College Football Playoff Championship Game Media Day Notes
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
DALLAS — The Oregon football team participated in media day for the College Football Playoff National Championship game Saturday morning at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, where the Ducks addressed the absence of receiver Darren Carrington from the trip.
Carrington, the Ducks' most statistically productive wideout in the postseason, is not eligible to play when Oregon faces Ohio State on Monday due to NCAA policy. UO coach Mark Helfrich confirmed Carrington's absence Saturday, along with that of special teams contributor Ayele Forde under similar circumstances.
The lack of Carrington in the UO receiver rotation garnered significant attention when news began circulating Friday. The redshirt freshman made his sole start of the season in the Pac-12 championship game; Oregon's projected starting trio Monday of Keanon Lowe, Byron Marshall and Dwayne Stanford has combined for 33 starts this season.
"It's unfortunate for him, because he's a good kid," UO receivers coach Matt Lubick said. "He's going to learn from this, and it's going to — in the long run — make him a better person.
"But all year long we've had guys for different reasons miss games, usually injuries. And the next guy has jumped in there and done just as good. I expect that to happen this weekend."
Oregon's receiving corps figured to benefit as much as any unit on the team from the layoff between the conference championship game and the Ducks' Rose Bowl win over Florida State. Lowe didn't play in the Civil War and backed up Carrington in the Pac-12 title game, while Stanford missed the conference championship; both figure to be at full speed come Monday.
Off the bench, the Ducks will have freshman Charles Nelson. He has played an all-purpose role this season but may not need to factor as prominently out of the backfield given Thomas Tyner's breakout game in the Rose Bowl.
The nameplate that greeted Oregon's newest starter in the secondary Saturday for media read "Chris Seissy." With another strong postseason performance, perhaps everybody will know the correct spelling of Chris Seisay's name.
Seisay replaced injured all-American Ifo Ekpre-Olomu for the Rose Bowl and more than held his own, finishing with six tackles. The Ducks primarily used senior Troy Hill on top FSU receiver Rashad Greene, so Ohio State's deeper receiving corps could be an even bigger test for Seisay.
The Buckeyes boast big-play threat Devin Smith, who averages 27.7 yards per catch and has 12 touchdown receptions. Starting wideouts Evan Spencer (6-foot-2, 208 pounds) and Michael Thomas (6-2, 203) have big frames the Ducks can counter with Seisay, who is listed at 6-1, 187.
"I'm coming into this game real confident, because it's the last game," Seisay said. "There's nothing to lose, so I'm just going to play my heart out. Prepare the best I can, and that's all I can do."
Three UO staff members are enjoying the national championship game with a different perspective this weekend, after playing on the Ducks' 2010 team that reached the BCS title game.
Nate Costa, Zac Clark and Jackson Rice are on hand this week in administrative roles. Costa is a graduate assistant coach while Clark and Rice work with Oregon's recruiting staff.
In 2010, Costa was a backup quarterback who suited up for the title game against Auburn even though he was out with a knee injury. Clark started at defensive tackle and Rice was Oregon's punter.
"It's awesome," Rice said. "It's just great to see that making it to the national championship wasn't a one-off deal. It's something Oregon strives for every single year. It feels like this is where the Ducks are supposed to be."
Clark echoed the sentiment that there's a sense the Ducks belong on this stage. "Last time Oregon was here, I don't think anybody expected Oregon and I don't think anyone expected Auburn," he said. "You didn't have the traditional powers. Now, we are a traditional power, and we're playing against another one. So it's exciting."
Costa said there are similarities between the 2010 and 2014 teams, though this group figures to easily outdo the one drafted player — linebacker Casey Matthews — from the 2010 unit.
"If you look at that team, we didn't have a lot of overall talent, per se, but we were a great team together," Costa said. "This year has a lot of those attributes, but also has a lot of the superstar athletes you want."
True freshman linebacker Justin Hollins is making a homecoming this weekend, as the Ducks will play Monday in his hometown of Arlington, Texas.
"It's been pretty good," Hollins said. "Ain't nothing like coming come and playing in Jerry's world (the stadium built by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones)."
A participant in every game this season, Hollins has been credited with 10 tackles. He has played all season on the punt return unit, and has earned reps at outside linebacker and on the kickoff coverage team as well.
"I really needed this year to prepare me for the future — how to practice, learning the defense," Hollins said. "Everybody practices hard, holds you to a standard of relentless effort."
Oregon was scheduled to practice at a local high school Saturday afternoon, and afterward a few Ducks planned to check on the progress of a former teammate playing for a national championship of his own.
Former UO outside linebacker Oshay Dunmore transferred this year to Illinois State, which faced North Dakota State for the FBS title on Saturday in Frisco, Texas.
"That's my boy right there, so I'm going to look out for him, see how he does in this game," UO safety Reggie Daniels said. "Hopefully he balls outs. I'm happy to see him go someplace and keep living out his dream."
Dunmore started all 14 games previous games for Illinois State this season, and had 57 tackles entering the championship game.
