Entering his redshirt freshman season, Eugene native Taylor Alie is about to understand the thrill of running out of the tunnel into a frenzied crowd of 54,000 people when Oregon takes the field against South Dakota State on August 31 at Autzen Stadium.
After growing up a Duck fan and attending Sheldon High School in Eugene, Alie walked on to the Oregon football program and after a great spring and Fall Camp, has placed himself firmly in the mix for the right to backup Heisman trophy contender Marcus Mariota.
Alie recently sat down with the Emerald to talk about the summer, Mariota and what it’s like to be a local boy in the green and yellow.
How’s your summer been
It’s been great, but it’s fun to be back in Fall Camp now. I went a couple places, just nothing too far, mainly the beach and Black Butte. Nowhere too far.
How’s Fall Camp been going for you so far? What’s been your takeaway from it?
It’s going a lot better than last year. I feel more comfortable and know the offense, where last year I was obviously new, my head was clouded and didn’t really know what was going on. Now it’s just coming down to making plays instead of trying to figure out my reads, because I know my reads now. I’m just spending a lot of time trying to dial everything else in.
There’s been a lot of noise being made about you and that backup quarterback spot, what do you make of it?
I mean, it’s a cool opportunity and it’s pretty cool to hear that hype, but I’m just preparing to be ready whenever my name is called, whether it’s backup, third-string, fourth string or whatever. Let’s say Marcus (Mariota) goes down early, which pray to God that doesn’t happen, when they call my name I’ll be ready to be out there.
Do you feel any pressure coming from Eugene and playing for the Ducks?
I wouldn’t say I feel pressure. I’ve gotten a lot of support from everyone I’ve talked to and they’ve all had my back. It’s kind of cool to feel the support of the fans and have those fans out there just because I’m a local kid.
What is the quarterback position group like?
It’s definitely a close-knit group. I mean, we can bounce ideas off each other, say ‘hey did you see the Mike on that play?’ It is a competition every day and whether you’re an incoming freshman or Marcus, you still got to compete and play. But we are all still a team, we are still brothers so we’re just trying to help the team out in anyway we can.
Have you seen a different demeanor in Mariota this year knowing that he’s the true leader of the team?
He’s been kind of outspoken. He’s definitely a leader, a confident leader, but this year he’s been a more vocal leader and the guys are responding to that real well.
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