Spring practice kicked off for the Oregon football team Tuesday, and the first round goes decisively to the defense; specifically the secondary, which was batting down and picking off passes all afternoon.
“I was pleased with our defense. They got in the right places for some turnovers and takeaways today,” coach Mike Bellotti said. “Although obviously when that happens I’m not too pleased with the offense. We looked a little rusty in that regard.”
Part of the issue for the offense may have been at quarterback, where there were several missed snaps and less-than-perfect throws. Justin Roper looked the most polished of the six prospects, and seems to be in the lead at this early juncture for the starting quarterback position.
“I thought Justin Roper at times looked fairly comfortable,” Bellotti said. “Nate Costa looked a little like he hadn’t practiced for quite awhile.”
Costa hasn’t practiced since injuring his knee in the fall and participated in more drills than he was reported to be capable of coming into spring camp.
The receiving corps held a couple of surprises, good and bad. First, there was the absence of oft-troubled wide receiver Derrick Jones from practice. Apparently he’s not only been absent from practice, but from school as well.
“Derrick Jones is not currently enrolled in school,” Bellotti said. Then, asked if he anticipated Jones returning to school, Bellotti replied, “I have no idea.”
Bellotti was pressed on the issue by reporters, and asked if Jones was no longer a member of the team Bellotti responded, “He is not enrolled in school and that’s all I can tell you at this point, and that it’s an academic issue.”
A positive surprise at receiver was the play of Jamere Holland, who showed off not only his vaunted speed, but his hands as well.
“He looked like he’s capable,” Bellotti said of Holland.”Not just the fact that he runs fast, but he can catch the ball and he knows what to do with it afterwards.”
Bellotti said he was also pleasantly surprised by LaGarrette Blount, though this shouldn’t have been much of a surprise, as Blount was ranked the top junior college running back recruit in the country by Rivals.com. Blount rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his two seasons at East Mississippi Community College.
Bellotti said it wasn’t his physical talent that was a surprise for coaches, it was his quick grasp of offensive concepts.
“Blount was a surprise,” Bellotti said. “I thought he showed some natural aptitude and some understanding.”
Blount said he has only been in Eugene for three days, but he likes what he sees so far.
“I’m loving it. It’s nice,” Blount said. “The only bad thing about it is the weather because I’m from Florida.”
Blount said that he decided on Oregon in part because of the hole left at running back by the possible early departure of Jonathan Stewart to the NFL.
“I signed my letter of intent and about a week later he declared for the draft … it was kind of perfect timing,” he said. “When I talked to him about it he was kind of unsure … if he wanted to go to the league or not. I told him that if he went to the league or not I was still coming because I like the program. The uniforms are awesome and the coaches are great.”
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