When Chip Kelly handed LaMichael James a one-game suspension after his star running back pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge last March, the 20-year-old returned to the practice field with one goal for the following season — earn Academic All-American honors.
James quietly finished out the 2010 school year with a strong showing in spring practice, and returned to summer camp in August with a renewed sense of urgency. The Rose Bowl defeat still fresh in his mind, James brought his hard-nosed play on the field and humble demeanor off of it back to a team with higher expectations than ever before.
Wearing street clothes for Oregon’s Sept. 4 season-opener, James watched patiently from the sidelines as his teammate and close friend Kenjon Barner torched New Mexico for five touchdowns in the first 23 minutes of the season. James’ time eventually came, and 12 games later, the pair are gearing up for a trip to the BCS National Championship Game. James was selected a first-team All-Pac-10 running back, and one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy along the way.
“We’ve really worked hard for this throughout the whole year,” James said. “It started in fall camp — back in the offseason — we prepared for this. We came out each and every day, and we just kept grinding it out, even when people didn’t give us a chance.”
After many questioned him during those somber times last spring, James succeeded in achieving his goal, and was named to the Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic first team along with teammates David Paulson and Carson York — both repeat selections.
With a rekindled fire fueling the 5-foot-9, 185-pound running back, James asserted himself as one of the most elite players in the country as only a sophomore. He finished the regular season as the nation’s leading rusher with 1,682 yards in 11 games. James’ scored at least one touchdown in all but two of Oregon’s 12 wins in 2010, en route to the country’s best scoring mark of 12.0 points per game.
James does, however, have a backup most offensive coordinators dream of. Already proven capable of shouldering the load for an entire game, Barner has found ways to make an impact during his limited action this season.
“When he gets tired, I go in and I do what I can for the team,” Barner said. “I know that LaMichael is going to make it happen, so I have to come in and try to keep up with him.”
All told, the pair rushed for 2,201 yards and 27 touchdowns on the ground and another 282 yards and three scores through the air. While James certainly gets the majority of the playing time — he has a 199-play advantage over Barner on the season — Barner’s appearances have always seemed to provide that extra spark when Oregon has needed it most.
“Kenjon’s a great player,” James said. “It really helps to have us both, because we can always have fresh legs.”
The third and most vital piece of the offensive attack, sophomore quarterback Darron Thomas, has long since surpassed preseason expectations. The first-year signal caller has executed Chip Kelly’s 75-play, zone-read offense to near perfection and limited mistakes along the way.
Thomas has completed 60.7 percent of his passes for 2,518 yards and 28 touchdowns against seven interceptions. Initially pegged as a run-first quarterback, Thomas has consistently beaten opponents with his arm and kept the number of hits he’s taken low.
“There’s times when he has four or five options right when the ball’s snapped,” Kelly said. “What’s been really impressive with Darron all year long is just the decisions that he’s made.”
In comparison to last year’s starter, Jeremiah Masoli, Thomas has thrown for nearly 400 more yards and 13 more touchdowns since winning the job out of summer camp. The confidence Thomas plays with has kept Oregon out of many dire situations that became commonplace with Masoli under center, and heading into the biggest game of his life, Thomas realizes this special season is about more than X’s and O’s.
When asked why this team was still unbeaten after 12 games, Thomas’ answer was simple and direct.
“Because of the brotherhood of the team,” Thomas said. “The love of the team, and not losing for each other and playing for each other.”
The trio in Oregon’s backfield will be among the many Ducks playing for one another 34 days from now, ready to capitalize on a body of work that has taken special shape over the past calendar year.
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