Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
Rose Bowl Week Begins
12/26/19 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The Ducks held their first practice in Los Angeles on Thursday, then spent the afternoon and evening at Disneyland.
LOS ANGELES — For Justin Herbert, the big reveal came Wednesday when he stepped off the UO football charter from Eugene, at Los Angeles International Airport. For Troy Dye, it came a bit later Wednesday, after his commercial flight from Atlanta landed at LAX, and he took a shuttle to Oregon's team hotel for Rose Bowl week.
But for both seniors, the "holy cow, we're at the Rose Bowl" moment was the same: The first time each set eyes on the Ducks' team buses for the week, and the freshly printed graphics applied to their exteriors. For Herbert, it was when the buses met Oregon's charter on the tarmac, to take the travel party to the hotel. For Dye, it was when he reached the hotel later in the day, and saw the buses parked outside.
"Seeing the buses with all the roses on the side, that's when it was real," Herbert said Thursday. "We saw 'Oregon' on the side. That was really cool."
The first time he laid eyes on the buses, Dye had a similar reaction: "It just really hit me and set in — we're really here.' "
The Ducks, rested and refreshed from their run to the Pac-12 championship, enjoyed a team dinner Wednesday night, after their reunion following a brief break to celebrate the holidays with friends and family. On Thursday, they began the business at hand, with their first on-site practice for their New Year's Day meeting with Wisconsin, followed by a trip to Disneyland.
Herbert, Dye, senior Calvin Throckmorton and junior Jordon Scott joined head coach Mario Cristobal at a welcome ceremony to kick off the Disneyland visit. That followed Oregon's first practice at the team's home for the next few days, Dignity Health Sports Park.
The practice was similar to the workouts Oregon held on Sundays during the regular season, heavy on drill work and conditioning, light on hitting. But there were 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods for the offense and defense, and drills for the punt return and punt teams.
The Rose Bowl will be played nearly four weeks after the Ducks' one-sided conference title game win over Utah. That's a long time to stay sharp, but Herbert came away from Thursday's practice feeling positive.
"We've done a good job of just sticking together, so I don't think timing has been off at all," the UO quarterback said. "We've done a good job of just running what we've been running and doing what we've been doing, so I don't think we've missed a beat so far."
The practice schedule calls for a walk-through Friday, before practices in full pads Saturday and Sunday. Throckmorton predicted the Ducks will be champing at the bit to get to the business of hitting over the weekend.
"I think, definitely (Friday), guys are gonna be antsy because we want to get back to that physicality, because we know that's what gets us ready for these games," the UO right tackle said. "It's gonna be another game like that, so we're definitely itching to hit for the first time."
Thursday afternoon's trip to Disneyland had a decidedly less intense mood. The Ducks spent several hours at the park, in some of their most substantial down time of the week leading up to the Rose Bowl.
As the game draws nearer, that down time becomes less frequent. So the team took a chance Thursday to enjoy hanging out away from the field, for one of the last times this season.
"It's a business trip; we can't get caught up in the pageantry, like coach Cristobal says," Dye said. "But we definitely have to enjoy it."
But for both seniors, the "holy cow, we're at the Rose Bowl" moment was the same: The first time each set eyes on the Ducks' team buses for the week, and the freshly printed graphics applied to their exteriors. For Herbert, it was when the buses met Oregon's charter on the tarmac, to take the travel party to the hotel. For Dye, it was when he reached the hotel later in the day, and saw the buses parked outside.
"Seeing the buses with all the roses on the side, that's when it was real," Herbert said Thursday. "We saw 'Oregon' on the side. That was really cool."
The first time he laid eyes on the buses, Dye had a similar reaction: "It just really hit me and set in — we're really here.' "
The Ducks, rested and refreshed from their run to the Pac-12 championship, enjoyed a team dinner Wednesday night, after their reunion following a brief break to celebrate the holidays with friends and family. On Thursday, they began the business at hand, with their first on-site practice for their New Year's Day meeting with Wisconsin, followed by a trip to Disneyland.
Hit the ground running.
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) December 26, 2019
Practice is underway in Southern California.#GoDucks | #QuackMinute pic.twitter.com/eY5EH7xvAI
Herbert, Dye, senior Calvin Throckmorton and junior Jordon Scott joined head coach Mario Cristobal at a welcome ceremony to kick off the Disneyland visit. That followed Oregon's first practice at the team's home for the next few days, Dignity Health Sports Park.
The practice was similar to the workouts Oregon held on Sundays during the regular season, heavy on drill work and conditioning, light on hitting. But there were 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods for the offense and defense, and drills for the punt return and punt teams.
The Rose Bowl will be played nearly four weeks after the Ducks' one-sided conference title game win over Utah. That's a long time to stay sharp, but Herbert came away from Thursday's practice feeling positive.
"We've done a good job of just sticking together, so I don't think timing has been off at all," the UO quarterback said. "We've done a good job of just running what we've been running and doing what we've been doing, so I don't think we've missed a beat so far."
The practice schedule calls for a walk-through Friday, before practices in full pads Saturday and Sunday. Throckmorton predicted the Ducks will be champing at the bit to get to the business of hitting over the weekend.
"I think, definitely (Friday), guys are gonna be antsy because we want to get back to that physicality, because we know that's what gets us ready for these games," the UO right tackle said. "It's gonna be another game like that, so we're definitely itching to hit for the first time."
Thursday afternoon's trip to Disneyland had a decidedly less intense mood. The Ducks spent several hours at the park, in some of their most substantial down time of the week leading up to the Rose Bowl.
As the game draws nearer, that down time becomes less frequent. So the team took a chance Thursday to enjoy hanging out away from the field, for one of the last times this season.
"It's a business trip; we can't get caught up in the pageantry, like coach Cristobal says," Dye said. "But we definitely have to enjoy it."
Players Mentioned
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Wednesday, September 10
Iapani Laloulu: "Be better every single day."
Wednesday, September 10
Dan Lanning: "Business trip."
Wednesday, September 10
Dillon Thieneman: "Keep grinding day in and day out."
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