Oregon Ducks' A'lique Terry Evaluates Center Competition After First Scrimmage

Oregon Ducks Offensive Line Coach A'lique Terry knows what it takes to lead a highly successful offensive line and believes he has the pieces to do it again this upcoming season with the Oregon Ducks. It's all about plugging in the right players in the right spots now.

A'lique Terry speaking with the media after the eighth fall camp practice. / Olivia Cleary/Oregon Ducks on SI /

Even for his young age (28-years-old), Oregon Ducks offensive line coach A'lique Terry brings a wealth of experience to the Oregon program dating back to his playing days at Wake Forest.

Terry is heading into his second season as the offensive line coach for the Ducks. He was on the Oregon coaching staff working with the offensive line as a graduate assistant from 2019 through 2020. He understands the high standards that the program asks for out of their offensive line and lived up to the hype. Terry's group was a finalist for the Jim Moore Award even with all the different moving pieces.

He evaluated Oregon's first scrimmage with the media after the 12th practice at fall camp. Urgency seem to be the name of the game right now for his group.

"There's an urgency to our guys right now that you love to see on film. They're playing with their tempo. In camp, they try to beat up on each other a little bit. And it's good to see those guys keep that competitive edge. I think we did some really good things in the scrimmage, but their is always gonna be room to improve. Where are those minuet things that we can make a difference in."

- A'lique Terry

New offensive line coach A'lique Terry runs between drills during the first practice of spring for Oregon football Thursday March 16, 2023 / Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

After the departure of former Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson to the Las Vegas Raiders, the biggest question that needs to be answered coming out of the fall camp is at the center position. Terry has a lot of different options and is trying to narrow it down one practice at a time.

"We got about five guys rotating. We still got Iapani Laloulu, you still got Marcus Harper II, you got Charlie Pickard, you got Bryce Boulton, you got Kanen Rossi. A ton of guys still competing for that center job and they're all doing a tremendous job right now."

- A'lique Terry

As for the right guard position, it's a similar thought process for Terry. A lot of talent is being worked through each practice and being slimmed down to figure out who the right man is for the starting gig.

"You still got Matthew Bedford, you still got Nishad Strother, you still got Iapani Laloulu. You got even Gernorris Wilson. So a ton of guys there that are still competing for that right guard spot. And the beautiful part is that we still got two weeks left in camp. Those guys compete their tail off, may the best man win. Everybody's working together. And the best part about it is as soon as they're done competing, they're laughing and cracking jokes."

- A'lique Terry

The flexibility on the offensive line is a blessing that Terry has. He has multiple options that he can move around at the guards and center spot. No answers have been given to how it will all truly line up at this point in time.

"It just depends on how it plays out because at the end of the day, we just want to make sure we got the best five on the field. And if the best five is him at that guard, somebody else at center, him at center somebody else at that guard, we're gonna do whatever's possible. Just want to make sure it's the best five out there to give our team the best chance."

- A'lique Terry

Terry would like to have a set lineup going into the Idaho game on Aug. 31 but is comfortable not having that decision made by then. It's something that he dealt with heading into the beginning of last season as well and it continued to change throughout the course of the season. The week one starters on the line might not be the week 12 starters and that's okay if you're an Oregon fan.

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