With Mark Helfrich making the decision to close spring practice even to the working media, Duck fans are reduced to a reading of the Duck tracks until the Spring Game three weeks from now, their first and only look at the team until the Labor Day weekend opener against Nichols State. There’s a game that will yield very little, and represents a real challenge to the home sellout streak.
For a variety of reasons (security of formations and strategy, limiting the influence of boosters and outside influences, safety, coaching paranoia, player comfort) Oregon’s new head man decided to follow the lead of his predecessor in practice access, so all fans can do is to sift through the interviews and quotes and reporter notes trying to glean some notion of what’s going in the Moshofsky Center and Autzen Stadium other than the loud blare of “The Circle of Life.”
photo left: One great tidbit from spring ball is that Josh Huff is healthy and fiercely working on improving his route running and overall condition for his upcoming senior season. He could very well blossom into an NFL prospect under the tutelage of new receivers coach Matt Lubick
(dailyemerald.com photo).
We know that the tempo is good and the vibe is different. Tyson Coleman is working out at middle linebacker, Josh Huff has moved into the slot and De’Anthony Thomas is the number one running back. The Ducks have expressed a recommitment to the work ethic and practice pace of the last few years, and that is certainly a tradition worth preserving. Players run back to the huddle, conditioning on the fly, allowing the team to squeeze out more practice reps in less time than anyone outside of UPS and the U.S. Army.
But the best news coming out of the closed confines is that Oregon’s best players are working on getting better. Josh Huff has expressed his desire to improve his conditioning and become a better route runner. Marcus Mariota is working on his footwork, concentrating on getting his body in better positions to throw the football, and refining his pocket sense, knowing when to pull the ball down and create a play with his feet, when to hang in the pocket and make a throw.
Huff has a real chance to blossom into an NFL receiver if he keeps improving, and Mariota, now the established leader of the offense, can refine his imposing skills into an awesome sophomore season with his drive to be even better. He’s taken a more vocal role in practice, following Helf’s offseason directive to him to “be confident in everything you do.”
Can De’Anthony Thomas hold up as the number one running back? DAT’s the most sensational, exciting weapon in college football, but it’s hard to imagine his spidery body enduring 25 to 30 carries a game over the PAC-12 season. He’d be a target, although a rapidly moving and shifty one. Last season The Mamba blasted the Beavs for 17 carries and 122 yards, Washington for 10 and 75. He’s instant and sudden as an offensive weapon, and you can’t help but think that with more touches he could create more of the highlight film moments like his two carries for 155 yards against Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl or the 94-yard kickoff return for a TD that opened the Fiesta Bowl.
Every time he touches the ball, the entire stadium holds its breath. And every time he disappears into a pile and absorbs a big hit, every Duck fan does until he gets up. Thomas barely weighs 165 pounds (5-9, 176 officially). He’s an amazing athlete, and far tougher than his size might suggest. As a prep he doubled as a defensive back, and his highlight film includes some crushing hits.
To use him effectively over what potentially is a 14-game season, Gary Campbell, Scott Frost and Helfrich will have to be creative. Put him situations where he can get one-on-one in space with defenders. Limit his body blows. Bring along young Byron Marshall and uber freshman Thomas Tyner to take some of the load. Let Colt Lyerla or Huff tote it once in a while, or for a half in an emergency.
Lyerla is also intriguing, as the Ducks used him last year as a running back in a package of plays for two games at midseason. He battered Washington for 7 carries for 63 yards, and the tackle-breaking ability he displayed as a tight end against Kansas State and elsewhere make you wonder why the team didn’t keep that option alive. He could be a clock-grinding bruiser in the fourth quarter versus a tired and demoralized defense. Certainly he’s most valuable to the Quack Attack as a field-stretching, formidable target running down the seam. It simply gives opponents too much to cover, too many looks off their basic scheme. In the Kansas State game the Ducks used him to deadly effectiveness just before halftime with a series of passes that started out looking like the zone read play – Charles Fisher and others have suggested this might be the future of the Oregon offense – throwing midrange passes to frustrate opponent’s overcommitment to stopping the run.
But the most encouraging development in Lyerla’s development was the maturity he displayed today after practice. Recently embroiled in a Twitter controversy after making some inflammatory comments about the Sandy Hook school shooting tragedy, Lyerla apologized for his role and vowed to focus on preparing for his junior season.
Like anyone else, athletes should be free to express political opinions. Part of being a college student is experimenting with ideas, to take even unpopular and extreme positions and see how they fit. The Constitution gives us all the right to free speech. But it doesn’t shield us from ridicule or outrage if our stance is unsupported by facts.
Lyerla doesn’t have to apologize for having a point of view, even if his view is outside the mainstream or unduly influenced by a misleading video. In football, there’s a long tradition of tight ends who’ve been a little wild or off center. Russ Francis and Josh Wilcox come to mind, two UO standouts who took a couple of falls in the pro wrestling ring, and as Ducks, were more likely to study the playbook by the light of the jukebox than the light of day. Lyerla’s entitled to be an individual, and most Duck fans are more interested in his stance in the Trips Right Formation than his stance on gun control. Which doesn’t mean he can’t have one, and shouldn’t be discouraged from tweeting about it. Hopefully he’ll be more careful with his public image going forward, however, and that should allow him to concentrate on developing his unlimited and eye-popping potential as an athlete.
Oregon has had a long tradition of tremendous tight ends, and he’s the most physically gifted ever.
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