SB Nation - Remene Alston, Jr.

Mr. Masoli, or How We Learned to Stop Sucking and Demolish the Golden Bears

Addicted to Quack — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:09:38 -0000

There are wins. There are blowouts. And then there are games where you so thoroughly destroy the opponent that you take every ounce of dignity and self respect that the opponent has and tear them to shreds. This was one of those games. Jared remarked after the game that it was the best all-around game he'd ever seen the Ducks play. Ever. And in my fifteen years of being a Duck fan, I'd have to agree with him. I watched it at Autzen and was amazed. Then I watched the replay and it looked even better. No team has ever played a perfect game, but this was as close as I have ever seen. By anyone. We haven't written a lot about the Ducks' wins this season because we didn't know what to make of them. We aren't going to be this good every week. But even if we are half this good, then we've fixed most of the problems that plagued us during the first three games of the season. My thoughts after the jump.

First off, fantastic tailgate before the game, and thanks to Jeremy for having us. It was the first time I had met anyone from the blog in "real" life, and it was just like hanging out with old friends. Jeremy, Jared, and Dominic were just the nicest people you could meet. Many readers stopped by, too, and it was a pleasure meeting Quinn, TrumpetDuck, Takimoto, and Arcadian Traverse, who flew in all the way from Calgary for his first Duck game. And, of course, Jshufelt, who did NOT forget the beer. Awesome, awesome experience meeting many fine people. A big thanks to my good friend Cody who hooked me up with tickets for this game. Also thanks to Boiler T-Mill for the fine Indiana brew. The Juju obviously approved.

As for the game itself, I have to admit, a little part of me thought that we were screwed after we fumbled the opening kickoff. Obviously, the Juju still had it out for us. But the defense responded magnificently, sending Cal backward eight yards in three plays. They pitched a shutout Saturday, Cal didn't earn the only score they got.

Keep in mind that Walter Thurmond didn't play after the first return. The defense did this without its two most prolific players in Thurmond and TJ Ward. But John Boyett has been nothing short of spectacular in Ward's absence, to the point where you wonder if TJ automatically gets his job back when he's healthy. We are going to have two outstanding players at that safety position this year. We were talking if Boyett should remain at safety and Ward, who plays the run well and hits a ton, though isn't particularly great in coverage should move to rover when he get back, though Javes Lewis has been fantastic there as well. And that's not to mention the job that Talmadge Jackson and Marvin Johnson did in place of Thurmond, albeit against terrible Cal receivers. The gameplan put these guys on an island all day, and they produced. I can't tell you how many deflections I saw, but it was a lot.

Of course, we were most worried about the Best running back in the nation. He got 55 yards. A tremendous job by our line, linebackers, and safeties on that one. And, as Jeremy noted at the tailgate, how fantastic it is to have good linebackers for a change. There was nowhere to go at all in the middle, and Best was forced on several occasions to cut back and try to get outside. He got a couple of decent runs but, for the most part, guys were able to close before he got a chance to turn the corner. It doesn't matter how fast you are if there are no holes, and if you have to cut back, the linebackers are then a step ahead of you. Other than the first wildcat play that I think caught us a bit off guard, he had no other runs of significant yardage.

And, of course, Riley was on the run all game, and got sacked five times. The pass rush was relentless. I've gotten on Aliotti a lot over the last few years, including a regrettable time last year where I openly called for his firing. But when the personnel is in place, his plans are very good, and this performance as perfect. The depth of the defense also stood out to me, are we finally getting the talent on that side of the ball to match our offense? The most amazing thing, though? Cal never even came close to scoring. Not a single possession in the red zone. It was a beautiful, beautiful sight.

Offensively, I thought the strategy was brilliant. We came out with a lot of short, west coast style passing stuff that made for easy completions and seemed to give Masoli confidence. The first potential deep ball was when Embry was wide open and Masoli got excited and overthrew it. However, the next deep ball to Dickson was money. After that, no problems with the passing game. Masoli was going through his reads well, though all he really needed to do was lock in on Dickson and get hm the ball (and he did that 11 times). Dickson was open on pretty much every play, as he has been all season, but we finally found him. They'll catch it on film and have a safety or linebacker spy him in the future, which will just serve to leave Maehl, Davis, and Holland open for big chunks of yardage. And speaking of Drew Davis--a wideout that can catch! Woohoo!

