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UCLA wide receiver Jordan Payton, right, tries to hold on to a touchdown pass under pressure from Oregon defensive back Chris Seisay during the first half of a NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
EUGENE -- The Ifo Ekpre-Olomu era at Oregon officially ended on Thursday with 10 words from coach Mark Helfrich.
"I will confirm that he won't participate in the playoff," Helfrich said of Ekpre-Olomu, who injured his knee at practice on Tuesday. "...I expect our team to respond exactly how they responded to everything else."
This, unfortunately for Oregon, isn't a new process.
Since Week 2, injuries have been prevalent for the Ducks. And aside from an early-season loss to Arizona, they've risen from every blow, climaxing two weeks ago in the Pac-12 Championship game, when down seven players on offense, the Ducks blew out Arizona 51-13.
It's why, despite the latest loss, the Ducks are confident that players such as Chris Seisay can rise up and replace arguably the team's best defender.
"We can't sit here and say we wish we'd have this, we wish we'd have this," Helfrich said. "We love our team. Our guys are playing their tails off and working harder and better every week this season and that's the key."
With Ekpre-Olomu sidelined, secondary coach John Neal said it's Seisay who gets the automatic boost into the starting lineup. A redshirt freshman from American Canyon, Calif., Seisay has 20 tackles and has broken up three passes in 11 games of action. His most notable effort may have been against Michigan State when he was quiet on the stat sheet, but saw notable playing time in relief of a struggling Dior Mathis.
On Thursday, all the attention was on the 6-foot-1, 187-pounder. In two weeks, Seisay will be the perceived weak-link in a passing defense that is tasked with defending against an offense that's run by 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston. Seisay figures he'll be tested. He said he's ready.
"They don't know me, they're going to pick on me because I'm the new corner," Seisay said. "I just have to show them what I can do."
But the Ducks aren't looking to the future when their present is so promising. They're one win away from a second national championship berth this decade, and they'll have to get there without a guy that's not exactly easy to replace. Ekpre-Olomu was a four-year starter, an All-American and was projected to be a first-round draft pick before his Tuesday injury.
In his time at Oregon, Ekpre-Olomu hasn't just been one of the best talents on the field, but he's been the emotional leader of the secondary. He won't be on the field during the Rose Bowl or the national championship, but the Ducks will still have some of his fire on the sidelines. He'll still be at practices and imparting wisdom.
But Ekpre-Olomu can't help on the field. And that's where coaches and players said guys like Seisay aren't part of a promising future -- they're crucial to winning right now, as the Ducks once again try to regroup from the latest setback.
"For whatever reason, we've been snakebit this year," Helfrich said, "and we will galvanize."
-- Tyson Alger | @tysonalger