Football Practice Report: March 14

Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads

The author Malcolm Gladwell in recent years helped popularize what's become known as "The 10,000-hour rule," that being that a skill can be mastered through 10,000 hours of repetition.

For new UO coach Mario Cristobal and his staff, that's not setting the bar high enough. Cristobal and his assistants want nothing less than to get Oregon back to competing for national championships, and that requires doing more than everybody else.

"What's that they say, you've got to do something for 21 days to develop a habit? And 10,000 repetitions?" Cristobal said Wednesday, before the Ducks' fifth spring practice. "We targeted 25,000 repetitions to get it right. We're not gonna take the attitude of, do it until you get it right. We're gonna take the attitude of, do it until you can't get it wrong."

Cristobal is in his first season as UO head coach, but the Ducks still are benefitting from continuity this offseason. He was promoted to the top job after coaching the offensive line last fall. Coordinators Jim Leavitt and Marcus Arroyo both are back, and both are coaching largely the same systems as a year ago, reinforcing concepts rather than introducing them.

The hope is that will allow Oregon to execute more cleanly, after the Ducks led the nation in penalties last season. That the Ducks can fall back on that familiarity when in hostile territory, after going 1-4 on the road last season. And that the UO football team can continue its upward trend, from 4-8 in 2016, to 7-6 in 2017, to getting back into contention for conference titles – and eventually national titles, too.

Wednesday's practice was the last of winter quarter for the Ducks. In a new format this spring, Oregon practiced five times, then is breaking for finals week and spring break before returning for 10 workouts in April. Part of that was to capitalize on the momentum of the "Fourth Quarter" winter conditioning program, and Cristobal said Wednesday that has been a success.

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"It's worked out really well," he said. "We still have a ton of work to do fundamentally. But we've (already) done a ton of work fundamentally, and it's worked out well so far."

After spring break, the Ducks will go through the "install" process all over again, starting from scratch and completely repeating what they learned over the five practices held in March. Again, familiarity is the goal.

First comes a two-week break, during which finals are the top priority. Cristobal wants players to take a break from football, too. But if, for the general student body, spring break means a party on a house boat in the middle of a lake, Cristobal has something else in mind for his players.

"We talk about how the O never comes off," he said. "The O can never come off. We have to be great ambassadors in everything we do and everywhere we go.

"You've got to detach for a little bit; you've gotta go see family. But this is more of a 'relax' time, and see your family, than doing something else."

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Practice highlights: As usual the defense has mostly been ahead of the offense from the outset of this camp. But the offense unleased a broadside of explosive plays in the final team period Wednesday. Darrian Felix, Cyrus Habibi-Likio, Jaylon Redd and Taj Griffin all had runs of 20-plus yards, all out of option formations, and all with Braxton Burmeister at quarterback. And in the passing game, Justin Herbert unleashed an obscenely advanced throw for a 70-something-yard touchdown to Johnny Johnson III. The ball traveled at least 50 yards through the air, and hit Johnson right in the torso along the sideline despite tight coverage by Thomas Graham Jr. It was an NFL-level throw, with a doubt. …

On the next play, however, the defense got revenge. Herbert was rolling out to his right and slightly underthrew his receiver, with Deommodore Lenoir making the interception. … In 1-on-1 drills, Haki Woods broke up a short route intended for Noah Holmes. Later, Kyle Buckner made a nice catch along the sideline against Woods, earning begrudging praise from Ugochukwu Amadi on the sideline. … Hunter Kampmoyer is starting to look more comfortable at tight end, hauling in a couple receptions in 1-on-1 drills despite tight coverage.

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Other observations: The Ducks were in full pads for the third workout in a row, but there was no Oklahoma drill and the team periods were at "thud" tempo. Coaches were adamant about players not going to the ground, in Cristobal's "practice like pros" format. The message is coming from players too: At one point junior guard Shane Lemieux, who has the work ethic and charisma to be a really good leader, admonished a fellow offensive lineman for ending up on the turf at the end of a play. …

D.J. Johnson is working with the defensive line after starting out this camp as an outside linebacker, and Demetri Burch took some reps at quarterback Wednesday, for the first time in this camp. … There was a who's who of faces on the sideline. With Oregon's Pro Day scheduled for Thursday, the likes of Tyrell Crosby, Royce Freeman, Henry Mondeaux, Tyree Robinson, Arrion Springs, Ty Griffin, Kani Benoit and Tanner Carew were in attendance. Also on hand was incoming recruit Penei Sewell. …

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Cristobal had an officiating crew on hand, and they were busy. He said before practice he wanted them to throw more flags than they had last week, and he got his wish. During the "team run" period, it felt like every other rep saw a flag fly for holding or illegal procedure. "We need to be perfect with our hands; we need to be perfect with our technique," Cristobal said. "We need to understand angles, so we don't get caught up in a bad position so all of a sudden we're grabbing a face mask or holding a linebacker. And the pre-snap stuff, that's a huge point of emphasis. We weren't very good in first-and-15; I don't think anybody is. We've got to eliminate that stuff."

Pre-practice interviews:

Head coach Mario Cristobal