WEIGHING THE

SEASONTHE DUCKS GOT OFF TO A ROCKY START. Opening the season at 3-3 with an injured quarterback, Oregon hasn’t seen the same heights as last year. But should rough beginnings stain the whole season?

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GET IN TOUCHE M E R A L D M E D I A G R O U P1 2 2 2 E . 1 3 T H AV E . , # 3 0 0 E U G E N E , O R 9 7 4 0 35 4 1 . 3 4 6 . 5 5 1 1

V O L . 1 1 7 , I S S U E N O. 3 8

Royce Freeman now FOURTH

for Oregon rushing TDs

➡ H A Y D E N K I M , @ H A Y D A Y K I M

Before every game, Vernon Adams Jr. tells his starting running back that he’s the best in the country.

Last Friday, in the 119th Civil War — that finished in an unexpectedly close

52-42 score — Adams was speaking the truth.Royce Freeman, a Doak Walker semifinalist who

eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the eighth straight game (school record), finished with 218 total yards and two touchdowns in Oregon’s (9-3, 7-2 Pac-12) sixth consecutive win.

Once again, Freeman played the role of offensive coordinator Scott Frost’s workhorse in the red hot Oregon offense, carrying the ball 27 times with a 6.2 yards per rush average.

“He’s really battled,” head coach Mark Helfrich said. “Tailbacks around the country are banged up. People don’t realize how much pounding those guys take.”

Against the Beavers (2-9, 0-9 Pac-12), Freeman passed Jeremiah Johnson on Oregon’s all-time rushing touchdown list, taking sole possession of the fourth spot.

Freeman didn’t take any time to shine the limelight on himself after the game. Instead, he simply acknowledged the feat and praised his team — specifically the offensive line — on the win.

“As far as the record, I don’t really pay much attention to things like that,” Freeman said. “It is an honor to be a part of that group and I just have to thank the offensive line, past years and this year as well. Without those guys, it wouldn’t be possible.”

Don’t buy it?Take his teammates’ routine descriptions of him

that prove the do-all back is merely doing what is expected of him every game – nothing more, nothing less.

“Royce is just a great guy, great player,” wide receiver Bralon Addison said. “We’re all happy for him. For a guy like him, for him to have those accomplishments, accolades, you can’t do anything but be proud as a teammate, as a friend.”

“He’s a good back. As long as he stays healthy and continues to work hard, he’ll be real good for us,” wide receiver Dwayne Stanford said.

This is just the type of player and leader that Freeman, a sophomore from Imperial, California, has been for the past two years.

On the season, Freeman has 1,993 all-purpose yards and 16 scores with a 6.7 yards per carry average. He became the only player in the FBS to record over 100 yards from the scrimmage in all 12 games this season and is now just 99 yards shy of James’ 1,805 single-season rushing mark.

Here’s how the other top-tier backs around the country stack up:

Ezekiel Elliott (Ohio State, junior): 1,672 rushing yards, 139.33 yards per game, 6.28 yards per rush, 19 total touchdowns

Leonard Fournette (LSU, sophomore): 1,741 rushing yards, 158.27 yards per game, 6.42 yards per rush, 18 total touchdowns

Christian McCaffrey (Stanford, sophomore): 1,640 rushing yards, 136.67 yards per game, 5.71 yards per rush, 12 total touchdowns

Derrick Henry (Alabama, junior): 1,797 rushing yards, 149.75 yards per game, 6.09 yards per rush, 22 total touchdowns.

Compared with potential Heisman finalists, Freeman has been as good a back as there’s been nationally this season.

This isn’t something that Freeman thinks about, but it is a reality that his teammates and coaches have taken notice of.

“We have some special players on this team…

Royce Freeman is obviously one of them,” Frost said. “He deserves a lot more accolades than he’s getting. I think our early season losses kind of took him out of the discussion for some things. I don’t know what his stats are compared with everybody else, but I wouldn’t trade him for any back out there.”

For Freeman, last Friday marked nothing more than Senior Day for his teammates and his second Civil War game. He was going to do anything and everything to help his team win, with or without the spotlight. It would be the last time he’d play in Autzen Stadium with players like Tyler Johnstone, DeForest Buckner and Adams, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste.

Without Pac-12 title aspirations, this in-state rivalry game in late November for Freeman really was all about sending off the seniors on a high note and capping the season off with a sixth straight win.

Even though Freeman isn’t a senior, he sure did play and lead like one tonight. While the rest of the country focuses in on McCaffrey and Eliott, who have undoubtedly earned every bit of their praise, Freeman will continue to run without worrying about the glamour.

No one knows how much longer Helfrich and the Ducks will have the luxury of featuring Freeman in the backfield, but they sure aren’t thinking about it now.