The offensive line really seems to be coming together well. Masoli was sacked once, didn't really face a whole lot of pressure other than that. Also opened up a lot of big holes for LMJ. Second straight hundred yard game for him, and you can see both his speed and his shiftyness. He is basically a carbon copy of Jacquizz Rodgers. And he will be our running back for a long, long time. However, I was equally excited about Remene Alston. He looked really good on his first runs of the season--hit the hole hard and was tough to bring down. He's not as big as Blount or Stewart, but he's much more of a power back than Barner and, if he can run like he did today, could be the thunder to LMJ's lightning.

Finally, I have to point out that, when backed up inside the five, we ran a couple of plays under center to give us some breathing room. Loved this. I think it was just two plays, and they weren't huge, but they moved us from our four to about our ten, and opened up the room needed for the spread to be successful. No more safeties on a sweep in the end zone. Just get one of those backs going full steam ahead.

Look , we're not going to look this good every game, and Cal basically gave up halfway through the second quarter. But our defense has been outstanding all season, and just keeps getting better. The offensive line is gelling. We've found our running back. And now Masoi has learned how to throw the ball again. We're not a perfect team, but all the Pac-10 contenders are flawed, and we already find ourselves with a one game lead on both. This could shape up to be a special year yet.

Lets hope we get some good news on WT3 tomorrow.

4-star NC Linebacker Chris McCain commits to Oregon!

jtlight — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:02:57 -0000

Chris McCain, a 4* Linebacker originally out of Northern Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, has committed to Oregon! McCain announced on ESPNU this afternoon. McCain is part of a group of students from the high school that visited Oregon earlier this year. Oregon is reportedly still in the running for teamates Keenan Allen and James Scales.

Chris is 6-6 and 210 pounds, and will likely play outside linebacker, though he could also play DE, much like Kenny Rowe. He will likely add some size, and will fit right into what is quickly becoming an extremely versatile defense. Due to a recent school transfer from Northern Guilford, he will not graduate until the end of 2010, so he could end up a 2011 recruit. Welcome to the family Chris!

Spring Game Thoughts and Notes

dvieira — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:51:48 -0000

ATQ was at the Spring Game, grilling, drinking, promoting and enjoying some great football action. The following recounts that adventure.

We had a 3 car caravan meetup up at my house around 8:30am and drove over to the stadium, arriving about 9:05am. Driving along the south side of Autzen, we were directed to Entry 5 where 4 cars were already lined up ahead of us. Getting in line, we plotted out our move on where we wanted to tailgate. Unfortunately, plans were thwarted as we were directed into the left parking spots right near the road. No matter, good spots anyway despite the gravel. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. We all laughed at the clueless weathermen that tried to tell us that rain would be in the forecast for that day. Weathermen, just like Pac-10 Referees. Always missing calls. We laughed again. Little did we know that the last laugh would be on us once we got into Autzen for the game.

As we started to set up our 3 car tailgate, we noticed the guys next to us complaining about something. Apparently one of the parking attendants told them that there would be "no tailgating" at the Spring Game and he was very upset. Word spread quickly amongst the people in the row that tailgating was "banned". It was decided that they really couldn't do anything about it because our row of 10 cars, all with tents, coolers, and green and yellow jello shots (thanks neighbors!) was too many for this supposed security. After quickly moving through 3 stages of the 5 stages of grief, we decided to send the big guys next to us, who were the original bearers of the bad news, to go "talk" to the parking attendant. It was discovered that by "no tailgating", what they really meant was "no alcohol".

--Memo to the University of Oregon: Bad PR Move. Put this fact in your fan festival information next time if this was really the policy. As the hippies say, "it completed harshed our buzz dude".

