Though there has been nothing but breaking news in the world of Oregon sports over the past few weeks, we got a chance recently to look back at one of the bigger stories with the Ducks football team that took place last month.
It doesn’t have to do with Mario Cristobal leaving, or Dan Lanning coming. It doesn’t concern a pair of embarrassing losses to Utah, or a flurry of recruits signing with the Ducks.
Instead, it’s an explanation from former Oregon WR Mycah Pittman on why he decided to leave the Ducks late in the season and enter the transfer portal.
Pittman took to his Youtube channel earlier this week and explained what went into his decision-making at long last. It revealed a lot about the player and the team as a whole.
“As you guys know, I wasn’t getting a fair share of targets,” Pittman said. “I wasn’t being utilized in the offense the way I was expecting, and the way I was wanting to. I felt like I had a great camp; I’ve had great camps throughout the years, period. Every single year, I always put up a great fall camp. Just to tell the coaches and show the coaches that I’m able to do a lot of great things for the program, and they can expect great things for me. Sadly, the season didn’t go the way I wanted it. It wasn’t like I wasn’t getting open.”
Pittman played in 7 games for the Ducks this year, grabbing 12 passes for 197 yards and 0 touchdowns. His Oregon career ended after three years with a total of 38 catches for 547 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“In reality, did I see anything getting better at Oregon? No, I didn’t. I know Cristobal just left the University of Oregon, but we had a head coach that believed in running the ball almost every single play, and as a receiver, it’s really tough,” Pittman continued. “I don’t mind blocking, and I feel like blocking is a great, key aspect of things for the running backs in setting them free, but we were a run-first operation, and they were going to continue to do that. Nothing was going to be changed.”
The Ducks are certainly a run-heavy team, averaging 38 attempts per game, compared to 28 passes per game. Only one player had more than 500 yards receiving, and only 4 players had more than 300 yards receiving, one of whom was a running back.
While Pittman says he knew that the Ducks would be this run-heavy, he says that early in the year he decided that he wanted to redshirt, knowing that he would likely transfer after the season was done. It was then that he was convinced not to redshirt, which he says he regrets.
“In the beginning of the season, probably game 2 or game 3 — I kept this between me and my coaches — I actually wanted to redshirt. I told B-Mac and Cristobal that I wanted to redshirt and I didn’t want to finish the season because I felt like I wasn’t being utilized, and I didn’t want to throw away my year of eligibility. … I was convinced that I shouldn’t redshirt, so I didn’t. That is a decision that I do regret. I should have redshirted.”
It wasn’t until later in the year against Washington State that Pittman reached his breaking point and decided that enough was enough.
“Where I met my breaking point was the Washington State game. I started and I played, and I played very well, but I think we ran the ball almost 40 times that game and we threw the ball like 20 times. I was in for a total of 6 pass plays, and 5 of them were check-downs to our running backs, and then one was a sack. That hurt my opportunities, and for a guy who wants to go to the NFL, you need to throw the ball for at least more than 6 times a game, or at least be able to be utilized for the 6 times per game.”
It is a revealing admission from Pittman, who says that he has high aspirations of making it to the NFL, but knows that he has no chance if his usage continues to be so low. While he says that a lot of teams have talked to him and tried to recruit him to come to their school, the sophomore WR doesn’t yet know where he will end up next year.
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