Oregon 2010

Oregon (2009 Statistics)

• Chip Kelly is in his 2^nd year as head coach and he inherited a great team from Mike Belotti (who resigned & became the athletic director for Oregon, but then resigned from that position to work for ESPN).
• Last year the Ducks finished 10-3
• Suspensions seem to be a theme on this team.  RB LaMichael James must sit out for a one-game suspension (James became the starter last year after LaGarette Blount was suspended for punching a Boise State player).  But the greater situation was with Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli who was suspended for the entire 2010 season by Kelly after the school put him on probation for a felony 2^nd degree burglary incident on campus (he plead guilty).  He was subsequently kicked off the team when he was arrested for marijuana possession in June.  Masoli transferred to Ole Miss after battling the NCAA for immediate eligibility, which he eventually won.
• Who is the QB this year? There’s Nate Costa who started one game last year and was the starter in 2008, but lost that job to Masoli after he went out (as did his back-up Justin Roper) with an injury.  There’s also Sophomore Darron Thomas?
• LaMichael James was amazing last year, putting up 1546 yards, 14TDs and averaging 6.7 yards per carry.
• On the Offensive Line, the entire 2-deep (starting line-up plus back-ups) returns this year and with 85 career starts behind them, this unit should be very strong.  This line only allowed 13 sacks last year on their QBs and paved the way for 5.5 yards per carry.
• Oregon’s scoring and rushing offenses were in the top 10 in the nation last year.  They have almost everyone return from last year’s offense except QB and that might be a good thing as the passing offense was the only weakness this unit had in 2009 (just 98^th in the nation averaging a lowly 180 yards per game passing).
• On the defensive side of the ball this team had an average performance. But there’s a lot of experience returning this year on a talented unit.  Expect them to improve.
• One thing to notice about this Defense is that Chip Kelly loves depth and will have his players go hard on 4 to 6 snaps and then come out for a rest. This is because of the fact that Kelly’s offense plays so quickly, which means that his defense is on the field for more snaps throughout a game.  That is why they need the rest.  And depth on defense is what allows him to give them that rest.