With the Duck crowd in Pasadena exploding, DJ James blew a kiss to the audience. He made the game-saving interception for the first time in his career. All the work he put in this season came together perfectly as his teammates ran past the UCLA offense to celebrate with him.

While at this moment he was the most important player for Oregon, the journey wasn’t so easy for the sophomore.

After an incident in August involving an airsoft gun shooting, he and teammate Jamal Hill were suspended throughout the entirety of fall training camp. Prior to the Fresno State game, the two were reinstated on the team.

When he returned, he battled for a starting role. After playing behind current NFL cornerback Deommodore Lenoir last season, he found himself behind boundary cornerbacks Trikweze Bridges and Dontae Manning.

His first performance of the season against the Buckeyes solidified his place within the Oregon defense. His five tackles helped the Ducks pull off a monumental 35-28 upset in the second week of the season.

Following the upset in Columbus, James earned his starting position again. Although he fought for his spot, there has been plenty of adversity to overcome since his first start of the season. Since he has started, he’s been one of Oregon’s strongest defenders in the secondary.
In the Ducks’ 31-24 defeat against Stanford, James was unable to beat Stanford receiver Elijah Higgins to the ball on the final play of the game, allowing the Cardinal to tie the game and force overtime in their eventual loss.
“It’s part of the game,” James said of the loss at Stanford. “Just having that next play mentality in your head. Knowing that my teammates got my back, [and] I got their back.”

While losing like that was particularly poignant, it motivated James to improve.

Weeks after the loss came the biggest game of the Ducks’ season since the win against the Buckeyes: UCLA.

As the Ducks nursed a narrow 34-31 lead late in the fourth quarter, the Bruins offense started to drive down the field. With 54 seconds left on a second-down play, James jumped in front of UCLA receiver Kam Brown and made the game-sealing interception.

It was his first collegiate interception, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I had seen the exact formation before, so I was just thinking ‘I’m gonna show a different look’ and hopefully get a different outcome,“ he said. “I knew we needed a play so I put it on the line.”

He had eight tackles against the Bruins, second to only Noah Sewell and Kayvon Thibodeaux, who tied with nine apiece. When the Ducks needed a player to step up in an important moment, James provided a bright spark.

“Going back a couple of games ago, at the end of the Stanford game, he was disappointed in how he played,” Oregon defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. “He committed himself to correcting that, to make the big plays at the right time — particularly that last drive, our corners had to make plays.”

With four games left in conference play for the Ducks, there is still plenty of room for James to make valuable plays for the Oregon defense.