Several ATQ folks stopped by the official "Swine Flu Free Zone" at the dvieira tent to get some drinks and grub. Takimoto hung out, had some chicken and beer then raced off to join his cohorts in the band. Speaking of the band, hats off to those guys. Not only was there a good crew there, the sound was great considering the echo and they dealt with the rain like champs. A few of the OMB members came around looking to get some information on musical tastes. We at the ATQ tent professed our love for all things Takimoto and advised him that whatever he likes would be fine. Interesting to note, the band is looking to play "I'm On a Boat". I'm hoping that mainstream duck fan out there votes "yes" to that pick because that's just awesome. Qrsouther brought an entourage with him who hung out with us for the game as well. We bugged the people around us about the site but wished we had something to give them...damn dvieira and his laziness on the stickers. Curse you!

After all of the tailgating was finished, it was time to head into the stadium. We dropped our food off with Food for Lane County, marched up the glorious steps under the all mighty Oregon O and into section 32 where we were just too far forward to avoid getting the drenching. The stadium crew was working out the kinks of the video board for this year but things looked to be pretty well in hand. Crowd was estimated at about 12,000 people. Not close to say, Ohio State's spring game, but given the rain we had to endure, I bet a lot of people looked at that forecast and chose to stay home from a game that didn't count. Even when the monsoon hit, not very many fans left. Don Essig even announced that the rain looked to be the worst in 43 years at Autzen. Considering the Stanford game a few years ago, and the infamous Cal game when the student section left, that was saying something to me.

--Dear Cal, please review tape of the Oregon Spring Game so you can fix your field drainage systems. Pitchforks are not standard equipment in dealing with rain. Thanks.

Overall, fun times by the ATQ'ers that made it and welcome to those that decided to check out the site as a result. On with the game.

The teams were split up with the Green (1st team defense / 2nd team offense) versus the White (1st team offense / 2nd team defense). No draft this year which seems to be a trend going on with teams. It makes sense. The guys are kept together to gain a little real world time. I saw Remene Alston before the game on crutches and sporting what looked like a hard cast on his ankle. I heard some talk of microfracture surgery but I couldn't find any information on that one. Any help would be appreciated. Warmups were standard and nothing out of the ordinary stood out to me. It looked like gameday, just without as much pomp and circumstance. There were no punts during the game, probably due to the fact our punting game is not doing so hot right now and the increased risk of injuries from special teams. We saw only 2 kickoffs, one to start the game and one to start the second half. The other thing to note was the use of a running clock in the second half

Justin Roper started off very inconsistent, missing some easy 5 yard throws and a screen pass or two. After some time in the game, he calmed down but the first few plays were a little interesting. He was making some nice 15-20 yard strikes and his velocity has improved. The zone read play got better for him throughout the game as well. He is keeping the ball more often than he did last year and the difference is very noticeable with how successful the plays are. He seems slow because of his long stride but he had some great cut moves that allowed him to get additional yardage. His touchdown pass at the end of the game was amazing although seemed to be "against the rules". He had a great spin move to avoid the pressure but seemed to get tagged twice before finally letting the ball go to the end zone. The pass was good, but plays like that would have been a "sack" in other circumstances in the game. Roper ended up being 22 of 34 with 3 TDs. If it wasn't for the sacks, he would have easily led everyone in rushing. Roper is a very capable backup. We aren't in a Dixon/Leaf situation at all and for that we should all be grateful.

Jeremiah Masoli had a great first half...since that's all he played. He racked up 215 yards passing and 2 TD's. The thing about Masoli that impressed me more than anything was the quick motion of decisions. Very little movement is wasted. A situation is analyzed, a decision is made and immediately we are moving on to the next situation. He has a command of the offense and is very quick in his delivery and decision making. No big scramble plays for him but he did make some nice decisions. One of his drives looked eerily similar to the winning drive against Stanford last year. Masoli is the clear number one, without a doubt. Masoli seems to have developed some chemistry with Aaron Pflugrad who caught both of Masoli's touchdown passes and had over 100 yards receiving. He was also doing a good job blocking down field.

