Darren Carrington II became a big subject during Oregon’s appearance in the Pac-12 Football Media Days in late July, partly because of the news that the star receiver was transferring to Utah.
Even while playing for the Utes, Carrington will remain a symbol of Oregon coach Willie Taggart’s tenure. He’ll remain a visible player in the conference this season as the Ducks try to re-establish themselves. Taggart said he didn’t intend to send a message by dismissing Carrington from the program following an arrest on suspicion of DUI (he reached a plea agreement on a misdemeanor charge), but that’s the inevitable conclusion.
“I don’t look at it like that because I think from Day 1 our guys understood the expectation,” Taggart said. “For six months they’ve been doing everything I asked them to do, the entire football team. I think the whole time they knew everything I said that we were going to do, I meant it.”
In any case, the Ducks will be one of the conference’s most interesting teams in 2017 as they try to recover from last season’s sudden fall to a 2-7 league record, resulting in the firing of coach Mark Helfrich. Oregon’s talent is regarded so highly that the Ducks received enough votes to rank No. 33 in the preseason AP Top 25. There’s also an expectation that defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt will do for Oregon what he did for Colorado, having built the Pac-12′s top statistical defense in 2016.
OREGON DUCKS <br>Coach • Willie Taggart (first season) <br>2016 • 4-8 (2-7 Pac-12) <br>2017 media poll • Fourth in Pac-12 North <br>2017 SCHEDULE <br>Sept. 2 • Southern Utah <br>Sept. 9 • Nebraska <br>Sept. 16 • at Wyoming <br>Sept. 23 • at Arizona State <br>Sept. 30 • California <br>Oct. 7 • Washington State <br>Oct. 14 • at Stanford <br>Oct. 21 • at UCLA <br>Oct. 28 • Utah <br>Nov. 4 • at Washington <br>Nov. 18 • Arizona <br>Nov. 25 • Oregon State
The new coaches “can make a huge impact on the defensive side of the ball, just getting our guys to be fundamentally and technically sound and playing with great effort,” Taggart said.
Offense was not Oregon’s problem last season, especially after quarterback Justin Herbert took the starting job in the middle of his freshman year. He passed for 324 yards and three touchdowns against Utah, including the game-winner to Carrington with 2 seconds left. And a healthy Royce Freeman, one of the Pac-12′s best running backs, should do more than merely complement Herbert’s passing.
Freeman rushed for 129 yards vs. Utah, but he never carried the ball more than 20 times in a game. He finished with 945 yards in 11 games. Asked how many touches Freeman will get this season, Taggart said, “As many as he wants. I told him to tell me when he doesn’t want any more carries. I’ll just keep giving them to him.”
Those handoffs will start coming Sept. 2, when the Ducks host Southern Utah. The Utes will visit Autzen Stadium on Oct. 28 in Carrington’s return to Eugene.