Post Spring Game Thoughts: New Coach, Same Team

Oregon Ducks WR Josh Huff heads to the tunnel before the Spring game

 

Spring football at Oregon has become a big deal over the last few years due to the program's continued success.

Like with other major programs across the nation, the demand for football here is high.  

Fans craving for a taste of Duck football, since they last saw them cruising to a 35-17 Fiesta bowl victory over Kansas State back in January, were treated to a show.

A lot has happened to the program since January.  Namely, the departure of former head coach Chip Kelly, and the replacement of him by Mark Helfrich.  

And of course as seniors move on, new faces emerge.  

Anxious to see how the Ducks would look under Mark Helfrich, and some of the new talent on offense, 37,000 filled Autzen Stadium last Saturday to get the answers they were looking for.

What they saw was an offensive out pour to the tune of 800 yards and a 65-10 win.  

Marcus Mariota looked to be in usual form, going 13-15 for 169 yards and two touchdown passes.  His backups also performed very well.  Jake Rodrigues was 13-19 with 165 yards and two touchdown passes, and Jeff Lockie was 22-28 for 217 yards and two touchdown passes.

Other new faces stepping up were RB Byron Marshall, who's trying to replace Kenjon Barner.  Marshall carried the ball 6 times for 60 yards and had a touchdown.

Oregon receiver Bralon Addison (#11 in white) catches a pass

Also, Bralon Addison (another one of those weapons on offense that nobody has really heard about yet) had 8 receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown.
   

I know it was just the spring game, and the offense was playing against a beat up defense, but the fact of the matter remains...this is the same Oregon team, going at the same speed, and they're just as loaded as ever.

Which is good news if you're a Duck fan, bad news for the rest of the conference.      

Oregon Football: Spring links

One of the more intriguing teams to follow heading into next season will be the Oregon Ducks.  They are loaded to make another run at a national championship, but how will they handle the transition from Chip Kelly to Mark Helfrich?

The quest for another national championship starts NOW, not in the summer.  

Here's what they're saying so far:

• Oregon is re-loading for next year reports fishduck
• Ducks picking up where they left off, writes Aaron Fentress of the Oregonian 
• Dr. Saturday examines why the Ducks are one of the most interesting teams to watch heading into spring football
• Marcus Mariota needs to become more of a leader writes Rant Sports   

Season Review

Many people felt that this was Chip Kelly's most balanced team at Oregon going into the season, and had the potential to be his best.   

And they were balanced, as they were dominate on both sides of the ball, ranking second in the nation in scoring offense and 25th in scoring defense.  Most games were over by halftime.  In fact, 8 of Oregon's 12 opponents couldn't even hang within 3 td's.

Oregon got off to a 10-0 start and were in position to play for the national championship, and probably would have if it weren't for a fluky 17-14 overtime loss to Stanford.  There were so many "what if's" in that game.   

Like the chop block by De'Anthony Thomas, which would have turned a 77-yard Mariota run to the Stanford 15-yard line, possibly into an early touchdown.  The officials rulling that Stanford TE Zach Ertz had control of that 10-yard pass in the back of the endzone, tying the game at 14, with 1:35 to go in the 4th qtr. And Oregon's kicker Alejandro Maldonado missing that FG in OT, setting Stanford up for an easy game winner.

De'Anthony Thomas stepped up big in Oregon's 48-24 win over the rats

(24) Kenjon Barner and the Ducks ran away from KSU in the fiesta bowl

But the Ducks rebounded the following week with a dominating win in the civil war, and beat a top 5 Kansas St. team decisively, 35-17, in the fiesta bowl.  The Ducks finished the season ranked No.2 in both major polls, which tied the school record for best-ever final ranking. 


Then came the loss of Chip Kelly, who took the job with the Philadelphia Eagles, putting a damper on things, after it seemed like he had turned the NFL down for a second year in a row.

But that doesn't take away from the fact that it was another great year for Oregon football.  Another 12 win season, back-to-back bcs bowl wins, and finishing No.2 in both polls.  The only negative was the loss to Stanford, which prevented Oregon from playing Notre Dame in the national championship.  A game that most experts thought Oregon would win easily.

Losing Chip was tough, but Oregon will be fine.  They're pretty stacked with what they have coming back, and who they have coming in.  They'll be in almost everybody's top 5 at the start of next year, and will be favored in every game they play. 

Big Balls Chip Living Up To His Name

There's a reason why they call him "big balls Chip Kelly."  

In the months leading up to his decision on who the starting quarterback for the Oregon Ducks will be, I had people asking me how could Kelly name a red-shirt freshman the starting quarterback over a red-shirt sophomore with actual experience?

It's simple.  Chip Kelly does what Chip Kelly wants.  He follows his own intuition.  He doesn't listen or care what the media thinks, or what people on message boards say.

"Marcus earned and won the starting job," Kelly told The Oregonian's Adam Jude. 

With that, a new king was crowned in Eugene, one that could very well lead Oregon to even greater heights.  

Once he was announced the starter, the compliments began to file in, including those from former players such as LaMichael James.

