Oregon's Injuries and Mysteries: UCLA Game Preview
A deep dive into the returning and missing Oregon players as they prepare to host Chip Kelly and the UCLA Bruins.
Chip Kelly and the UCLA Bruins are back in Autzen this weekend, but most of the weekly conversation has been centered around Oregon’s off-the-field mysteries.
Good morning. I’ll just start this wonderful Friday by taking a victory lap for calling Payton Pritchard’s first round selection (26th, Boston). Credit to me. Danny Ainge just couldn’t resist.
And I’m also thankful to know that NBA GMs are smarter than Jay Bilas, because Nico Mannion rightfully went 45 overall. Disappearing into the 2nd half of the night, just like his Arizona career.
OK. Victory lap over. Back to football.
We’ll start with stuff that actually matters in terms of the game itself. Mario Cristobal has been optimistic about seeing some players return the field this week—and less optimistic about a couple others.
Hunter Kampmoyer, Cam McCormick, (Pat Herbert, maybe), and Popo Aumavae will probably be back, per Mario.
But Mycah, Daewood Davis, Steve Stephens IV, and Spencer Webb will likely still be unavailable Saturday.
Justin Flowe also announced this week that he tore his meniscus and would be out for the rest of the season.
Let’s start with the good news. Kampmoyer and McCormick’s return are pretty big, even though it feels less big since DJ Johnson has played so well in their place. Kampmoyer adds another superb blocking presence, and McCormick is probably the biggest true receiving threat of the three.
My guess is that—despite being listed at fourth in the current organizational chart—DJ has earned more playing time alongside the two returners, and I bet Mario will give it to him.
Patrick Herbert is reportedly still a question mark, but I’d sure like to finally see him get some play out there.
Popo coming back is HUGE.
I had a lot of expectations of him coming into the year, and I feel like the defensive line has really been feeling his absence these past two weeks.
We keep asking why the front seven hasn’t been getting home, and I firmly believe that Popo’s athleticism and the depth he provides on the interior will be exactly what KT & Co. need along the edge to be as effective as we know they can be.
And now for the tough news.
Mycah Pittman, Daewood Davis, and Steve Stephens IV were all last minute scratches from the WSU game. It has been a bit of an open mystery, and there’s no way to know for sure if their situations are related to each other, but here’s what we know:
Mycah’s own father says it is not injury or covid-related:
Or disciplinary:
Mario followed up after the game with this:
"Those guys did absolutely nothing wrong. They were not available tonight."
And he made it clear that he wasn’t going to say much more than that:
I won’t keep trying to connect the red yarn to clues on my big conspiracy board, but since Oregon has already had some false positive covid tests earlier this year, perhaps they are dealing with some 14-day contact tracing technicality? Who knows. I’ll just stick to the implications to the team.
Mycah is a huge weapon on offense, but the rest of the receivers seriously stepped up in the Wazzu game without him. Of course we want him back as soon as humanly possible, but it’s reassuring to know that we have such depth at that position for the first time in forever.
On the other side of the ball, cornerback Davis and safety Stephens honestly seemed to be missed much more than Pittman.
Avalos ran the whole secondary with some noticeably larger cushions—especially in the first half without the help of Verone McKinley III over the top. Wazzu exploited those openings, and attacked the young secondary in their first road game together.
Stephens got a ton of play in the Stanford game, notched three tackles, and it felt like we’d see him have a consistent place on the back end. And now that Nick Pickett is going to be out for the first half of the UCLA game with a targeting of his own, it feels like we might have a hole where Stephens would be once again.
Don’t get me wrong, Jordan Happle and Bennett Williams stepped up very well in their versatile nickelback/free safety capabilities. They’re experience is surely felt and appreciated.
And Jamal Hill was recognized by the team as one of the defensive players of the game against Washington State—the true sophomore has been a refreshing addition to the pass defense.
But Chip Kelly/DTR have plenty of tape from the Ducks’ first two games that could expose the talent and schematic gaps they can take advantage of. It will be no small task for Avalos to tighten those vulnerabilities up with a position room that’s to be in flux.
Spencer Webb was listed as injured before the Stanford game along with McCormick, and separate of last weeks mass of missing players. If he is still unavailable I think it’s safe to assume that injury is still nagging, and that there’s no greater conspiracy going on. I hope he comes back soon, I’m excited to watch him grow more as a weapon.
And last but not least, Justin Flowe.
Flowe announced Tuesday via Instagram that he had torn his meniscus. He played some special teams against Stanford, a picture of him flexing in practice became an instant meme, and everyone in Eugene has been so excited about his future.
But he didn’t get much play at his linebacker position, and it ultimately looked like he wasn’t as “Day One Ready” as his classmate, Noah Sewell.
All the same, it’s heartbreaking whenever a student-athlete faces an injury, especially a knee injury at such a young age. You hope that he can give it all the recovery time it needs, and that surgery and physical therapy do everything they can to get him back to 100%.
There is a lot of covid-era roster uncertainty, but one things for sure: the Ducks are getting new uniforms.
On Thursday morning we got the long-teased reveal of these Polynesian-themed, black/electric lime threads.
It’s clear that the the program is actively leaning into the cultural roots of the historic and important Polynesian-Oregon pipeline. Haloti Ngata, Jeremiah Masoli, Marcus Mariota, the Sewell brothers, I could go on for ever.
They’re not up for sale online yet, but when they are, I’ll be ready.
UCLA is 1-1, having held tough in a 42-48 loss to a good Buffs team, and then blowing the doors off Cal last week, 34-10. It’s clear they can score some points, as Chip has been known to do.
But if it’s a shootout they want, I don’t think they can keep up with Tyler Shough and all his weapons—even sans Mycah.
ALSO, there are whispers around Westwood that QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson may not even be available for the game on Saturday. No official word on why as of Thursday evening—Chip doesn’t talk about injuries, as we know. But I expect we might have another contact tracing issue on our hands. Thems the breaks, I guess.
DTR had been on something of a hot streak to start the year, but if he can’t go, I wonder who will.
Washington transfer Colson Yankoff moved to wideout. It seems like it’s a race between two Chases—a Chase race, if you will. Chase Griffin and Chase Artopoeus seem to be the two likely QB2s, and either one will have their hands full with a fresh Popo & Co.
The return of Popo to the d-line is the difference maker in getting into the backfield, greatly changing the landscape of how the defense can force errors and get stops.
42-20. Oregon chomps on some more Chips.
Go Ducks.
Good stuff, James. Keep it up. I think your score is about right - I'll go 38 - 23, Ducks.