It's a comedy of errors for UO's not-so-special teams.

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

Say this for Oregon's special teams: They didn't allow much in the way of punt-return yardage on Saturday.

That was about the best that could be said in the wake of the Ducks' 30-24 loss to Indiana at Autzen Stadium. The game opened with a kickoff return for a touchdown being called back because of a penalty, and that set the tone for a day of blunders by Oregon's kicking units.

There were fumbles by two punt returners, a kickoff return for a touchdown by the Hoosiers and a missed field goal that would have given Jared Siegel the school record for points in a career. Instead he'll have to wait until next week to attempt to break Derek Loville's record of 272, by which time the Ducks hope to have addressed the myriad problems that arose on special teams Saturday.

"Guys that dropped punts today had not dropped one in practice," UO coach Mike Bellotti said in addressing the most obvious concern, fumbles by Aaron Gipson and Terrence Whitehead in the first quarter. "Those had not shown their head. Unfortunately, they reared their head today."

There was enough head-rearing Saturday to befit a mythical Hydra, beginning with a block in the back that negated Kenny Washington's 100-yard return of the opening kickoff for a touchdown, a penalty the officials credited to Oregon's Ryan DePalo, who wasn't on the field at the time.

In the third quarter the kick coverage team suffered its own breakdown, allowing Indiana's Lance Bennett to return a kickoff 98 yards for what proved to be the decisive points in the game.

"The kickoff return team had an opportunity to set the tempo," UO special teams coordinator Robin Ross said. "It's always tough in the opener, because we haven't had a lot of live reps."

Gipson fumbled his first chance at a punt return, setting up Indiana's first touchdown, and Whitehead's fumble later in the first quarter put the Hoosiers in position to make it 17-0. In the final scrimmage of fall camp, Washington and Justin Phinisee fumbled punts, meaning that four potential returners have fumbled either in a scrimmage or game in the past two weeks.

"We're going to have to find somebody that can do it in a game," Ross acknowledged.

Phinisee and Gipson missed the second half with injuries Saturday, and Ross said that set back the punt-return unit because they are the team's best "Ducks," the wings who line up split wide and try to block the opponent's fastest defenders. With those two out, the Ducks averaged fewer than 4 yards per return against the Hoosiers.

Then there was the miss by Siegel, who was left one point shy of tying Loville's school scoring record. He said he made solid contact with the kick that went wide left in the fourth quarter, but the ball was immediately off line.

Siegel suffered a contusion when a helmet struck him on his plant leg earlier in the game, but he said it didn't affect the kick.

"I was on two feet," he said. "I'm not going to make excuses. It was a very makeable kick."

CAPTION(S):

Kellen Clemens watches a late-game field-goal attempt by Jared Siegel sail wide left, while Indiana's Jake Powers (46) makes the call. Siegel's field goal could have brought the Ducks to within three points in the fourth quarter.