Mariota has been referred to as "a more polished Dennis Dixon," and we all remember how well this Oregon offense was under him, before he got hurt in '07.

ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit listed him as the single "most ahead of the curve" player in the nation in this column. 

If it seems like a lot of pressure to put on the young man's shoulders, he's already showing the leadership ability to be able to handle it:
"It's a blessing and it's an honor...but I'm going to take this in stride," Mariota said.

So for the second time in three seasons, Chip Kelly went with his own intuition, and picked the quarterback least expected by the media and fans to win the starting job (the other being Darron Thomas over Nate Costa).

Mariota has four years to be a star in this Oregon offense, and for the Oregon program, the future looks brighter than those shiny helmets they wore on New Years Day last year!

A Message To The Pac 12

Got into a conversation the other day with a coug fan about who has the worst fans in the Pac 12.  His answer?  Oregon.  And the beaver fan butting in on our conversation naturally said the same thing.

And they're not alone in this.  Many of the other fans from the conferences 11 other teams say the same thing.

To be fair, even I can admit Oregon fans can be a little overzealous at times.  What can I say?  We're proud of our teams' recent success.  The seed that was planted 18 years ago when Kenny Wheaton went the other way against Washington, is now a full grown Douglas Fir tree.

Oregon fans love to point out that their fir is more beautiful than yours!  So if you're getting tired of it and want them to go away, it aint happin'.

Oregon has a track record that goes back to "the pick" in 1994, and has been building since.  Joey Harrington took the program to the next level in 2000 and 2001.  In both years - 2001 especially when they were snubbed out of the NC - Oregon was in contention for a national championship appearance. 

Since Chip Kelly has been here (first as an OC in '07) Oregon has climbed to even greater heights.  National champion contenders in '07, '09, played for it in '10, and again a contender last year.

Oregon is the only team currently in the country to have played in three straight bcs bowl games.

And fans that used to say, "Kelly has yet to win a bcs game," can no longer play that card after Oregon's win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

Sure Oregon lost an experienced starter at QB in Darron Thomas, who went 23-3, but the Ducks have depth all around, including at QB.

Both Brian Bennett and Marcus Mariota have tremendous potential.  

Combine that with many key players returning, some people project Oregon will be BETTER in 2012, and they're set up nicely beyond 2012 as well.

Of course there are the sanctions yet to be handed down, and that's the only hope fans from the 11 other teams have.  However, from what I've read so far, I see no reason to think it will be anything more than a slap on the wrist.

And Chip may leave for the NFL as he almost did earlier this year.

The point is this:  the program that turned the corner in '94, will keep movin' along.

The Ducks aren't going away.

Spring Game Recap

A Pac 12 conference record crowd of 44,129 showed up to Oregon's spring game this past weekend.  Sadly, I wasn't apart of that crowd, as I had an unexpected situation come up that I had to tend to, so I was eager to find out how the team looked.

I watched the replay (three times), scoured the web for articles, and talked to fans for their perspectives.  Here are my thoughts.

Upon arriving to their seats on a warm Saturday afternoon at Autzen stadium, Duck fans were greeted with this image on Duck Vision:

 That, and many other reasons are why Duck fever is at an all-time high.  There were a few important position battles going in, none more important than the competition at quarterback.  Long time Duck fan Jason Sherrill  was among many of them who wanted to get a glimpse into Oregon's future: "I've heard so many good things about both, I couldn't wait to see who had the edge," said Jason.

It was considered by a lot of people, including myself, that Bryan Bennett was the leading candidate to become the teams next starter at QB.  But the play of Marcus Mariota may have changed that.

Mariota could be the perfect quarterback to fit Chip Kelly's system.  He can throw AND run, and looked spectacular at times.  To barrow a phrase from Chip Kelly, Mariota "won the day."

He was 18 of 26, threw for 202 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.  On one player in particular, he flashed his speed on an 82-yard touchdown run, resembling another quarterback from the past that flourished in Chip Kelly's offense.

I'm talkin' about Dennis Dixon of course, and I'm not alone:  "I had flashbacks of Dixon," exclaimed Matt Shelton, student and Duck fan, "Mariota was calm and collective the whole game, and looked much better," he added.

Mariota's team, Mighty Oregon, defeated the Fighting Ducks, 41-14.

Other position battles of interest for me was at receiver, and a long both lines.  The Ducks should be pretty deep at receiver this year (a lot of potential talent, but unproven) and one guy who looked impressive Saturday was Daryle Hawkins.

The junior wide receiver accounted for 4 receptions for 55 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown reception from Mariota.

DE #9 Arik Armstead

Arik Armstead looks like he's gonna be a beast, and will pair well on the defensive line with Dion Jordan.  And overall, the Duck defense could be pretty good this year, with the return of such key players as John Boyett, Michael Clay, Kiko Alonso, Dion Jordan, and more.

Overall there are still many questions left to be answered.  The battle for starting quarterback is far from over, there are still questions a long the offensive line and the receiving corps, but the future looks very bright.  The Ducks clearly have reloaded and are gonna be right back in the national title race next year.

The countdown for September 1st is on!