You can't take a whole lot away from the running game's performance because of how well the defense knows the plays being run against them. However, LaGarrette Blount didn't have his best game. He looks a step slow and he just doesn't have the speed around the edge. He is a much better runner between the hash marks. Blount had 14 yards on 9 carries but he had a really great 23 yard catch in space where the receivers deep and he was left all alone. I'm a little nervous about where Blount is because of his huge showing last year at the Spring Game but the offensive line is a bit banged up. I think all of this will get worked out by fall camp. Andre Crenshaw, who didn't get mentioned in most people's write-ups, had some very nice carries and looked fast. He didn't seem JJ fast but he might be starting to turn the corner. His vision is much improved. Kenjon Barber had a great day at running back with 54 yards. He didn't play a tremendous amount but he looks like he's been playing running back his entire career. Chris Harper was also taking some snaps at running back with Roper running the option and he had some good runs. I'm a little concerned by a little too many juke moves. There was one play in particular where he ran about 30 yards to get 5 but the coaches are making a strong effort at getting him involved any way they can. No wildcat today though so we might have to wait until fall camp or games in the fall to see if Chip Kelly whips that one out. Harper ran mostly curl routes underneath and Roper found him a few times. He is getting better all the time.

Ed Dickson had a strong game with 4 catches for 95 yards but he seemed to be having a quiet day. When I read that statistic this morning, I couldn't believe it didn't stick out in my mind from the game. Jamere Holland didn't have a great game catching the ball but Masoli missed him on a couple of bombs towards the end of the first half. He had beaten the corner pretty badly with a 10-15 yard cushion. Masoli just missed him.

On defense, Chad Peppars was having his name called by Don Essig the entire game. Not only was he a tackling machine but he had two blocked field goal attempts and interrupted several other plays. He was out there motoring the entire game and it was great to see him at the rover position. Linebackers were very solid. I'm liking the scheme that Aliotti is using. I'm looking forward to the Boise St. game more and more, just to see how well we can shutdown the tight end seem route. I think we will be much better at it.

Kicking game? Ugh, lots of work to do.

The game itself was a bit of a showcase for the fans and it was great to see the team get some work in during game situations. Our defensive back situation is problematic right now due to injuries but I'm worried about all of the time they're missing. We absolutely need to get healed up over the summer and put in some serious work because we have the potential to make bad wide receivers look really good come the fall. Our 1st defensive ends looked great going around the edges against our offensive line with our defensive tackles doing a good job of clogging up the middle. The snaps from center are much improved from 2 scrimmages ago and should be solid by the time fall runs around. No one really wow'ed me this year like Blount did last year which I'm hoping is just balance on the team. We need our offensive line to gel better, our defensive backs need to get better at covering and our kicking game needs a lot of work. Other than that, things are coming together. If we can figure out those issues (the same issues we've had all spring), we have the makings of a special season.

[UPDATE]: here are some additional notes about the game from JConant - dvieira

Chip Kelly said he liked what he saw yesterday. That's a good sign. I did too, though I believe we didn't learn all that much about Oregon's 2009 team yesterday. Why? First, the offensive line was missing starters C.E. Kaiser and Bo Thran, Darrion Weeks sat out the spring game with a bum knee and Carson York limped off with a foot issue about mid-game. Second, Oregon's secondary was playing 3rd and 4th string guys due to mostly minor injuries higher up the depth chart.

So the defense wasn't facing a Pac-10 caliber offensive line, and the quarterbacks took advantage of some horribly blown coverages on several occasions. Nick Allioti says the young DBs need more "seasoning". I think what he meant to say is they need to know who is supposed to be covering who.

It was a disappointing to see both offenses drive inside the five yard line in the first quarter, only follow with costly miscues - Roper a bad sack, Masoli a fumbled snap - and then blocked field goals. Zero points on both occasions. Roper again drove his team inside the 15 in the second quarter and came up with nothing after a missed field goal. The kicking game is potentially a big problem, though the o-line issues may have accounted for much of that.

My other observations:

- Ed Dickson looked like the best player on the field. Malachi Lewis and Dion Jordan also made some nice plays. The Ducks appear to be in very nice shape at tight end.

- LeGarrette Blount has a lot of work to do over the summer.

- Jeremiah Masoli generally looked very good. Justin Roper had a nice game. Masoli did miss a wide open Jamere Holland twice on deep balls late in the first half. I'm sure accuracy and timing downfield will be a point of emphasis for QBs and receivers during the summer. Darron Thomas is not ready to lead a D-1 team at QB, yet.

