Oregon earns more respect for quick response to Blount incident

LeGarrette Blount's punch on Thursday night resulted in a season-long suspension.
(AP Photo/ESPN.com)

Sometimes it isn’t what happens on the field that makes a team a winner. That was certainly the case for the University of Oregon last night after its disastrous season opening 19-8 loss at Boise State in which its offense showed nothing and LeGarrette Blount showed even less.

But credit the University of Oregon as a whole for its swift reaction to Blount’s maniacal attack on Boise State’s Byron Hout and Bronco fans after the game. Less than 24 hours after the incident, Oregon first-year coach Chip Kelly announced that Blount will be suspended for the remainder of the 2009 season, including any bowl games.

After a truly pathetic offensive showing against Boise State in his first game as a head coach of a program that was expected to run with USC and Cal for the Pac-10 title, it would have been easy for Kelly to want to keep what was expected to be his top offensive threat on the field. The decision to suspend Blount for the season will hurt Oregon for the remainder of the year in the win-loss columns.

It will only strengthen the program as a whole off the field, though. Every school tries to recruit players who not only have great athletic ability, but ones who have great character as well. A Blount can slip through the cracks anywhere. But Oregon’s response one day after the cheap shot at midfield of the blue turf in Boise shows that the Duck program isn’t ready to slip into the old University of Miami mold.

The best thing is that this announcement came from the top. University of Oregon president Richard Lariviere released a statement that firmly stated that Blount’s behavior would not be tolerated in Eugene.

“At the conclusion of last night’s University of Oregon season opening football game against Boise State University, a UO played displayed inappropriate and unsportsmanlike behavior,” Lariviere wrote in the statement. “There is no place on the field of play for that kind of action, and his conduct was reprehensible.”

Lariviere continued: “UO players, coaches and fans are known for their passion and enthusiasm for athletic competition. At the University of Oregon, we are committed to demonstrating that passion in positive ways.”

Kelly also commented on the attack after the game Thursday night: “As I told the players in the locker room, we have to learn to play with emotion, not let emotion play with us. That’s not the University of Oregon. That’s not the way we play football and we don’t condone any of that.”

We’ve all heard football coaches and university officials make those statements and then sweep the problem under the rug, hoping for it to go away. The University of Oregon has seemingly run a clean program that is gaining respect nationwide thanks to a resurgence up and down the program led by outstanding football, track and field, and cross country programs.

Now we know that Oregon stands by what it preaches.

Congratulations to Lariviere, Kelly and the entire University of Oregon. There was absolutely nothing for Duck fans to cheer about on the field, but at least there is plenty to cheer about off the field. Sometimes a team doesn’t need to win to become a winner.