Oregon reserves learn to wait their chance
Three key Ducks - for this
season and the future —
sit on the sideline,
watching and learning
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
For the underclassmen on the Ore
gon team, football has become a wait
ing game.
Players like redshirt freshman Chris
Vincent, freshman lohnny DuRocher
and sophomore Darius Sanders don't
take the field for the first snap or first
defensive play.
They must learn from the veterans;
from the stars that they one day wish
to be. For the time being, they are
learning and waiting. And for some,
that is all right.
"It's all up to the coach," Sanders
said. "It's all about the team. If the
coach doesn't feel 1 can produce, I'm
just here. My job is to be ready when
he calls my name, my number."
Vincent has his No. 22 called more
than most freshmen. At the start of the
season, the running back position was
done on a rotating basis. Three differ
ent players started the first three games
including Vincent, sophomore Ter
rence Whitehead and junior Ryan
Shaw.
In Oregon's first game against Mis
sissippi State, Vincent led the team
with a seven-yard average per carry. In
his starting debut against Arizona he
lead the team with 80 rushing yards.
But for the last four games, Vincent
has played backup to Whitehead. After
Whitehead's 172-yard rushing per
formance against Stanford, that start
ing spot looks like it may be claimed
for good by Whitehead.
"He played real good," Vincent said.
"That was the best game of his career.
He's the running back with the most
experience out of all four of us. He un
derstands the offense a little bit better.
I learned the offense, but he knows it a
step further."
Vincent is the second-leading rush
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Johnny DuRocher (13) will play an integral part in Oregon's future, but for now the quarterback is spending the season on the sideline learning from Jason Fife and Kellen Clemens.
er for Oregon. In his 55 rushes, he has
carried the ball for 161 yards. "1 just
feel I'm not playing to my potential,"
Vincent said. "Coaches have big expec
tations of me. They put a lot of pres
sure on me. I was averaging 70 yards a
game against Mississippi State and got
hurt. And I never really bounced back
from that, and that took a lot out of
me."
Vincent understands that this is his
chance to learn the offense in his first
year. But learning means waiting, and
waiting means not playing as much.
"I didn't want it to be that way, but
that's the way it ended up, and that's
the way it usually ends up with college
players," he said.
Like Vincent, DuRocher knows he
must wait. He is the key reserve behind
sophomore Kellen Clemens and sen
ior Jason Fife at the quarterback spot,
but he doesn't think he will take a sin
gle snap this season.
He acknowledges that it is hard to
sit on the bench, especially in situa
tions where Clemens and Fife are hav
ing rough games. That occurred in
games against Washington State and
Arizona State.
It's hard "a little bit," DuRocher
said. "But those two guys are playing
for a reason. 'Ihey're better than me. I
haven't beaten those two guys out yet.
I have no reason to step in and say I
need to be playing."
Although it is difficult to warm the
bench for some, especially when the
starters don't produce, that has be
come a reality. The only thing to do is
work just as hard in practice as every
one else and hope that chance comes.
For Sanders, he has seen some play
ing time. At the two defensive end po
sitions, he is listed behind juniors Igor
Olshansky and Chris Solomona at
one end and senior Quinn Dorsey and
sophomore Devan Long at the other.
Sanders has played in four games this
season, recording five total tackles,
four of which are solo.
All Sanders can do is play his heart
out on the field when he gets the
chance and hope to produce. He
knows he must wait, and he respects
how the system works.
"I leave it up to the coach," he said.
"I trust the coach. He's going to put
the best players in."
And so they wait.
DuRocher must call plays from the
sideline and not behind center.
Sanders said he just needs experience
and to work on technique. Vincent
must continue to learn the offense
and run again like he did against Ari
zona and Mississippi State.
One day, they hope, they will get
their starting chance.
Contact the sports reporter
at jessethomas@daiiyemerald.com.
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