- Simi Toeaina was impressive at defensive tackle.

- Aaron Pflugrad had another solid scrimmage. And some of the young receivers - namely true freshman Blake Cantu and Lavasier Tuinei - made some of the biggest plays of the day.

- Linebackers Eddie Pleasant, Bryson Littlejohn, Josh Kaddu and Brandon Hanna made plays all over the field. It seems odd to say at Oregon, but right now we have a stable of quality linebackers ready to step up along side our known comodities of Spencer Paysinger and Casey Matthews. Kenny Rowe also had a very solid spring game, though I believe he was often lining up in Nick Reed's former position at DE.

- Kenjon Barner - he is still considered a defensive back (and a good one), but he looked very natural carrying the ball. He's only a RS freshman and I wouldn't rule out a bona fide position change at some point (only fair to say that his coaches are saying that's not their intent). Barner rushed for 54 yards on 10 carries.

Chris Harper was my focus guy for this game, simply because I didn't like what I saw two weeks ago. With Jeff Maehl back on the field, Harper lined up with the second team offense. He got off to a shakey start, mostly due to a couple poor passes thrown and a drop. As the game moved along Harper asserted himself both at WR and at RB. He had a nice TD catch from Roper late in the second quarter. Route running still looks like an area that needs more work. I thought he looked fairly decent running the ball out of the backfield. More importantly, Chris looked into the game. He didn't seem to get down when things didn't click in the first quarter and as the game went on he was clearly a focal point for the second-team offense.

Last comment - black helmets looked pretty good with the green/black uniforms.

Some Impressions from the Mid-Spring Football Scrimmage

dvieira — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:35:45 -0000

The long winter was over. Spring was finally here. The birds were chirping, the sun was coming out...finally! I walked down the tunnel onto Rich Brooks Field and into Autzen Stadium. I soaked it all in and felt wonderful. It made it that much harder to wait for football season, especially knowing that today marked the midway point of spring ball. I saw some familiar plays, some not so familiar plays, and some concerns. Overall though, I came out of it thinking that we are in good hands with Chip and crew, and the future looks bright. The statistics below are just estimates and I'm betting some of the news media at the game will have more accurate stats. I'll get those posted as I hear about them. JJ was also at the scrimmage and I'm pretty sure he scored another touchdown against Oregon State while he was there. In any event, onto the impressions.

First thing I noticed coming out of the tunnel was Jerry Azzinaro running some defensive line drills. The line was going through a variety of sets and alignments based on a variety of calls. One thing I jumped quickly on was what appeared to be some 3 down lineman sets with one lineman dropping back into coverage. I'm not sure if this is indicative of some 3-4 defensive sets but it caught my eye right away. Outside of Chip Kelly, Azzinaro appeared to be the most vocal.

The rest of the team came out for warmups after about 20 minutes and we moved to the 50 yard line, front row on the covered side. We had the interesting view of place kickers warming up, kicking the ball horizontally across the field. Morgan Flint was kicking towards us but he never quite got into the first row. All of the kickers seem really small except for Justin Dougherty. At 6-6, he seems more like a wideout than a kicker but he made quite a few nice kicks throughout the day. To our left, the long snappers were practicing their trade and performing quite well. There was 1 or 2 out of 10 that were a bit high but the majority were right on the money. Not bad for warming up. LaGarrette Blount looked a little slow in parts during practice, presumably because of his weight. He did get better as the day went on. A couple times, he ran a bit too close to the QB on the option reads but that will get worked out as spring practice progresses.

The horn sounded and the scrimmage started. Defense had the green jerseys, Offense had the white ones on. The practice uniforms are circa 2003 style I would guess, some were fairly beat up and faded. Chip Kelly was on the field for the entire scrimmage, standing about 30 yards behind the offense on each set. The setup wasn't like a normal game. Each offensive team was given scenarios and essentially could go until they got stopped. Sometimes Chip would have the same team replay a down or switch out to an entirely different group in the middle of a drive.

