Fresh off the first bye week of the season, Oregon football got back to business Monday, beginning preparations for its Pac-12 opener against California this weekend.
“Today was a really good effort,” Mark Helfrich said following practice. “Everybody had a little spring in [their] step, hopefully that’s an indication of being fresh.” The Ducks had a shorter week of practice last week and let the players take time to rest and recover, something Helfrich stressed as important.
“Any time you can get big guys just some time off of banging, whether it’s their shoulders or their pecs or their hands, running as much as our big guys do it feels good,” Helfrich said.
The Golden Bears are 1-2 on the season but are better than their record indicates, losing to ranked opponents Northwestern (No. 22) and Ohio State (No. 4). Freshman quarterback Jared Goff has led Cal through the air with 1,306 passing yards, good for fourth in college football and has thrown 168 passes (56 per game). Helfrich said although the secondary will get it’s work in against Goff and Cal, it’s an 11-man effort on defense.
“I’m sure a little bit,” said Helfrich when asked if the secondary is excited to face up to 60 pass attempts. “I think our guys are excited to play period. And we want it that way. I’m sure there’s a little added dimensions if they know there’s gonna be some live balls, at the same time that just goes back again to, do your job. Don’t do something out of system, out of character. To create a big play [is] not your job.”
Oregon’s secondary, and entire defense for that matter, has excelled through three games this season, allowing a total of three touchdowns. Helfrich said he couldn’t pinpoint their personality, saying everyone has been successfully working together to make the unit effective.
“They’re a tough group,” Helfrich said. “I think they’re playing really well collectively. Part of that is because Wade Keliikipi’s putting pressure on the quarterback and Derrick Malone did his job. It’s not Ifo [Ekpre-Olomu] locking one guy down so to speak, but all 11 guys doing their job.”
Offensive line coach Steve Greatwood spoke of Cal’s defensive line, expressing similarities between it and Tennessee’s defensive line.
“They’re big, talented, they’ve got a lot of returning guys,” Greatwood said. “Their tackles are big, physical kids. [Viliami] Moala and [Deandre] Coleman both played against us last year – big physical guys, hard to move. Their ends are talented so we’re gonna have our work cut out for us.”