Fifteen days till kickoff. LMJ and Barner are full go at practice. They broke out the white game helmets yesterday. Though the Ducks have suffered some nicks and bumps, everyone still seems reasonably healthy, and the quarterbacks have shown progress. John Canzano is trying to cause a stir over a practice scuffle from two years ago. This is big-boy football, John. Maybe your parents never believed in you.
When the heat rises and the bodies get sore and the monotony of fall camp kicks in, tempers flare. People snipe and shove and trash talk. A helmet flies off or an elbow is thrown. Somebody gets chippy and throws a jab. Coaches fly in from the sideline, whistles tweeting urgently. Another fist flies in the melee before the combatants are separated. It's no big deal. It's football. The testosterone flows and proud, agile, angry men play it. They are going to scuffle when the juices flow. In fifteen days they get to play someone wearing a different color jersey, and they can let loose with all that stored aggression and irritation. In another 10 days the coaches will taper off their work and their legs will get fresh. They'll be ready for the arena, the cheers and the blare of the foghorn. This is their year. Leave it to Canzano to try and stir up a non-story from a practice a long while ago. It's practice. Stuff happens. You blow the whistle and move on to the next play. Sometimes a guy or two has to be sent to an early shower. Blount's a hothead, probably has an anti-social streak. There are fifty or eighty guys like him in the Hall of Fame. Think Dick Butkus or Ronnie Lott ever started a fight in training camp? I always thought Hout had it coming. But by now that's an old story too.
This year's Ducks are the story I'm interested in. They seem like a group with good character and a strong focus. There's a good mix of senior leadership and promising newcomers. I have to laugh when I read a preseason forecast from one of the national websites, full of inaccuracies and half-truths. The Sports Network has Diante Jackson as the Ducks' breakout receiver. Jackson is long gone, like Masoli and Blount and a half dozen other problem children.
But Cantu is showing signs of promise, and so are Huff and Hoffman. Hoffman is a tough blocker and Huff has blazing speed. Wide receiver doesn't worry me this year. Maehl seems ready to blossom into a genuine superstar, the tough, gritty receiver like Cristin McLemore or Joe Reitzug, the guy who can always be counted on for a clutch catch. Davis and Tuinei are a year better. Davis is a hard worker. He has guns like a linebacker. Tuinei has the Go-Go-Gadget arms and is tough in traffic. Is Cantu a momma's boy? Maybe it's just a Texas thing, the devotion to their mommas. He definitely shows signs of emerging in practice. And he hasn't punched anybody. But in the words of the immortal Curly the Cowboy, day ain't over yet.
I'm not worried about the wide receivers, particularly because Kelly is so inventive. As the season develops he'll slip Brandon Williams into the slot, creating some severe matchup problems down the seam. There'll be times when Barner or Seastrunk line up on the wing and watch out. Slip them a bubble screen or a shovel pass, something simple, and let the juke and jive and the helpless dives begin. Both are electric in the open field. They can be long gone and sipping Gatorade on the sideline before the band has time to find their trombones.
Yeah, the Ducks are getting ready. They are bristly and irritable and sore. The linebackers dismantled a tackling sled, and Coach Pellum owes them lunch. Another two weeks they'll be devouring the New Mexico backfield. No doubt there'll be a punch or two thrown in practice between then and now, but that's just a tuneup for the main event. This is a smart, well-coached group. They know to play one inch out of control they have to practice at an inch and a half.
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