The Blount Question To Be Addressed

It is a day after what is perhaps the biggest win in Oregon's history and what is the first question many would ask Chip Kelly? The status of LeGarrette Blount's return to the playing field. Kelly responded to a number of questions on Sunday night but his response to the most obvious was simple -- "no comment."

Kelly did indicate that the Blount's case would be reviewed but had no timeline for a decision to be made.

"We said we wouldn't look at until after the USC game, so this is just the beginning of it. I don't how long it will take," admitted Kelly. "Whether it is a day, two day, three days, four days I don't have no idea on that."

Kelly also indicated that he met with Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott today, but did not go into any details as to what was discussed.

The headman also indicated that the least of his concerns was getting Blount into playing shape, that the process was more about creating an opportunity for Blount to return to the active roster and that decision was not a football question. As far as Blount goes, Kelly felt that Blount's attitude has "been great."

When pointed out to Kelly that Oregon now leads the Pac-10 in scoring offense at 35.6 points per game and also in defending points allowed at 17.1 ppg game, the coach was customarily unimpressed with statistics.

"It doesn't matter," responded Kelly. "The only thing that means anything to us is that we lead the conference in wins... It's not about stats for us. It never has been and never will be. Our goal as a football team is just winning games."

Still though the fact the Ducks have scored the most and given up the fewest points is an indicator of what is going on.

"Yeah, I guess so," answered Kelly. "We just don't look at it that way. We never look at stats and say we've done this or done that. We look at it in terms of wins or losses and that's the most important thing."

In yesterday's game it was apparent in the second half that the Ducks were simply in better condition than the Trojans. Kelly believes that conditioning is something that is crucial to the success the Ducks enjoy.

"It's a byproduct of Jimmy Radcliffe (Oregon's Strength and Conditioning Coach and the conditioning program) and how we practice," cited Kelly. "It's really how we practice and the pace at which we practice that allows us to play at a really high tempo on Saturdays."

When asked about putting on the Duck mascott costume on Saturday for ESPN's GameDay, whether that was a signal to his team to play loose, Kelly denied it.

"I knew I was going on GameDay, but I really didn't know until I got over there that it (the costume) was going to go on," revealed Kelly. "Our fans are the greatest in college football so it didnt' bother me. I'll quote a great man, Pat Kilkenny who said, 'I take my job serious, I don't take myself serious."

Kelly went on to say that the incident was a chance for him to have some fun with the fans and that it was a "one-time thing."

Finally, when asked about the success LaMichael James had against the talented USC defense Kelly felt that there are some key ingredients to James.

"He's a little bigger than people think," observed Kelly of James. "The numbers in the weight room will bear that out. He has tremendous balance, tremendous vision. If people think he's not all that big, he's pretty put together. He's a tough, hard-nosed physical player and has a lot of pride."

James finished the day off against USC by rushing for 183 yards on 24 carries and scored one touchdown. Currently, James is the 3rd highest ground gainer in the conference at 114.8 ypg.