Devon Allen, along with the rest of his team, has been through a lot recently. The two toughest defenses in the Pac-12 in back-to-back weeks would cause a lot of wear and tear for anyone, but for the Ducks, Stanford and Utah packed a special punch. If the injuries to Pharaoh Brown and Hroniss Grasu weren’t enough, the Ducks have the Pac-12 Championship and the College Football Playoff on their mind.
So, when I got a chance to talk to Allen at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex today for FishDuck.com, I asked him how he was handling everything. Allen told me, “It’s hard because I’m excited to play in the Pac-12 Championship, but we’re going to focus on every team because as long as we win out and keep playing well we will have a chance to play in the College Football Championship.”
He also spoke about the injury to Brown, saying after he saw a picture, “I made sure I didn’t watch it again. “He went on about Brown, saying he’s doing well. “It’s weird because he’s a playmaker,” Allen continued. “When you lose one of those guys everybody has to step up.” I asked him if losing Brown’s playmaking ability would hurt Oregon against Colorado. He insisted that, “Everybody practices a good amount of reps. We’re not going to miss a beat.”
With Oregon’s receiving corps depleted, Allen and Co. will have to step up against Colorado.
Finally he spoke about Colorado, a team Allen feels is heavily underrated. He said, “They have some good athletes than can definitely make some plays. So far they look pretty solid.” He went on to talk about how the receiving core and the rest of the offense is preparing to play on Saturday. “As a defense it looks like they play a lot of press, a lot of cover two with safeties over the top. If we can mix pass and run together we’ll be fine,” Allen concluded.
Allen’s mentality about taking every game one at a time is exactly how Oregon should feel about ending this season. It must be difficult for the Ducks to put the Playoff out of their minds, but right now that’s exactly what they have to do.
Top Photo by Kevin Cline
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Caleb is a sophomore at the University of Oregon intending to double major in Journalism and Sports Management. He is the Managing Editor for FishDuck.com, along with being a lifetime Saints and San Francisco Giants fan, as Caleb fell in love with sports at a young age and developed that love into a passion for sports analysis. He is looking forward to cheering on the Ducks throughout his career at Oregon, and is always willing to talk sports with any fellow fan.