Instead, Oregon is appreciating what Freeman has given them game in and game out, knowing well that players like Freeman don’t come around very often.

Said Buckner: “He’s going to be one of those guys that will be playing on Sundays. I’m glad I had the opportunity to play with such a great player like him.”

Sophomore Royce Freeman played an integral role for the Ducks this season, although he gained little

national recognition.(Adam Eberhardt)

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📖 COVER

WAS OREGON’S SEASON A

FAILURE OR SUCCESS?Oregon is no stranger to the injury

bug. In a sport that is dominated by the mantra, “next man up,” the Ducks were a testament to it during their 2014 national championship run. Oregon was lucky in that its most dynamic playmaker, quarterback Marcus Mariota, avoided any setbacks on his way to a Heisman Trophy winning season. The team had no such luck with his replacement this season, and the production dropped off exponentially.

When Vernon Adams Jr. was injured, Oregon looked like a shell of its former self, and virtually crawled to a 3-3 record. When he was healthy, the Ducks looked to have one of the best offenses in the nation and won six consecutive games. They finished 9-3, and appear to be heading to the Alamo Bowl for the second time in three years. And while anything short of a College Football Playoff is a failed season to many fans, this year can be written as a success in my book.

The reason: Despite a consequential injury and despite the “the sky is falling” type of feeling in Eugene in October, the group turned it around and has formidable wins against No. 7 Stanford and No. 20 USC to show for it. In addition, Adams displayed why if he was healthy for an entire season, Oregon may be playing in this Saturday’s Pac-12 Championship game.

So, a year after a national championship berth, this season will especially feel like a success if the Ducks are able to capture a bowl win and reach 10 wins. Injuries are hard to avoid, but when they happen to the most lethal star on the team, they become extremely difficult to overcome. Finishing the season, the Ducks appear to have overcome it fully, not to mention successfully.

Oregon was dealt a tough hand with the departures of Jake Fisher, Hroniss Grasu, Arik Armstead, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. The board didn’t help the Ducks either; Byron Marshall suffered a season-ending injury and Pharaoh Brown and Thomas Tyner missed the entire year with injuries.

My colleagues are 100 percent correct: Had Adams not broken his finger, Oregon could very well be 11-1 and in the driver’s seat for another berth in the College Football Playoff.

This season was a success, given all the obstacles the Ducks had to hurdle. But one area in which they failed was preparedness.

The drop-off between Adams and the other quarterbacks on the depth chart was enormous. Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie were serviceable at best, and former four-star recruit Morgan Mahalak’s play was so far behind theirs that it didn’t merit a snap behind center. I have to believe Adams, a graduate transfer, was a back-up plan himself, and he only made the team with two weeks to spare.

Oregon’s secondary was also depleted this season, which is why seven different combinations of defensive backs started for the Ducks in the first eight games.

Oregon didn’t completely fill the shoes of the key players it lost from last year’s squad, but it did enough to finish with a respectable ranking despite a tumultuous first half of the season. The Ducks should be better set up for success next year, with the secondary having undergone its growing pains and Travis Jonsen and Terry Wilson coming up the pipeline at quarterback.

➡ J U S T I N W I S E , @ J U S T I N F W I S E

➡ K E N N Y J A C O B Y , @ K E N N Y J A C O B Y

Wide receiver Kirk Merritt breaks away during the Civil War game.(Adam Eberhardt)

Off to a rough start but finishing with a six-game win streak, Oregon was unpredictable this season. Four of the Emerald gridiron writers contemplate the

Ducks’ season and balance the ups with the downs.

Oregon quarterback Jeff Lockie stepped in when starter Vernon Adams Jr. was injured.(Adam Eberhardt)

T H U R S DAY, D E C E M B E R 3 , 2 0 1 5 E M E R A L D G A M E D AY PA G E 5

WAS OREGON’S SEASON A

FAILURE OR SUCCESS?

There are two ways to look at Oregon’s season.

First, there is the “What happened?”

Injuries, a rotation at quarter-back and a defense that sur-rendered 35.6 points per game through the team’s first six games forced Oregon into a 3-3 start. But then Vernon Adams Jr. and Darren Carrington’s return ignited the Oregon offense, and the team won six straight games to end the season, including wins over USC and Stanford — the representatives in the Pac-12 Championship game.

Then there is the “What if?” What if Adams doesn’t break

his finger? What if he completes that throw to Byron Marshall to essentially win the game against Michigan State in week two?

While the latter is a tempt-ing way to reflect on the sea-son, it only holds value in the hypothetical.

That leaves only one option, and under the circumstances, this season for Oregon was a success.

Nobody thought life after Mar-cus Mariota was going to be easy, but the team has adjusted well. The Ducks still have a chance at a 10-win season with the possibility of a seven-game winning streak to end the year.

