Starting the season with a bunch of BS

[ Wonderful. Nothing starts off the season better than a good ol' S.I. cover curse. Notice the new uni's? Gone are the diamond plates. I had to trade in my two year-old pickup with the diamond plate stickers and mud flaps and start over with wings.

Below is an article from the Oregonian. Comments by me are between brackets and in green like this.

Oh and by the way, Boise State -- Oregon's first opponent -- got my highest respect before last season when they came to Eugene. That was when one of their goons lowered his head, took two steps into Masoli's chin and knock him out of the game. Henceforth, I will refer to that team as B.S.]

UO football: Small crowd watches secretive Ducks scrimmage
Posted by John Hunt, The Oregonian August 25, 2009 22:10PM
Categories: Football

EUGENE -- Nine days before their season opener at Boise State, the Oregon Ducks played their final scrimmage Tuesday night before a crowd of about six at Autzen Stadium.
In attendance were Nike co-founder Phil Knight and a few friends. They saw the Ducks' "March to Victory," a parade from the Duck Shop at the Moshofsky Center into the stadium. There, the Ducks held a scrimmage that featured an improved Jeremiah Masoli and another long touchdown run by LaMichael James. [LaMichael James is a small, squirty Quiz Rogers type of RB who's supposed to make us forget all about LaGarrette Blount . . . until the next down when Masoli hands off to LaGarrette Blount.]
Masoli, who struggled in Oregon's other scrimmage, was 9 of 19 for 111 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The UO official keeping the stats in the secretive scrimmage said four of those passes were dropped.
"I feel like we're ready to play tomorrow," said Masoli, whose first pass went for a 49-yard touchdown to Jeff Maehl.
D.J. Davis led the receivers with six catches for 60 yards. Tyrece Gaines had three for 23, including a nine-yard touchdown catch. Kelly said he will probably operate with a rotation of five receivers at Boise State: Maehl, Davis, Lavasier Tuinei, Jamere Holland and Garrett Embry.
Because of injuries and inexperience, the receiver position was clouded heading into this week, but that's about the only area of great uncertainty. Things have changed a bit in the defensive backfield, though.
Talmadge Jackson, who moved from cornerback to rover this summer and fall, has been moved back to corner. So he and Willie Glasper will split time at the corner opposite Walter Thurmond. T.J. Ward will start at free safety, and Marvin Johnson and Javes Lewis will split time at rover.
Morgan Flint is the kicker, although he missed a 27-yard try Tuesday night. Freshman Mike Bowlin was 2 of 2, from 35 and 27 yards. Rob Beard hit a 28-yarder and had a 26-yard attempt blocked.
Freshman Jackson Rice may have won the punting job, outkicking Tim Taylor. Rice had punts of 45, 49 and 55 yards.
On defense, linebacker Bryson Littlejohn made a case for more playing time, with four tackles, a sack and a one-handed interception. Defensive lineman Zac Clark did, too, with five tackles, including three for loss.
James was the leading rusher of the scrimmage, with seven carries for 58 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown. LeGarrette Blount's day was a short one, with four quick carries for 21 yards. Kenjon Barner rushed eight times for 52 yards and -- as in the previous scrimmage -- the running back/defensive back did not play any defense.
Nate Costa, who shined in the last scrimmage, was 16 of 35 for 141 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions and three drops. He also had two touchdown passes nullified by penalty.
The Ducks seemed to come out of the scrimmage fairly unscathed, although backup offensive lineman Charlie Carmichael left on a cart with an injury to his left leg.
Defensive tackle Simi Toeaina is back after missing time with a broken left thumb. Toeaina got his cast off and stitches out Monday and will play with a brace. Coach Chip Kelly said defensive end Terrell Turner had a "great, great camp."
Kelly, after leading the postgame procession of players into the locker room, said he was pleased with what he saw. Asked what was still needed before the Sept. 3 game on the blue turf in Boise, Kelly said, "We need about eight days."
The Ducks will participate in their team-building day known as the "O Games" today. The Ducks will take Friday off before prepping in earnest on Saturday.
"We don't have to focus on the Oregon offense anymore," linebacker Casey Matthews said. "Now we focus on Boise, which is great."
John Hunt: 503-294-7643; johnhunt@news.oregonian.com

[ So how is Coach Kelly doing? Is he reaching his players? Is he a good communicator? I saw an amateur film once of one of Bellotti's practices several years ago. What struck me was the extreme organization and attention to detail in the five or six drills his assistants were simultaneously executing all over the field. Not one second was wasted. Does Kelly work in that same way? The following excerpt from Eugene's Register Guard may answer that question. . . .]

Tight-end Ed Dickson comments on Kelly's practice style. R-G photo.

From the R-G, Tuesday, August 25th.

The Ducks concluded camp one practice under the limit set by the NCAA. Some schedules had the team working out twice Monday, but Kelly said he determined from the start that he wanted to practice his pregame routine.
He wasn’t concerned with leaving a day of practice unused.
“I want fresh legs (for the scrimmage),” Kelly said. “Guys are competing for jobs; are you seeing them to the best of their abilities when you’re making your final decisions?
“We charted every day, our number of reps. Our reps are up big-time (from years past). We’ve gotten enough reps even though we’re one practice short, because of the pace and tempo we play at.” [That being the 'no-huddle' pace that wears down other opponents.]
Fifth-year senior tight end Ed Dickson judged this training camp a success in part due to that pace.
“Guys are out there working hard,” Dickson said. “It’s the mentality of the coaches keeping everybody focused. We do situations every day, game situations, real situations where we’ve got to fight. Coach Kelly is very good at getting us focused on what we’re going to see in a game.”

[If any of this impresses you, GREAT! Unfortunately none of this impresses BS. They practice and play focused like a team looking for a championship. More on them later. --kb]