Third and long — the ultimate test for a quarterback. The opposition knows the pass is coming. The defensive ends are guaranteed their target is looming with his eyes down the field. Cornerbacks and safeties know the ball will be coming their way soon enough, and this is the perfect opportunity for an interception.
After being sacked just two plays earlier, Ducks’ starting quarterback Marcus Mariota was handed his first big exam on Oregon’s first offensive set, faced with third and 15. All of Autzen was fixed on how the young Hawaiian would perform in this jam. He passed, both the test and the ball, for a gain of 21 yards and a first down.
The most unexpected part of that play wasn’t who threw the pass for the Ducks, or even that this fresh, unknown commodity that is Mariota sailed such an easy pass in a crunch situation. The real revelation was the receiver, Keanon Lowe, who’s been under fans’ noses the whole time.
On a team that pulls from the talent-rich pools of Southern California and the Lone Star State, Keanon Lowe is one of only two offensive starters from the state of Oregon.
Despite being a track and football star at Portland’s Jesuit High School, Lowe was just another name in the bag full of receivers the Ducks entered the 2012 offseason with.
After the departure of Lavasier Tuinei and injuries to Justin Hoffman, one of the most-talked about questions heading into last Saturday’s season opener was who would be among the top pass-grabbers for the Ducks this season.
Josh Huff was the only predicted sure thing. Who else would be listed on Chip Kelly’s depth chart? QB-turned-WR Daryle Hawkins was a popular pick, as was senior Rahsaan Vaughn. Maybe one of the big-name redshirts from last year – now-transferred Tacoi Sumler, B.J. Kelly or Devon Blackmon? Lowe wasn’t among the field of possibilities in most conversations.
“It has been a learning process ever since I got here,” said Lowe. “But now everything has come together, and I am excited about my opportunities.”
The opportunities Lowe speaks of are the ones most pundits and fans surrounding the Ducks football program would never have guessed he would have. But that changed when Kelly named Lowe, a sophomore, a starter at wideout.
“I have always had the respect from my teammates, and that is all that really matters,” Lowe said. “The media had kind of overlooked me, and it is funny now that you guys (media) want to talk to me.”
With a tie for a team high in receptions with De’Anthony Thomas in the opener against Arkansas State, the media could want to talk to Lowe much more this season.
After having never caught a pass in a game before, Lowe totaled 34 yards last Saturday, including the aforementioned third-down grab and then three more, all in a row, on the Ducks’ fourth scoring drive. And that was just the first quarter. The starters didn’t even make it to halftime for the Ducks.
As the season continues and the first-string plays most if not all of the game, Lowe will have even more chances to prove himself a reliable target, one that wasn’t seen coming.
If the fact he is from Oregon and was, for the most part, neglected in the starters’ conversation wasn’t enough, Lowe is not your prototypical receiver. He stands just 5-foot-9 and weighs 181 pounds. And despite the notion that speed kills in the Ducks’ offense, at the receiver position, this doesn’t always ring true. In a scheme emphasizing speed around the edge, receivers are asked to be excellent blockers, something most guys Lowe’s size would have trouble with. Being named a starter in Kelly’s offense means the coaches didn’t see it that way.
“It goes back to the way I have always played,” Lowe said. “In high school, I was real physical on defense and offense, and I have tried to carry that over to college. Whether I am 5-foot-9 or 6-foot-4 doesn’t matter to me.”