The unexpected stars of No. 1 Oregon's 8-0 start
They're not all Heisman winners -- they're just very good football players.
I haven’t been able to believe my eyes twice this football season, and for some reason both instances involved GoDucks.com editor-in-chief Rob Moseley.
The first came during Oregon’s win over Michigan State.1 No, it wasn’t Jonathan Smith in a green jacket that shocked me — it was the fact that Oregon, a team that has struggled with its kicking game over the years, drilled a 50-yard field goal.
I’ve never seen that, and in my amazement, I tweeted something about Atticus Sappington becoming the first Oregon kicker since Matt Evenson in 2008 to drill one from 50 or more out.
What a pick-up out of the transfer portal from Oregon State.
What a kick to make against his former coach.
I was already spinning up the story in my head when I felt a tap on the shoulder.
It was Moseley.
“Boyle,” he said.
I was confused.
“Andrew Boyle had the kick.”
Delete.
To be fair, Boyle had yet to attempt a field goal or extra point before his strike gave the Ducks a 24-0 lead with 6:47 to play in the third quarter against the Spartans.
And, well, hand up: I barely knew anything about the guy.
I knew of Sappington — he’s the junior from Central Catholic who led the Pac-12 in field goal percentage at OSU last season. He’s the one the Ducks brought in to replace five-year starter Camden Lewis, a kicker who finished his career as the seventh-most accurate in Oregon history, one who also had some notable misses.
And Sappington is the one who had a bit of a shaky start to his tenure at Oregon, missing a 52-yard try against Idaho and a pair of extra points in games leading up to Michigan State.
Boyle is a senior who missed all of last season with a knee injury. And apparently he’s the leg Lanning likes on big kicks — he sailed another 50-yard attempt against Purdue wide left, then drilled a 44-yarder on Saturday against Illinois.
He’s also the one who smashed the line drive into the Ohio State player’s chest for that successful onside attempt.
“When he’s healthy,” Lanning said, “he can definitely help our team.”
The Oregon Ducks are 8-0 and No. 1 in the country largely thanks to the players we expected would make them 8-0 and No. 1 in the country. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel has played himself back to the front of the Heisman race with the surgical way he operates the Ducks’ offense. Jordan James could reach 1,000 yards this week against Michigan, Tez Johnson is on pace for more than 100 catches and Oregon’s defense has been hounding thanks to the help of five-star talents like Jordan Burch and Matayo Uiagalelei.
But there have also been those, such as Boyle, we weren’t talking about as much at the start of the season who have played an important part in Oregon’s ongoing pursuit of perfection.
Here are a few we’d like to note: