News Archive for Oregon Ducks

The Dawn of the Darron Thomas Era

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

No athlete wants to become a starter in the wake of turmoil, but Darron Thomas is not going to have a choice.  As everyone now knows Jeremiah Masoli is gone for next season and that leaves the business of football to the redshirt sophomore-to-be Thomas.  There will not be any panic and hardly any concern within the program and amongst close followers since Thomas has a limited but impressive highlight reel including the late comeback effort he led against Boise State in 2008 and a 35 yard completion to Jeff Maehl on an option pass in the Civil War game that same season.  He also rushed for a score against Washington State.

There is no doubt Thomas has the tools.  At 6-3, 205 pounds he looks the part and with 4.5 range speed in the 40 yard dash; he has the size and stature combined with speed and God-given athletic ability that the rest of us stare at in awe.  He showed accuracy that no one outside of the coaching staff could have seen coming in 2008 against Boise State and while that is a limited sampling Duck fans have to see it as a hope.  The speed and athleticism of course make him dangerous in the open field and the ability in Kelly’s spread to keep the ball and get into the second and third levels of the defense quickly can lead to huge gains.  There isn’t a great chance he will be putting any DBs on SportsCenter by lowering his head and learning when to go down or go out of bounds is going to be important for Thomas all year due to the volume of carries.

His decision-making under pressure is going to be tested but it will be up to Kelly and his staff to adapt to a new set of challenges  to gameplan around Thomas’ weaknesses early and hope like hell he grows up quick.  A more traditional running game would allow a coach to hide an inexperienced quarterback but not the spread.  Opening at Autzen will be a nice introduction, but 100,000+ Tennessee fans in the second game of next season will reveal perhaps more than Duck fans would like if Thomas’ is unable to handle an atmosphere unlike any he has played in.

How Thomas is able to run the read-option against Pac-10 defenses throughout an entire season has yet to be seen but Masoli made a quick transition from JC football after Justin Roper went down in the 2008 season opener and he came back from his concussion against Boise State and Dennis Dixon made a similar transition from maligned by fans and mostly erratic before Kelly arrived to “spread-option maestro” to quote ESPN.com’s Ted Miller.  Slowing down the game and getting into a rhythm sound cliche but for Thomas they will be vital to his success.

There is of course also the Nate Costa Factor.  Costa is in his final year and despite only starting one game is known throughout the program for his attention to the playbook and knowledge of the offense and why not?  As a fifth-year guy, Costa has been in Eugene longer than his coach.  But this is, of course, Kelly’s offense and he and QB Coach Mark Helfrich are going to at least have options with a seemingly capable, if somewhat fragile, senior and a phenom in waiting in Thomas.

Anyone who knows John Canzano knows he isn’t the most popular with Duck fans, but he recently got one thing right:  it’s time to put this mess in the past and to support the guys on the team who were not involved in the sordid activities of a few.  Nothing that has happened recently will hurt the Ducks anymore than it already has and when the 2010 season kicks off the players on the field are the first with a chance to remake their own team and University’s image with their play and behavior.  No one will have a hotter spotlight than Thomas.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Oregon University, college football | 1 Comment »

Firing Ernie Kent would be easy…and incredibly stupid

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Firing Ernie Kent at the end of this season would come with disastrous consequences for the Oregon Ducks.  Anyone that would consider coming to Oregon is a lateral move at best from Coach Kent.  What seems lost on most people is that Kent’s philosophy for building a winning program has been perfect for Oregon Basketball and is proven to work for a program where not much did for most of it’s history.

The thing Oregon fans need to realize first and foremost is that Oregon is not the type of place most kids will move across the country to hoop for.  Ernie Kent has been a master at getting in on one marquee guy (Rid, Aaron Brooks, Big Mike) every couple years, which is probably about the max for the Ducks and then using pieces around him who can score the ball well from inside as well as light it up from outside and hope to shoot well more nights than not.  His style of play makes for some frustrating time because the team looks unfocused on defense and out of sync on offense but more than anything those things are symptomatic of a team that lacks cohesion.  While that can be partially attributed to the coach, the reality of the situation is that the quality of players the Ducks are able to successfully recruit are the type who need a couple years to build that bond with teammates in order t0 consistently compete in the Pac-10.

If the Ducks make the choice to move on without Coach Kent, they will need to hire the kind of coach who has proven he can win consistently in the NCAA Tournament.  The only thing Duck fans can be looking for is the type of team that is the NCAAs every year and then gets out of the first weekend more often than not.  The regular season has always been a grind in the Pac-10 and the non-conference is all about building a resume; everyone knows that March is all that matters in college hoops and the bottom line is Kent has two Elite-8 showings at a school where even making the Dance would make sort of a “dream season” when he arrived.  If the coach the Ducks replace Ernie with doesn’t produce even more than he has, how will his tenure be measured and how many chances will he get?  There is certainly no doubt Kent has had time to build a more stable program, but at what point to expectations become unreasonable?

The Ducks have regular season and tournament Titles in the Pac-10 under Coach Kent

If the team at any point stops looking like they are giving Kent their best then that would put the pressure on Mike Bellotti because these are Kent’s guys. That being said they  need to realize their effort will go a long way toward determining his future.  This is dangerous territory for the Ducks and Ernie Kent because of the expectations and also because the trajectory of the program for the next five to ten years is at stake with the development of this team.  The easy answer of course is to fire Ernie at the end of the season and start fresh with a new coach and a new program, but without the perfect hire that answer also becomes an incredibly stupid one.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in College Basketball, Oregon University | 4 Comments »

Oregon QB In Midst Of Theft Investigation

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

The investigation into a theft of two laptop computers, a guitar, and some other items is being connected to a name that will make Oregon Duck fans cringe:  Jeremiah Masoli.

Holy Moly, not my boy Masoli!?

Jeremiah Masoli Under Investigation

The EPD is obviously giving little information since the investigation is yet ongoing, but earlier reports in The Oregonian had the accuser confirming that he filed the report and the people involved were Masoli and Garrett Embry, a WR.  There have been a series of twists and developments in this case and the latest is that Masoli and Embry “are not suspects, and are not people if interest”, according to a EPD spokesperson.

The most significant implication here is that Masoli dealt with a theft problem while in high school and certainly cannot afford to relive such mistakes, especially with the expectations as they are for he and his team in 2010.

To presume Masoli guilty of any wrongdoing is certainly premature but at the same time it is not debatable that his actions should be reflecting his status as the leader and now one of the most experienced individuals on his team.  Remaining a program made up of class individuals who also happen to be great athletes is vitally important for the Ducks to keep their connection to the fanbase and community.

If this kind of thing is going on at any level within the program, it needs to be addressed immediately.  The Ducks cannot afford to become the kind of program that sacrifices character for success and this kind of thing can cripple their so carefully crafted image in an even worse way than the Boise State fiasco did this season.

Tags: ,
Posted in Oregon University, college football | No Comments »