oregon’s football season opener was this saturday against the Washington Huskies. i went down to eugene for the weekend and had a great time. my body hates me and i’m exhausted but it was all worth it.
RB jeremiah johnson
the ducks are starting the season in what i think is a building year. we aren’t necessarily a team loaded with veterans at the key positions, looking to win it all. I see us as a team with a lot of youth, looking for some players to step up. from what i saw saturday night, the ducks are heading in the right direction so far.
as everyone knows, oregon’s quarterback slot is up for grabs. Justin Roper started the game. He was solid but not incredible. He threw a pick and came out early after a concussion. Masoli came in and impressed many in attendance. I thought he was solid but not that special. He was pretty mobile and accurate, wont turn it over. he’ll be good at holding a lead but i dont see him as the spark we need. 4 Star freshman QB Chris Harper came off the bench running for 60 yards and 1 TD, throwing zero passes in freshman Tebow-esque fashion. everyone in the crowd, myself included, was excited to watch harper in action, i hope he can show us some consistent passing and move to be that dominant #1, but this might just be a building year for Mr. Harper. speaking of running quarterbacks, jake locker is very impressive physically. I’d be watching, convinced he was thinking pass, and then he would take off, gaining 15 yards out of nothing. He didn’t amaze me with passing yards, but he doesn’t have much to work with either.
At running back Oregon has jeremiah johnson who played phenomenally with 125 yards and 2 TD’s. LaGarret Blount will be coming off the bench as the second half of oregon’s running committee. he runs like a monster, refusing to go down, and was impressive in oregon’s spring game. i’m a little concerned about oregon’s wide outs. we have the bumbling jaison williams (who again dropped another perfect pass down field). at 6′5, 240 he’s capable of being a monster but all that potential goes to waste if he cant catch the ball. our secondary is my favorite part of this years team so far. the ducks were lucky to have the hard-hitting Patrick Chung return for his senior year. Corners Jairus Byrd and Walter Thurmond III are in the top tier of college corners in the nation. Byrd impressed me even more with his closing speed and on top of his abilities at cornerback, he’s returning punts too this year! check out this years Herbie awards to see some love for our secondary, offensive coordinator, WR Jamere Holland, and our student section woo!
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/preview08/news/story?id=3548678
on a more serious note, Oregon sophomore football player Todd Doxey passed away this summer. patrick chung wore his number 29 in memory. a different oregon player will wear 29 each game. here’s a link to read more about the late Todd Doxey