Not the first play, but Jeremiah Masoli ripped off a huge 50 yard run on a zone read play. He also had a good day passing the ball, going 9 for 13 for about 150 yards or so. He was making some very good decisions with the ball. He ran when it was appropriate, handed the ball off when he saw an opening and hit some receivers down the field on crisp passes. He is definitely the number one guy based on his performance today. Justin Roper had a couple of nice drives and some good passes, especially on curl routes to the wideouts. This may surprise most of you, but The Rope had a really good run on the zone read for about 25 yards and also kept an option play to score a touchdown. On a "time winding down" scenario, he had a great run for a 1st down...only to be thwarted by a hands to the face penalty on the offensive line. Justin didn't like that at all and seem frustrated by that on the sidelines. He also had a good day going 7 for 13 for around 120 or so. He still has some issues making the right read in the option. At times, he game the ball to the back only to get stuffed right away. In each case, it looked like another option was open if he made a different call. He also had some nice throws down field. Darron Thomas had a tough day. He was 4 for 13 passing and was routinely throwing the ball over the head of receivers. He made some nice runs but he is clearly the number 3 quarterback right now behind Roper. I'm hoping the coaching staff decides to try and redshirt him again. If his performance today is any indication, he could use some more seasoning back there and he won't beat out the other guys fighting for the position, at least at this point in spring ball.

Jamere Holland had 6 catches for 50 yards and is as fast as advertised. The reports of him having a great spring are, by all accounts, right on the money. He made a couple of nice grabs in front of various defenders. A lot of receivers were touching the ball today depending on the unit. Garrett Embry seemed to be having his name called quite a bit throughout the scrimmage.

Our field goal kicking was perfect on the day with no one really standing out above anyone else...well, except for Dougherty but he's 6-6 so not sure what you can say about that. He is a full head above all of our other kickers in height. I still think Morgan Flint still has the job but I didn't see much of him today. Lots of chances for other guys though. Our punting game is a cause for concern at this point. Very few boomers, quite a few 30-40 yard punts with no return. Jeff Maehl, at one point, said "We need a punter so bad....so bad". Performance was not very good in this area of the game for the Ducks. We are going to miss Josh Syria a LOT.

As I mentioned earlier, LaGarrette Blount appeared to be a little slow in certain drills but he seemed to be having a great time. During one pass catching drill, he was singing with his fellow running backs. He had some nice runs in the scrimmage but overall, the running game was stuffed early and often by the defense. No one had over a 4 ypc average (except for Masoli on his option reads). Blount was doing what Blount does. He was running over and carrying people with him for extra yardage. Didn't see him around the edge too much, he was mainly used on dive plays. When he gets back to his playing weight, he should be the same force we saw last year. Andre Crenshaw was getting most of the reps behind him and looked pretty good. He had a nice run around the right side, shook off a tackler, stopped on a dime and hit the endzone for a touchdown. Reminded me of a certain back we had last year. It will be interesting to see how well he progresses during fall camp. Remene Alston was in for a few plays early but at one point, he was standing right in front of where we were sitting, talking to a trainer. She was trying to convince him that it wouldn't hurt for him to get something looked at. He didn't seem thrilled with participating in whatever she was trying to sell him into doing. I got distracted for a play or two, next thing I know, both of them are gone. I didn't see him for the rest of the scrimmage. Hopefully it was only precautionary. I didn't see anything specifically happen to him but he was not thrilled.

I didn't notice too much going on in the trenches. There were a lot of bad snaps from center that would have gotten away from more inexperienced quarterbacks. There was one point that Darren Thomas did cover a fumbled snap that got by him. Some were high, some were low, some were off to the side. We are going to miss the steady hand of Max Unger on the offensive line. I would expect a lot of work to be done here. Protection by the offensive lines was pretty good in all sets. Outside of a few breakdowns, all of the quarterbacks had plenty of time and opportunities to throw the ball downfield or make good reads. The defensive line was doing ok but they weren't getting much pressure on the quarterbacks and not forcing many bad throws or plays. This should improve though. The issues looked to be more scheme-related than anything else.

My Personal Grades

Offense - B+
Defense - C+
Kicking - A-
Punting - D+

Football Spring Preview: Running Backs

jtlight — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:45:25 -0000

Over the next few weeks, before spring practice starts on March 30th, we'll be taking a look at each section of the team, assessing its strengths and weaknesses, and looking at any battles that will be taking place. Today we look at the running backs.

