Oregon coach Mike Bellotti called the spring’s recruiting class one of the best he’s ever had and now he’s furthering that statement after already having nine true freshmen play in the first two games this season.
“This is probably the greatest impact freshmen class I’ve had,” Bellotti said. “I expect one or two more freshmen will play this year.”
While none of the freshmen have earned starting roles, yet, their contribution has added to the Ducks’ depth and allows the starters to stay fresh.
“The impact has been subtle but effective,” Bellotti said. “They’re making plays. They’re starting on special teams.”
And if the need arises, Bellotti is comfortable with moving one of the freshmen into a starting role, knowing that they’ll be able to handle the challenge. He said they’ve exceeded expectations with not only their physical abilities, but their toughness and willingness to learn as well.
“They seem to understand. They have a mental toughness and just enough naiveté that they can go out and play and have fun,” Bellotti said. “It’s within the realm of possibility that they’ll be on the field starting, on offense or defense, and not blink an eye.”
The freshmen that have received playing time thus far are: Defensive tackle Tonio Celotto, receiver Drew Davis, corners Talmadge Jackson III and Anthony Gildon, H-back Malachi Lewis, safety Jeffrey Maehl, linebacker Casey Matthews, kicker Daniel Padilla and defensive end Kenny Rowe.
New wrinkles in the offense
Part of the reason for Oregon’s offense resurgence, and for the Michigan defense losing its breath in the 39-7 Oregon win, was implementing the hurry-up offense. Rather than huddling while calling a play, the Ducks are now calling it at the line of scrimmage.
“We didn’t huddle more than 10 or 15 times the entire game,” receiver Brian Paysinger said. “Everything was fast paced – get ready and set to get the defense tired out and confused. It started to wear and tear on them, I think, in the later quarters.
“You could see it in their face how tired they were.”
With the ability to call plays on the fly, it sets up an opposing defense for being unable to substitute its players off the field in time to match the formation the Ducks are showing as they line up. It catches the defense unaware because Oregon is dictating the pace of the game.
“Anything can go. Anything can happen,” running back Jeremiah Johnson said. “It’s way different than the last offensive coordinator we had. There’s so many things we can do – it’s amazing.”
Center Max Unger said the linemen are able keep up with their lighter offensive counterparts because of the line’s depth. The Ducks are able to substitute guys in and out if they need a quick breather.
“It allows us to do a lot more things. We can up the tempo. Like we showed in the Michigan game, we were wearing those d-linemen down – a lot of the quick snaps and stuff,” Unger said. “It really opens up the game. If we can keep substituting guys in and there’s no drop in performance, we can do a lot more.”
The hammer makes its way onto the field
During halftime at the Michigan game, when Oregon was leading 32-7, Jeremiah Johnson made his way toward the end zone in front of Ducks fans carrying a hammer and took a big windup before tapping the ground with it.
It was Johnson’s way of demonstrating to the public what Bellotti preached to his team at halftime.
“Coach at halftime was like, ‘Let Michigan be the nail and we’re the hammer.’ So hey, I came out there with the hammer and just finished off the game,” Johnson said. “You saw it in the ending score 39-7. All the players were juiced and happy about it.”
But what about the Michigan players reaction to it?
“I didn’t really care what they said. We were dominating them anyways,” Johnson said.
The incident was highlighted on many of the television networks and caused some ruckus about Oregon disrespecting the Wolverines. But Bellotti seemed to be more concerned about the status of the hammer than Johnson bringing it out in public.
“I did not know it got on to the field. I hope we got it back,” Bellotti said. “I like players to be excited and fired up. The hammer is a symbol for us of things we want to emulate. So, in that regard, I’m okay with players carrying it on to the field.”