Rebound by Ducks Began With Great Week of Practices
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
In the huddle Friday following Oregon's final practice before playing at UCLA, head coach Mark Helfrich delivered a simple message: Play like you practice.
It was no coincidence that the Ducks' best week of practice so far in 2014 had been the week of their win over Michigan State. And while the ensuing weeks hadn't been awful, there was a disconnect between how well Oregon executed in practice and how it did so in games.
With a lineup littered with youth and thinned by injuries, the Ducks seemed discombobulated at times. Receivers ran wrong routes. Defenders left big chunks of the field uncovered. As Oregon tried to fill holes and plug gaps, there was some paralysis by analysis.
On Saturday, the Ducks put it all together. They capped an excellent week of practices with a 42-30 victory over UCLA, a game that was 42-10 until the Bruins mounted a late rally.
"I thought we played with just a different edge, a different level of confidence," Helfrich said afterward. "Because we've earned it. They way they've worked and prepared has been good enough — now just go out and play like it."
The return from injury of Jake Fisher paid huge dividends for Oregon's offense. But the rest of the line stepped up its game as well, challenged to recover from 12 sacks allowed in the previous two games. Tony Washington continued to emerge as a playmaker on defense, putting his penalty late in the loss to Arizona well in the rearview mirror. And Oregon's running backs had their best game of the year, with Royce Freeman posting the Ducks' first 100-yard rushing effort of the season, and Thomas Tyner running with a different sense of purpose.
"The thing was, just getting guys to believe in the work we've put in," junior linebacker Rodney Hardrick said. "The time, the technique, the little things we've corrected — we needed to transfer that over. Sometimes guys get nervous, and we have to keep in mind we've done it right 200, 300 times in practice. We just need to do it three times in a row on the field."
Washington followed up his game-clinching sack at WSU and near game-changing sack against Arizona with yet another in the first quarter Saturday, forcing a fumble to set up Oregon's first touchdown. Later in the half he tipped a pass that was headed to a wide-open receiver with a clear path to the end zone, forcing UCLA to settle for a field goal.
"My motivation came from people giving up on us," Washington said. "People were talking about how our run is over, and the Ducks are done. It's so early in the season. It's weird that people quit on us so quick. I think the whole team was motivated to go out and show everybody we're still in it. We're still going to play hard, no matter what."
Oregon's offensive line also played with something to prove, keeping Marcus Mariota from being sacked a single time. Junior walk-on Matt Pierson, starting at right tackle after a series of injuries, said he's starting to feel more comfortable on the field after a trial by fire the last few weeks.
"Something I've been trying to focus on is just doing my assignment and firing off the ball," Pierson said. "All the reps we've done in practice have helped a lot with that. And just the mindset we had going into this game was important to that, too."
Pierson and company cleared the way for Freeman's first career 100-yard night, the first by a UO running back since Tyner's Civil War performance last fall. But Tyner was an impact player Saturday as well, rushing for 58 yards, catching a 21-yard touchdown pass and showing off a level of explosiveness he hadn't flashed much in 2014.
"I felt more aggressive today," Tyner said. "I felt like it was my time to step up. I haven't been doing as well as I wanted to this season. It was time to step up, and I felt like I did that today."
Defensive end DeForest Buckner said part of his motivation stemmed from the defeat to Arizona.
"I think we all just laid it out on the field today," said Buckner, who led a line that survived the absence of starter Arik Armstead. "We didn't like the feeling we had last week, and we wanted to show what we've been working on this week, and how hard we practiced."
That they did, much to Helfrich's liking.
"Think about what you guys did this week," Helfrich told the team in the post-game locker room. "Our best week of practice, our most attention to detail — and then you truly believed in it. …
"Will there be stuff we need to clean up from that? Absolutely. We left a lot out there — which is scary. But trust the process."