In recent years, Oregon has seen incredible production from the running back position. In the past 10 years, Oregon can make a very serious case for being the top running back school in the Pac-10. Oregon has turned out top back after top back. And 2009 shouldn't be any different.

The Starter:

Despite the suspension, I have full confidence that LeGarrette Blount will be donning pads as the starting running back in Boise next fall. And we all know what that will mean. We've seen a lot of great backs at Oregon, and Blount is comparable to any of them. He is huge, strong, agile, and has surprising speed. Though he carried the ball slightly over 10 times per game, he topped the 1000 yard mark, at a ridiculous 7.3 ypc. When on the field, there is little to criticize. He can run inside and outside, and has excellent vision. He has some of the best balance I've ever seen in a back, and for such a large guy, it's incredibly impressive. Just check out a youtube search for Blount, and it is clip after clip of ridiculous athleticism.

Blount's only issues are off the field. He was recently suspended for "failure to meet team expectations." Blount was surprisingly unconcerned about the situation, which could mean that this really isn't a serious issue, or Blount is oblivious to the gravity of the situation. However, If what Blount says is correct, then there should be little to worry about. While academic or personal issues could be harder to correct, Blount can easily take part in all strength and conditioning activity, and get back in Bellotti's good graces. With this move, it's clear that Mike Bellotti won't take any crap from his running back, so let's just hope it gets through to Blount. Though I think things will be fine, talented running backs can rarely be fully trusted.

What we simply need to see out of Blount during the spring is him on the field and in shape, cause if he's there, he will tear it up.

The Redshirt Freshman:

One of the strongest pick ups of the 2008 recruiting class was LaMichael James. However, James has been overlooked to some degree. He wasn't mentioned much last year due to two freshman QBs arriving for spring practice last year, as well as the saga around Terelle Pryor. And now, after undergoing shoulder surgery, and the recruiting of Bryce Brown, he seems to be getting lost again.

Yet, James is a back full of promise. He's got great top line speed, and has the ability to change directions and make people miss. At one practice last season, he stole the show when given the chance. James has that big play ability, much like Jeremiah Johnson, and he could fill JJ's role nicely. One thing that you'll notice from his highlight clip, is that with his speed, is that not only can he change direction quickly, but his speed allows him to turn the corner seamlessly, and blow past the defenders. Furthermore, he can catch the ball out of the backfield, which Blount has not done often, adding another dimension to the backfield.

Unfortunately, due to his shoulder surgery, James will be withheld from contact during spring drills. However, Oregon fans will get a chance to watch him during track season, as he is a member of the Oregon outdoor track team.

The Solid Backups:

Andre Crenshaw and Remene Alston, Jr. have seemingly been backup running backs for Oregon for some time, and will continue that role again this year.

In my mind, Alston, a junior, will be the 2nd back (after Blount) in the spring. Though younger than Crenshaw, he really stepped up last year in his opportunities. In some ways, he reminds of Jacquizz Rodgers, as he's 5'8" yet a stout 200 pounds. He has good balance and strength, and can go up the field well. He accrued 161 yards on 21 carries, in mop up duty, before breaking his foot in October. While Duck fans haven't seen much of him, he has good promise, and could see some very productive time this year.

Finally, senior Andrew Crenshaw wraps up the group. As a sophomore in 2007, Crenshaw saw quite a bit of playing time, including over 100 yards in the Stormtrooper massacre in Seattle. However, it just seems like he just does not have the talent to make that leap towards starting running back. In 2007, he had chances to shine, getting a good deal of carries with the injuries to Johnson and Stewart, but just didn't seem to really take advantage of that. While he is a very solid back, he doesn't do any one thing exceptionally well. Where James has exceptional agility and speed, and Alston has balance and strength, Crenshaw is average at all these aspects. And because of that, he'll probably end his career on the bench.

Unfortunately, at this very moment, Alston and Crenshaw are the only scholarship running backs that would be available to play were a game tomorrow. Needless to say, this is a frightening scenario. While Alston could be a very good back and Crenshaw is solid, if Blount and James are unavailable, it will be a significant problem for the offense. If further disaster did strike and even these two became injured, Chris Harper and Malachi Lewis would be available at running back as well, though let's just hope that doesn't happen.

