In a one-on-one matchup during the first Oregon spring football practice on Tuesday, junior wide receiver Jaison Williams blew off the line of scrimmage, running so fast that it caused cornerback Jarius Byrd to fall down when he tried to slow down Williams by putting his hands on him.
After shrugging off Byrd, Williams ran down the right sideline and was wide open as senior quarterback Brady Leaf lofted a perfect spiral to the receiver.
It landed right in Williams’ hands – except he couldn’t control the ball and dropped it.
But that type of thing can be expected during the first practice of spring. There’s plenty of intensity for a team that doesn’t want to finish 7-6 for another season, but there’s just a little rust from all the time off.
Still, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti was pleased with the fervor he saw Tuesday.
“I think we got a lot done,” Bellotti said. “It was a very energetic, very active practice.”
Bystanders could certainly tell that it was no ordinary practice once defensive line coach Michael Gray began barking at the defensive players. One player took his helmet off while he was watching a drill before Gray snapped at him, yelling at him and the rest of the players to keep their helmets on. After that, every player’s helmet stayed on until the end of practice.
Aside from the coaches getting in their faces, players already felt pressure knowing that they had to perform well right from the start in order to ensure increased repetitions in future practices.
That’s Bellotti’s design this spring – to keep practice a constant competition to make sure no one is taking their starting position for granted.
“Everybody’s getting reps now but those reps will be earned next week,” Bellotti said. “My goal is to intersperse competition throughout practice.
“Nobody is a starter at this point. It doesn’t matter who. Every position is open.”
For senior quarterbacks Dennis Dixon and Leaf, that’s nothing new. The two have been competing for playing time since former quarterback Kellen Clemens’ injury against Arizona during the 2005 season .
“(The quarterback situation) has been the same since the Arizona game two years ago,” Leaf said. “It’s a battle every day but me and Dennis have gotten over that. We know it’s not going to change.”
Even though Dixon won the starting job last fall, it’s up for grabs again this spring, though neither feels that the contest is any different this year. They both need to prove themselves all over again, especially considering they have a new offensive coordinator in Chip Kelly, who arrived from the University of New Hampshire after former offensive coordinator Gary Crowton took that position at LSU.
“It’s always a competition going in no matter the event,” Dixon said.
Bellotti said he wasn’t surprised that the two are still competing for playing time.
“Our offense is a big-time offense and obviously the quarterback of this offense is going to be ranked in the nation, draft-worthy and all those types of things,” Bellotti said. “(The quarterbacks’) performance wasn’t consistent and we’re looking for consistent performance and great decision making.”
Dixon was sharp on most of his passes during practice Tuesday while Leaf had a few errant throws that either sailed over the receiver or were thrown behind him.
“There were some rough balls in there but it went well,” Leaf said. “We haven’t put on a helmet in four months, so I think I’ll get things going better.”
One player who likely won’t be putting on an Oregon helmet anytime soon is junior cornerback Jackie Bates. Bates was injured during the second game of the season against Fresno State and was later suspended by Bellotti for conduct detrimental to the team. Bellotti said Bates will transfer this season.
“He hasn’t been out here for a long time,” Bellotti said. “It’s his choice, I understand, to transfer schools.”
Other than missing Bates, Leaf said that practice has given everybody reason to hope for a better season.
“We have enormous amount of strides to take but I think for a first day it went well and everybody’s optimistic.”
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