Typically a college football team will practice in full pads twice each week leading up to a game.
It’s pretty much a staple of ‘game week’ preparation.
It’s those two days each week when players and coaches go full velocity with their scout teams to simulate game speed and live hitting.
It’s a crucial part of game-week prep where coaches are able to fully lean into their specific units, and the team as a whole, to fully prepare for what’s ahead.
And what’s ahead this week is the formidable UCLA Bruins in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl.
Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal knows it will take a superior effort and almost perfect performance to get the win over the Bruins and he understands a giant step in getting that win comes in practices on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The intensity really showed up, and it showed up strong” said Cristobal on Wednesday.
“We went into it today cause the field was a little bit slick outside,…not because of the weather because it’s going to be 70 degrees over there ( Pasadena ),…it’ll be a perfect weather day. The physicality with which you practice with, to be able to practice with physicality and to stay up on your feet is really important.
The stunts that they do on defense, what they run on offense is challenging and you’ve gotta see it full speed. If you don’t see it full speed you’re setting yourself up for a rough day. Credit to the scout team – they’ve done a really good job. Our guys have prepared really well. They know preparation continues all the way to the game, and then through the game. And that’s what the complete focus is on.”
And injuries have certainly played a factor in the way this team has prepared,…and is currently preparing.
The mantra is always ‘next man up’, but with that, it’s still difficult to find continuity when the team is short available bodies.
“Well, it’s been a real challenging year in terms of that (injuries),” said Cristobal.
“Far and more so than any organization I’ve been a part of. So I feel we’re always hungry. We’re always driven. We don’t get frustrated or whatnot, you’re just mixing pieces on a consistent basis on no, that’s you know, an oxymoron. But mixing pieces on a consistent basis. You’re not getting that consistency of guys playing side by side with each other and what you have to and we have to get them there as coaches. That’s the bottom line.”
This injury bug the Ducks are fighting their way through is seemingly getting better with the return of several players.
But it hasn’t been easy.
“There’s no magical portal, there’s no extra help that’s going to fall out of the sky, and we recognize that,” said Cristobal.
“We had moments where it’s worked out really well and other ones where it’s like, ‘Whoa, that doesn’t look like us.’ And we understand that, so kind of like we’re just referring to can we pour ourselves and get lost in the work of trying to find a way to put it all together so we can achieve the type of productivity that we had in moments early in the year and sometimes throughout the course of last four or five games.
That being said, I feel that getting Mase Funa back is certainly a big boost. Getting Kayvon back is certainly a tremendous boost, and Bradyn Swinson,… he was out as well. So you’re looking at Treven (Ma’ae), and Treven was banged up and in and out for a while so you’re two-deep at the edge position and three or four two deep inside linebackers, or we’re missing a significant amount of time, and I feel like at least in a good amount of those positions, we’re starting to get more consistency.”
MARIO CRISTOBAL TALKS TEAM HEALTH AND UCLA