Even though a trip to the Alamo Bowl might not be the same thing as making a NY6 bowl game, it’s not something to look down upon.

The answer to this question de-pends on who you ask. Fans will deem it a failure, while players and coaches will say success. It’s hard to argue with either group, but at the end of the day, the players and coaches know more than others. That’s why I say success.

The reason this season might seem like a failure is because of the Ducks’ underwhelming performance in the first half of the season. It’s clear as day that Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie were nowhere near the answers, and the coaching staff failed to have a backup plan if Vernon Adams Jr. couldn’t go for whatever reason. This was a defi-nite failure but not season-defining.

I’m a firm believer that the Ducks, with or without Adams, are TWO PLAYS away from being 11-1 and play-ing in the Pac-12 Championship game. What if Adams’s TD pass finds Byron Marshall at the end of the Michigan State game and the Ducks stop Wash-ington State on its final drive? Those two plays have derailed Oregon’s sea-son. With that being said, this season as a whole was a success.

To have lost the best player in program history, undergo a major overhaul in the secondary (treacher-ous in the pass-happy Pac-12) and lose three other players chosen within the first two rounds of the NFL draft, the Ducks did a phenomenal job of sustaining success. Even with being 3-3 midway through the season, the Ducks have reeled off six straight wins and are ranked No. 15 in the nation.

Yes, the season was a success. But it’s nowhere near the success expected from players, coaches and fans. The question “What if?” will be how oth-ers define this season for Oregon, but after everything the Ducks have been through, I’ll define it as successful.

➡ R Y A N K O S T E C K A , @ R Y A N _ K O S T E C K A

➡ J O S E P H H O Y T , @ J O E J H O Y T

Off to a rough start but finishing with a six-game win streak, Oregon was unpredictable this season. Four of the Emerald gridiron writers contemplate the

Ducks’ season and balance the ups with the downs.

Oregon Ducks quarterback Vernon

Adams Jr. was crucial to Oregon’s strong second

half of the season.(Adam Eberhardt)

Oregon running back Royce Freeman looks to the crowd after a touchdown in the Civil War game.

(Adam Eberhardt)

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Scott Frost is heading to the Sunshine State.Early Tuesday morning, Rivals.com reported

that Frost, Oregon’s offensive coordinator since 2013, would be named the University of Central Florida’s next head football coach. The school later confirmed the report.

“UCF is an excellent opportunity for me because our student-athletes can succeed immediately, both competitively and academically,” Frost told the Central Florida Athletic Department. “We’ve had great recent success — I vividly remember watching the Fiesta Bowl victory.”

Frost takes over for Danny Barrett, who was the interim head coach after George O’Leary resigned earlier this season.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel, Frost is already en route to Orlando.

UCF’s Vice President of Communications and Marketing, Grant Heston, also confirmed that a press conference to welcome Frost was scheduled for Wednesday.

“Scott is a winner and innovator who has directed one of college football’s most exciting offenses at the University of Oregon,” UCF Athletic Director Danny White said in the press release. “His attitude and experience are exactly what we need to ensure the Knights compete, and win, at the highest levels. I couldn’t be more excited to bring Scott and his fiancé, Ashley, to the UCF family.”

Frost originally started out at Oregon in 2009 as the team’s wide receivers coach before becoming the offensive coordinator in 2013. Frost began his college playing career as a quarterback at Stanford in 1993. Two years later, Frost elected to transfer back to his home state of Nebraska. In his two years as a quarterback for the Cornhuskers, Frost threw 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Frost, despite walking into a program that hasn’t won a game since Dec. 4, 2014, is confident that he can turn the team around next season. UCF went 0-12 this season. The school lost by

one-point margins twice, including a home loss to FCS-level Furman, 16-15, on Sept. 19.

“With our student-athletes, football staff, facilities, fans and supporters, I know we will bring exciting and winning football back to Orlando,” Frost said via the Athletic Department.

Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich commented on Frost’s departure late Tuesday night.

“We wish Scott all the best with his new opportunity at UCF,” said Helfrich. “Oregon’s proven track record of success and unique situation have led to many high quality candidates expressing their interest [in the Oregon vacancy].

“We will continue to recruit, prepare for our upcoming bowl game and support our student-athletes through finals as we move forward.”

Frost received a strong endorsement from Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., too. The graduate transfer posted on Instagram congratulating Frost, while also thanking him for the opportunity to start in a Ducks uniform.

➡ J O S E P H H O Y T , @ J O E J H O Y T

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

SCOTT FROSTNAMED UCF HEAD

COACHOregon’s offensive coordinator Scott Frost is moving to Florida for next season. (Adam Eberhardt)

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