Oregon Enjoys Steady Diet of Success at Receiver Under Matt Lubick
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Decades had passed since last a hamburger crossed the lips of UO receivers coach Matt Lubick. There he stood, though, at the middle of a jubilant huddle in the Oregon locker room following the Ducks' victory in the Pac-12 championship game, scarfing down a fast-food burger.
Lubick's dietary discipline is the stuff of minor legend around the program. It's a strict regimen of eggs and oatmeal in the morning, salads with chicken and hot sauce for lunch and dinner. He never wavers.
That changed in the locker room following the title game. UO coach Mark Helfrich called Lubick up in front of the team to eat the burger. Lubick begrudgingly obliged — though he only had himself to blame.
Following Oregon's win at UCLA in the regular season, the team buses stopped for In-N-Out burgers on the way to the airport. Lubick declined to indulge, but he agreed that night — a week after the Ducks' loss to Arizona, when uncertainty surrounded the season — that if the Ducks won the conference title and qualified for the College Football Playoff, he'd eat a hamburger for the first time since high school.
Weeks later in the Pac-12 championship game against Arizona, Oregon's injury ravaged receiving unit started three freshmen and a converted running back in a four-receiver set to open the game. That quartet combined for 24 of the Ducks' 27 catches on the night, for 299 of their 326 yards and both receiving touchdowns in a 51-13 win over the Wildcats.
Thus did Lubick's ability to groom his young wideouts and help the unit overcome the loss of several injured veterans contribute directly to his standing amid the players afterward, trying to stomach a greasy mix of beef and cheese. "For us to come out there and ball out the way we did, and then see that — we don't want to see our coach in pain, but to see that was super funny," redshirt freshman receiver Darren Carrington said.
Carrington was the Ducks' leading receiver in the title game, with seven receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. True freshman Charles Nelson also caught seven balls, for 104 yards, and Carrington's fellow redshirt freshman Devon Allen caught his team-leading seventh touchdown pass of the season. The fourth starter, last year's 1,000-yard rusher Byron Marshall, matched Allen with five receptions against Arizona.
For good measure, Lubick also got two receptions from senior Johnathan Loyd — who spent the last four years playing basketball at Oregon, and hadn't played competitive football since high school. Not a single player who caught a pass in the title game took a rep at receiver for Oregon in 2013. "He's a great coach," Allen said. "You can see that by the way we perform, on film and on the field."
To open the season, Oregon's projected starters at receiver were senior Keanon Lowe, junior slotback Bralon Addison and sophomore Dwayne Stanford. Only Lowe saw the field at all in the Pac-12 championship, after missing the previous game completely, and he didn't have a catch in the title game.
Oregon's offense didn't miss a beat. The Ducks dominated Arizona, scoring the game's first 30 points and bracketing the Wildcats' third-quarter touchdown with TD passes from Marcus Mariota to Allen and Carrington. The veterans were missed, but their production was replaced. "For them to pick it up, I've been impressed, because most of them are pretty young," UO backup quarterback Jeff Lockie said.
As it turns turn, Lockie was among those chiefly responsible for Lubick paying off on his promise to eat a hamburger — unbeknownst to Lubick. "I thought they'd forget about it," Lubick said. "But Coach Helfrich doesn't forget about things like that. I don't know how it got back to him, but he made a big deal about it the night before the game. And they made me live up to it after the game."
How did Helfrich remember Lubick's promise? Thanks to a reminder from Lockie. "He was a little upset when he first heard about it," Lockie admitted.
Lubick may have been a little upset when reminded of the promise. His stomach was definitely upset afterward. "It didn't feel great when I was riding home on the plane," Lubick said.
He could comfort himself knowing how well his receivers had played, in the title game and all season. Marshall leads the Ducks with 61 catches for 814 yards entering the College Football Playoff semifinal against Florida State in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. Allen has 41 catches for 684 yards, and Carrington has added 30 receptions for 539 yards — a team-leading 18.0 yards per catch among players with multiple receptions.
The veterans who missed time late in the season have done their part as well. Stanford is third on the team with 37 receptions for 557 yards, in his first year back from a knee injury. Lowe, whose leadership set the tone for the quick development of the younger players, has caught 25 passes for 259 yards
Players say Lubick's attention to detail and ability to clearly articulate his teaching points are invaluable. "He focuses a lot on some of the things we don't do well," Allen said. "Say you're a good route-runner but you can't block; he's going to really focus on blocking. But if you can block and you need to refine your route-running and catching, he'll work on that. So we become all-around receivers. That's why we can play so many people, because there's not a real drop-off."
During games, Allen said, players will talk amongst themselves after a mistake, knowing they're going to hear about it in film review with Lubick. "He's hard on us," Marshall said. "He doesn't accept nothing but your best. If you don't give him your best, he's definitely going to let you know. And if you do give your best, he's going to let you know you can do better."
That level of accountability trickles down to the players. "Ultimately it's up to us, if we're going to keep our mind in it and stay focused," Carrington said. "Some of us didn't play a lot in the beginning of the season, but when the time comes you've got to have your head on straight and be ready to go. If you keep practicing hard and do what Lubick says, you're going to be ready to play."
And if you do well enough on the field, you're going to force your coach to endure a gut-busting hamburger — accompanied by the sweet taste of a Pac-12 championship.
