Oregon Quarterback Justin Roper Injured, Out 2-4 Weeks (yawn)

Here we go again.

For the second straight year the Oregon Ducks have been forced to turn to their 3rd string quarterback because of injury.

Last year Oregon was 8-1 and ranked #2 in the nation after successive defeats of USC and Arizona State when Heisman trophy front runner Dennis Dixon, covering up an ACL tear suffered in the Arizona State game, tried to cut right and crumpled to the turf against Arizona.  The injury was compounded by the injury to second stringer Nate Costa several weeks earlier in practice.  3 straight losses and  2 more quarterback injuries followed before Justin Roper, who entered the season at 5th string on the depth chart, threw 4 touchdowns in a 56-21 romp over South Florida in the Sun Bowl.

The Oregon quarterback position again took a hit this fall when Costa, the presumptive starter, tore his ACL for the 3rd time in four years.  This left Roper with the starting job again. 

Now Roper, who has already suffered a concussion against Washington in the opener, has sprained his knee and will miss at least two weeks. 

The burden of running the Ducks' high octane offense, ranked 4th nationally through the first three weeks, will most likely fall to true freshman Chris Harper and junior college transfer Jerremiah Masoli.

When Roper went down against Washington  Massoli took the role of primary signal caller, throwing 9/17 for 126 yards and 2 Touchdowns and running 4 times for 23 yards. Chris Harper also took meaningfull snaps against Washington, but he didn't throw a pass and the offense generally stalled when he was in the game.

Against Purdue Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti used Harper intermittently in a Tim Tebow like running role throughout the game.  When Roper went down trying to stretch the ball across the first down line in the first overtime, Harper was called upon in the second OT.  He lost 5 yards on the first play then proceeded to feed the ball to Jerremiah Johnson and LaGarrette Blount the rest of the way for a touchdown.

 Massoli possesses a rocket arm and is the only Oregon quarterback who appears to be able to give the Ducks a down field dimension to the offense, but appears to have a weak grasp of Chip Kelly's offense, having not been with the team during spring practice.  He has thrown several balls behind receivers and fumbled a snap in the endzone for a touchdown in the Utah State game. 

Harper has played in every game, but has only attempted a pass in the Utah State game, going 4/6 for 40 yards on mostly short throws.  He is the better runner than Massoli and appears to know the offense better as well, but needs much more work as a passer.  Against Washington and Purdue Harper did not appear to

The third man in this race is Darron Thomas, a true freshman from Kansas whom the Ducks had hoped to red shirt this year.  Mike Bellotti has said he will take some snaps with the first team this week and is in the competition for the starting job, though "We still want to red shirt him".

I believe Massoli is the best man for the job, as he is the only one who can give the Ducks a down field dimension to the offense and can hurt defenses with his legs.  Bellotti needs to give him the vast majority of the first team snaps this week so he can build chemistry with the Wide Receivers and develop a better feel for the offense.

Unless Chris Harper proves he can throw, he should not be the starter or get significant snaps.  He cannot throw the ball against good defenses, and the offense has stalled with him in the game.  Defenses know the Ducks will run the ball when he is in the game and stack the line of scrimmage.  With Massoli's mobility the Ducks don't need a Tim Tebow type running threat to take a snap or two every series. 

If Massoli gets injured or proves he can't  run the offense effectively the redshirt needs to come off of Darron Thomas.  He has a better arm than Harper and is better suited for the quarterback position.  The Ducks can't worry about having him for one extra year when they have such a good opportunity this year if they can find a competent quarterback.

Whomever starts for Oregon will have plenty to work with.  The running game should be able to power the offense with a great offensive line and Jeremiah Johnson and LaGarette Blount forming one of the best running back duos in the Pac-10.  The Ducks also have a lock down defense featuring one of the best secondaries in the nation.  If the Ducks can get reasonable production from the quarterback position they should finish second in a dread full Pac-10 this year, which with USC looking like a National Title Game lock could mean the Ducks' first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1994.

Every Duck fan must be wailing in anguish at not getting Terelle Pryor right now.

Actually, he'd probably have torn both ACLs by now.