By Dennis J. Freeman
Los Angeles, CA-A lot of other quarterbacks get more than their share of attention. A lot of media hype has gone to signal-callers this season. Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas hasn’t been mentioned in the same breath as those other passers. Heck, even in the Pac-12, the conference that Oregon will represent in the 2012 Rose Bowl, Thomas was just considered by many to be the third-best quarterback.
“I may not get a lot of respect from the media, but I think a lot of teams I play against they know about me,” Thomas said. “When they see me on film they try to prepare to stop me.”
When people think of the Oregon explosive offense, they tend to think of all the weapons the Ducks have on that side of the ball. More often than not that would not include mentioning Thomas, the real shot-caller of Oregon’s high-octane offense.
It’s easy for Thomas to get lost in the media shuffle, especially when you have dynamite tools such as running backs LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner, De’Anthony Thomas and wide recover Josh Huff at your disposal.
It’s easy for Thomas to get lost amid the buzz generated by fancy Nike uniforms that Oregon displays on a weekly basis. It’s easy for a lot of people to get thrown off of Thomas’ bandwagon when they try to compare him to Wisconsin’s electrifying quarterback Russell Wilson, whom he will be matched against in the Rose Bowl.
But what shouldn’t get lost is Thomas’ production and ability to drive his team to national prominence the last couple of seasons as the other West Coast powerhouse outside of USC. For the last two seasons, Thomas and Oregon have crushed Andrew Luck and Stanford. They handily defeated USC last year, and came within any eyelash of knocking off the Trojans again this season.
Oregon has been in the national spotlight for years. But with Thomas at the helm, the Ducks have gone to higher heights than they’ve ever climbed. Under Thomas’ poise, leadership and playmaking abilities, Oregon has been played in the national championship game discussion and is ranked No. 5 in the country heading into its much-anticipated game against Wisconsin.
Every now and then he thinks about being overlooked, said Thomas. But usually it’s no more than a passing thought. His energy is more concentrated on what the team does as a whole, Thomas said.
“I’m not really too worried about how much fame I’m getting from the quarterback position,” Thomas said during one of the Rose Bowl media sessions. “Sometimes, it gets to me. But I’m a team guy. I’m a guy who wants the team to get the victory. I know it’s going to pay off. At the end of the day, if I just keep working hard, keep my head down and keep grinding through all of the things I have to grind through. Hopefully, it’ll pay off.”
In fact, if there was a case for a player to be considered underrated, despite his glaring accomplishments, it would be for the 6-foot-3, 215 pound Thomas. During last year’s title drive, Thomas piled up 2, 881 yards through the air and completed 30 touchdowns. For good measure, he also rushed for an additional 486 yards and five more scores in 13 games.
This season, doubts, for whatever reason, crept up in the chink of the Oregon playmaker. And the grumblings and rumors started early when Thomas and Oregon lost to top-ranked LSU in the first game of the season. Thomas then got injured several games later, and there were rumors swirling about that Thomas could be benched in favor of a backup quarterback.
Thomas has managed to derail those critics by producing an efficient season and guiding Oregon to its second Rose Bowl game in the last three years. Had it not been for a missed field goal against USC, Thomas and Oregon could very easily be playing in their second straight championship game.
A redshirt junior, Thomas has thrown for 2,493 yards and 30 touchdowns this season, putting him among the top tier of quarterbacks in the country. Thomas credits a lot of his success as a quarterback to Bob Jones, his high school football coach. Jones, Thomas said, was the man believed enough in his abilities to play him at quarterback. Thomas said Jones still evaluates his performances-good or bad.
“He’s the guy who gave me the opportunity to play quarterback,” Thomas said. “My high school coach steady pushes me to this day. He doesn’t care what the record is. He’s a guy that’s always wants you to strive to get better, to see the best to come out of you. I talk to this guy almost every week. He also helped me get to Oregon. He influenced me to take a look.”
With one year of eligibility left, Thomas and Oregon could be in store for great things in 2012, starting with a victory over Wilson and Wisconsin. A great showing and a win would go a long way to push the Houston, Texas native to the bright lights of Heisman Trophy contention. But for now, however, Thomas’ attention is the Rose Bowl and doing his best to lead Oregon to a better ending than last season.
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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