How do the Ducks prepare for a game they’re supposed to win by ten touchdowns?
The same way they do every day.
The challenge for the Oregon players and coaching staff this week is to remain focused on the habits and attitudes that have brought them 36 wins in three years. At practice this week the team remains in what Mark Helfrich calls “Scout Team Mode.” The offense and defense are installed, and coaches have arrived at a depth chart. Now they’re preparing to play a real game, and it doesn’t matter that the opponent isn’t any good.
Linebacker Rodney Hardrick zeroes in on Arkansas State quarterback Frankie Johnson in a game last fall. This week he’s squaring up on his first start in the middle for the Ducks (Craig Mitchelldyer/Getty Images North America photo).
Because they will prepare in the very same way nine weeks from now when they play Stanford. Or UCLA. Or Washington.
Nick Aliotti summed it up with his old-hand alacrity, speaking to Erik Elken of KEZI-TV. “We always prepare for war in time of peace,’ he said, “so whatever they throw at us, we’ll be ready for it.”
Call Nicholls State a border skirmish, making it the perfect time to iron out the communication in the chain of command and enforce discipline within the troops. It’s a particularly important exercise for the linebacker group, three-fourths new this season. Bo Lokombo needs to establish that he’s a leader and an every-down playmaker. Newly installed as the starters in the middle, Rodney Hardrick and Derrick Malone have to show they can deliver in games, get off blocks, execute their assignments, find the football, seek and destroy.
Elken asked Hardrick if he felt any pressure replacing graduated-to-the-NFL Ducks Michael Clay and Kiko Alonso. “Not at all,” he said. “We knew what we were losing, and we started working the day they left, so there’s no pressure.”
The commitment to preparation defines this group, and keeps their attention in the moment. Jason Quick of the Oregonian, who has rebounded from an ill-advised, self-indulgent grouse last week to produce a series of arrestingly-written features, had a story on Malone and Hardrick yesterday that captured beautifully their intensity and devotion to football. The two were teammates at Colton High, a school that’s produced five players who are currently in the pros.
Malone has a sustaining sense of mission about who he represents on the football field. He told Quick, “Those guys who have made it to the NFL, that’s a big deal, and now it’s like, they have done it, why not us?,’’ Malone said. “We are trying to make everybody proud, and we feel like we have a lot riding on us. We are playing for our city, our families, this school. So there’s a lot of pride. But we are doing it together.’’
A big part of succeeding at linebacker is recognition and knowledge, getting the feet and brain working together so that the athlete can react instinctively and play with controlled aggression. Having these two playing together will save position coach Don Pellum time as he develops them. There’s already a trust factor between them, rooted in the experience of succeeding as preps. Together they led the Yellow Jackets to a CIF Southern Section title. After three years apprenticeship under Clay and Alonso, working their way up through special teams and rotations on defense, they’re ready, and being pushed to be better by Joe Walker and Rahim Cassell. Pellum told Elken he’s confident the competition will produce an effective unit.
For these guys, it truly doesn’t matter who the opponent is on Saturday. It’s an opportunity to hit and test what they’ve learned, with game uniforms, a live scoreboard, a home crowd and a whistle. They could be playing the Dallas Cowboys, Summit High, in someone’s yard, a playground, or back in Pop Warner. Getting to play is what matters. The hunger is always there, and every down of it is equally important.
Pete Rose once said, “I’d walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball again.” Anyone who’s ever competed understands that urgency and eagerness for game day. Players don’t care about ratings, cameras or stats, not real players. They just want the joy of being absorbed in the game. If someone is keeping score, especially with a crowd watching, the butterflies are exactly the same. Maybe a little higher for a game that represents a team milestone like playoffs or a championship, but the desire to compete comes from such a deep place it overtakes everything else when there’s an opportunity.
Mark Helfrich had a simple directive for offensive coordinator Scott Frost, one that applies just as well to the organization as a whole. “Attack,” he said, speaking about Frost to Oregonian reporter Andrew Grief. That’s the key Saturday. The score doesn’t matter. As the game advances the Ducks will slow the tempo down to keep it reasonable, but snap-by-snap the goal is simply to execute the way you’ve been taught, and attack.
It’s the perfect way to prepare for a season in which they have a lot to conquer.
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