NCAAF teams
Chantel Jennings, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Youth could benefit Oregon on Saturday

EUGENE, Ore. -- Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013 -- that date was circled on so many of the Oregon Ducks' calendars last year.

It was the date they'd have a chance to hit the field again against the team that derailed their 2012 season. But the 2013 date would have the same result -- that circle would make no difference in the end -- it'd be another loss to Stanford, another New Year's Day spent not playing in the Rose Bowl.

"We can't make it a bigger game than it is," Oregon center Hroniss Grasu said. "That's what I feel like we did last year. We were just focusing on that game way too much."

So perhaps in this game, one of the biggest benefits for Oregon will be one of its biggest questions marks -- its youth.

Running back Royce Freeman, who took over the starting running back job five games into the season and has accounted for 55 percent of the Ducks' rushing yards in October, has never played in this rivalry. Wide receiver Devon Allen, who has been one of Marcus Mariota's most consistent targets this season, has never played in this rivalry. Wide receiver Darren Carrington, who has come on strong as of late, has never played in this rivalry. Charles Nelson, special teams phenom, has never played in this rivalry.

Though Allen and Carrington saw the effects of this game last year during their redshirt seasons, they weren't in that game seeing exactly how everything went down.

Now, their ignorance could be Oregon's bliss.

In any other game that type of inexperience might be considered a deterrent. But here, in a game in which the history has messed with the present players more and more, perhaps inexperience will be one of the Ducks' greatest strength.

"I feel like it's a little bit easier for those guys to be able to play this game," Grasu said. "Because all we can tell those young guys is treat it like you perform in practice. They do an unbelievable job at practice and it has been showing on the field every Saturday. They just have to keep doing that -- don't get too hyped up just for this game."

"Maybe that is a good thing," Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said about his young playmakers. "Those guys are a little bit fresher in their perspective."

The youth certainly has been fresh for Helfrich this season, especially of late as the learning curves have really picked up.

But to him, he really doesn't think of his players in terms of grades. He looks at each of them as a player going into Week 9 of the season, and so far, all of these 18- and 19-year olds have looked like very talented Week 9 players.

"We have so many [young] guys playing prominent roles on both sides of the ball and on special teams," Helfrich said. "If they're in the game, they're our best guy doesn't matter what grade they're in."

It might not matter to Helfrich, but it could, in fact, be a help to the coach come Saturday.

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