Conclusion:

This spring will tell us just how deep our running back corp is. If Blount's suspension is not lifted, then we'll see Alston and Crenshaw, and they will most likely fight out the battle for 3rd string (or possibly 4th if Bryce Brown is signed). In college football, you never know who will be healthy when, so developing the entire depth chart could end up being very important, and getting to really see these players will either keep us praying every night, or give us peace of mind at the running back position.

GO DUCKS!

Taking a Peek at the Oregon Ducks

ASUBoyd — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:07:03 -0000

Oregon is a solid football team. At 5-2 with a 3-1 Pac-10 record, the Ducks are no slouch, and ASU cannot go into this home game with the same, soft mentality they approached the Cal game with. Our defense needs to come out like they did against USC, and we better hope our offense made some massive leaps over the by week.

Oregon's two losses came against USC (worse loss than ours actually - good news?) and Boise State (Oregon made a comeback bid, and even burned a redshirt on one of their freshman QBs to do it, but it was all for naught) while blowing out Washington at home, blowing out Utah State at home, edging UCLA at home, and beating Purdue on the road (good win).

Clearly Oregon seems to be the candidate for runner-up in the Pac-10, so this would be a huge building block for the rest of the season for ASU. First thing in our ASU vs Oregon preview will be to take a look at some of Oregon's top players at each position.

QB

While Justin Roper and Darron Thomas have both had extensive play time, Jeremiah Masoli has been getting the start the past few weeks.

Masoli - 51/96, 53.1% CMP, 579 YDS, 5 TD / 1 INT, 6.03 YDS/A, 48 CAR, 242 YDS, 5.0 YPC, 1 TD

A dual threat at QB, Masoli is somewhat of an enigma. He really has not shown a whole lot in the passing game, but has been the leading passer in the majority of Oregon's games. His accuracy is somewhat suspect, and he is not the biggest guy (5'11, 208 lbs), but the soph is really an athlete. He ran for 170 yards (!) against UCLA. Granted, he also was 5-19 (26%) passing for 42 yards, but the guy is a threat. It will be interesting to see how the D plays him. I think it would be prudent to force Masoli to throw - put Nolan or Nixon on him as a spy - and set the coverage into a Cover 2 zone and force him to beat us with his arm.

via blog.oregonlive.com

RB

Oregon uses a very balanced running attack with 5 players over 20 carries on the season, and 7 players over 10 carries. There are three rushers we will focus on, LeGarrette Blount, Jeremiah Johnson, and Remene Alston the first, second, and fourth most productive rushers on the team. (The third is Masoli)

LeGarrette Blount - 82 CAR, 592 YDS, 7.2 YPC, 10 TD

via photos.oregonlive.com

A monster (6'2, 230 lbs) reminiscent of Stephen Jackson, Blount has been absolutely dominant this year. Rushing totals of 98, 99, 111, 131 and 132 yards have already been tallied. The junior has been contained only once really - against USC he rushed 9 times for 0 yards. Other than that game, his lowest YPC average is 5.3. The guy is a monster, and with him and Masoli in the backfield, the Ducks have an EXTREMELY dangerous tandem of runners. Our defense will be put to the test - and run defense is not our strong suit.

Jeremiah Johnson - 89 CAR, 515 YDS, 5.8 YPC, 7 TD

via www.cfwphoto.com

The senior, who seems to be more of a workhorse, short yardage back, has seen about the same amount of action as Blount. It is interesting that the team has only been able to get each of these guys 80-some carries, as they are both talented. Johnson is not as much of a threat as Blount for the home run, but he is a talented runner with strength, and will be a nice change of pace from Blount.

Remene Alston Jr - 21 CAR, 161 YDS, 7.7 YPC, 1 TD

via cache.gettyimages.com

Not a ton to say about the talented sophomore, since he has only gotten play time in 3 games, Alston has crazy speed and could be someone to watch if he gets on the field.

Tomorrow we will continue with our WR/TE and defensive analysis.