning experience for Oregon’s special teams units as well.
Both squads saw good production out of their return game, a good sign considering many of those playing on special teams were in uncharted@@this used to say unchartered FML@@ territory. B.J. Kelly had two kick returns for 53 yards, including a 41-yard return.
“I think we did good for what we had,” said running back Ayele Forde, who played on the return team for the Green team in addition to handling most of the running back duties.
Kickers Anthony Piganelli and Alejandro Maldanado averaged over 60 yards on kickoffs, kicking off from the 35 rather than the 30.
Eric Solis hit both field goals he attempted, including one from 37 yards late in the first half, and punter Jackson Rice turned in yet another solid day’s work with three punts for an average of over 50 yards.
Rice missed out on being named the nation’s top punter last season, and that’s not something that sat terribly well with him.
“I had a good year last year,” he said. “But I wasn’t satisfied. I really just gotta keep getting better.”
A Ray Guy Award finalist in 2011, Rice said his senior season will be about improving not just during spring and summer practice but during the season itself.
“I’ve been blessed to be an Oregon Duck for my career,” Rice said. “So I really want to take this opportunity to have the best season possible. It really comes down to just being better every day. Never be satisfied with just ‘average.’”
It’s the same never-be-satisfied attitude that head coach Chip Kelly teaches the team.
“There’s not ‘where we want to be,’” Kelly said. “I want to get better every day.”
For Rice, that means sweating the small stuff. The Moraga, Calif., native said he’s working on making minor changes to his footwork that might help him make that jump to the next level, and Rice wasn’t shy about the lofty goals he’s set for himself for the fall either.
“I’m not gonna try and sugarcoat that,” he said. “I want to be the top guy in the country.”
Setting such a high goal for himself means Rice will have to hold himself to an even higher standard. Not even his nearly 60-yard punt in the first quarter was “good enough” for the Ray Guy Award hopeful.
“The returner caught it with a lot of room, and we’re trying to get it with no room,” Rice said. “If I could have 58 yards and a fair catch, that’s much better.”
Rice credited his offensive line with blocking well enough to give him time to work with. With an inexperienced line blocking for him, Rice said he had no doubt they’d be able to handle the pressure.
“We give them so many reps in practice so we have the trust that if anybody has to jump in in a game, they can do their jobs,” Rice said.
Special teams in Kelly’s world include a few extra wrinkles, most famously the swinging-gate extra-point formation. Even Rice — who was quick to remind reporters of his tackle in the Rose Bowl — and the punt team take defense seriously.
“We’re trying to work on ourselves as athletes,” Rice said. “We’re not trying to be out there just as a punter, or just as a place kicker. We’re trying to be athletes out there.”