More than one time after Oregon’s victory over Oregon State on Saturday, head coach Mike Bellotti made it a point to praise quarterback Kellen Clemens.
Just as quickly, though, he wanted to make sure that it was understood that the redshirt sophomore has room to grow.
“He didn’t play a perfect game,” Bellotti said. “I told him when he came off the field that the great thing about this is he still has room for improvement.
“Several of his scrambles he used his athleticism and showed greater speed than I think anybody thought he had. I was pleased. He became the captain of the ship, in a sense.”
Cool, calm and collected, Clemens found the gaps in Oregon State’s defense and exploited them. He showed poise in the pocket, picking the best times to tuck the ball in his arms and run with it.
His numbers weren’t sterling, but his mastery of the offense was. He waited as long as need be on his 15-yard loft to Terrence Whitehead in the first quarter. He bulleted the ball to Demetrius Williams in the back of the end zone in the second and found a wide open Dante Rosario in the third.
“He made plays,” Bellotti said. “He threw a couple of passes that were great individual efforts.”
Clemens proved that in the next two seasons in Eugene, he will be an offensive leader for the Ducks. He will lead Oregon to winning seasons, extending the team’s bowl streak to nine and its season-winning streak to 12.
That would be ideal, of course, but if he can play with the same kind of confidence he exhibited against California, UCLA and Oregon State, the Ducks will be in an idealistic world.
Clemens is a leader in the truest sense. All season, he has deflected questions surrounding his personal confidence to the team’s. He says his confidence hasn’t wavered, despite the poundings at the hands of Washington State, Arizona State and Washington.
And why should it?
Oregon, after all, is just four points away from being 9-3 instead of 8-4. Clemens has played a big role in that.
He’s lost a starting wide receiver in Keith Allen, a fullback in Luke Rowley, a starting offensive lineman in Joey Forster and seemingly tight end after tight end to injuries.

That’s just on the offensive side of the ball.
He’s been able to take the rag-tag Ducks and mold them into a capable offensive unit. He doesn’t seem to play favorites on the field, getting the ball to each of his receivers, creating a balanced offensive attack. Clemens has utilized Samie Parker’s speed and has taken advantage of the apparently sure hands of Williams.
Against the Beavers, Clemens took control of the game. He didn’t get taken in by the storyline that pitted him against high school rival and Oregon State quarterback Derek Anderson.
“There was a lot of hype built into this game, but for the most part, I tried to stay away from it,” Clemens said afterwards.
His play in Oregon’s yet-to-be-named bowl game will be the true test for the Burns native. In the Seattle Bowl last season, he didn’t start, but he showed flashes of brilliance in Oregon’s loss to Wake Forest.
This year, the stakes will be higher, both for the present and the future. At stake could be a national ranking at the end of the season. It could also jump start to next season when Clemens will be the unquestioned starter, a junior with more than a year of experience.
He will have Allen back by then, Williams will be an experienced junior and the team will be a supporting cast that has the knowledge of what it takes to win.
For the time being, though, Clemens will have to make do, just as he has all season long.
However, it will be on a bigger stage, on a national scale, on a month the Ducks are used to excelling in.
I’m pretty sure he’ll be fine.