With the heat turned up in the Moshofsky Center during practice this week, and with Pacific-10 Conference play officially starting in Tempe on Saturday, it’s clear the pressure has ramped up for the Oregon football team as well.
Like he did to prepare the team to compete in Tennessee, head coach Chip Kelly had the temperature in the team’s practice facility cranked up to nearly 100 degrees. This, of course, was meant to better prepare Oregon for the harsh Arizona heat, and most players agree that it worked.
“It helped us all,” sophomore quarterback Darron Thomas said. “Because we (weren’t) tired at all. I know if we wouldn’t have prepared like this, we maybe would have been tired, just like (Tennessee). So it helped us a lot, and that’s why we’re doing it again.”
Kelly did turn the heat down later in the week, giving the players a much-needed break.
“We needed an extra day to recover from the heat,” Kelly said. “We lost a lot of weight (Tuesday), so we get a chance to recover Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from that.”
To be sure, the Ducks will have to be prepared for more than just scorching temperatures as they head into Sun Devil Stadium. Arizona State has proved itself a feisty opponent through the season’s first three weeks, and is coming off a narrow 20-19 loss at No. 11 Wisconsin.
More importantly, Saturday marks the beginning of what really matters: Pac-10 Conference play.
As reigning champions of the conference, the Ducks have every right to be confident in a repeat performance.
Picked by most in the preseason to finish near the bottom of the Pac-10, the Sun Devils do not seem particularly dangerous.
Kelly, however, knows better than to take any opponent lightly, and his attitude has rubbed off on the players.
“You’ve got to come ready to play every game,” tight end David Paulson said. “Because everybody’s bringing their best, trying to win the Pac-10, so (we) can’t take any Pac-10 team lightly.”
Indeed, most players are far from looking past Arizona State.
To a man, they appear to be excited to play in games that count.
“Now we get to go out, and really play for a real reason, try and win this Pac-10, and just win this game this week,” Thomas said.
Adding to this excitement, believe it or not, is the fact that the game will be played on the road.
The Ducks have already faced one difficult test on the road, and they appear thirsty for another chance to prove they travel well.
“We know that in order to win a Pac-10 championship, you’ve got to be able to win on the road,” wide receiver Jeff Maehl said. “And that’s something that Chip’s really enforcing on us. And it’s something that we’re going to take a lot of pride in.”
One key factor in Oregon’s impressive win at Tennessee was a lack of turnovers. The Ducks committed only one, when Kenjon Barner fumbled a kickoff in the first quarter. From then on, the team played a clean game.
The same was not necessarily true in a three-turnover showing against Portland State last weekend, and the Ducks have been working to polish up things before departing for Tempe.
“We’ve got some things that we’ve got to correct,” Thomas said. “Me and the running backs (are) working on the exchange and things like that.”
Thomas and sophomore running back LaMichael James botched a handoff against Portland State, and Thomas also threw an interception. Mistakes will be made, of course, but the Ducks intend to limit them as much as possible.
Whether they will or not remains to be seen. One factor that should not play a significant role, however, is the heat. While freshman wide receiver Josh Huff briefly fainted during Monday’s practice, he quickly adjusted and felt fine the rest of the week.
Asked about the incident, Thomas’ answer was simple.
“Better it happen here,” Thomas said, “than out on the field.”
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