By Bob Clark
Jeremy Gibbs did some running on the sidelines to test his injured ankle. Sonny Harris was on hand to do some conditioning, but he won't be back until a possible bowl game, if then, due to a torn triceps. That's about 900 pounds of defensive tackle not available to the Ducks. Defensive end Victor Filipe sounds far from ready to play as he recovers from a dislocated elbow. If it was ever time to call on the reserves, it has arrived for the 11th-ranked Ducks with their spate of injuries on the defensive line. "It's been weird from the beginning of the season with D-linemen going down," said Matt Toeaina, a senior mainstay of the group. "We've done a good job of guys stepping up, but we've really got to dig deep to fill Cole's shoes."
The depth chart has about been exhausted. The only scholarship defensive lineman who hasn't been thrown into the mix so far is Matt's younger brother Simi, and he's going to be given every opportunity this week to show what he can do. "We'll have to," UO coach Mike Bellotti said. "We don't have any other choices." The younger Toeaina is a redshirt freshman who hasn't played this season. But could he now be the latest of the young Oregon defensive linemen to contribute? "We'll take a look at Simi," Bellotti said. "Every one of those guys is going to get some reps" in practices early this week as the Ducks look at options in their front four in preparation for Saturday's game at 16th-ranked California. Linehan, who will undergo surgery Wednesday, is definitely out, as is Harris with his preseason injury. There's going to be some iffiness with Gibbs, who suffered an ankle injury Sept. 16 against Oklahoma and was still unable to play last weekend at Arizona State. Those three are all tackles, so it means the older Toeaina was a tackle against ASU, though he had primarily been at end in the first three games. What will factor in to where he plays against Cal is the development of the young tackles, and whether Filipe is cleared from his elbow injury to play. "It's getting stronger, I can tell a little bit," Filipe said Monday. But is it enough? "There's a ways to go," he said. "I'm trying to not be frustrated." With Toeaina on the inside and Filipe still unable to play last weekend, the Ducks filled in well with Nick Reed and Dexter Manley II. "I'm obviously very pleased with the play of Reed and Manley," Bellotti said after reviewing their performance at ASU. "Both did some really good things and that's got to give us some confidence." Reed, a sophomore, made his first career start at ASU while Manley, a junior-college transfer, came in and recorded three of Oregon's six quarterback sacks. For that, Manley was honored Monday as the national defensive player of the week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
"That's something he can continue to do," Bellotti said of Manley's role as a pass rusher. "He just needs to grow into the total defense." With Oregon rotating the seven healthy defensive linemen it had for the second half at ASU, it also meant more playing time for sophomore Michael Speed, who was initially an end but has primarily been a tackle this season. "He is undersized, at 260-something," Bellotti said, with the other Oregon tackles in the 300-pound range. "He has really good technique ... he's a very intelligent football player and plays with a good pad level and has a good initial strike." To get the Ducks back to a true two-deep in the defensive line, however, they need one more player, which could be the younger Toeaina, listed at 308 pounds. "He has all the physical attributes," Matt Toeaina said of his brother. "If he gets more practice reps, it will allow him to grow up fast. "I might have to talk with him and make him step his game up a notch."
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