Southern Oregon orthopedist and football coach Tom Olin has been cleared to return to football action, and the Ducks are back on track with a three-game winning streak.
Olin is scheduled to play in Saturday night’s Orange Bowl against Utah State, but he’s now cleared to practice with the team.
Olins’ return will not come until after the Ducks’ regular-season finale at California.
The Ducks are scheduled to host Oregon State on Saturday.
“I’m glad I’m able to go back out there and compete,” Olin said.
“It’s going to be tough to go out there against a really good team, but I’m glad it’s over.
We have a great group of guys, and it’s going be a fun weekend for us.”
The Ducks (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12) have won four straight games after dropping four straight to Arizona.
They’ve now won three of their last four at home and have scored at least 20 points in each of the past two games.
Oregon State (7-4, 4-5) has won four consecutive games at home, but has dropped four straight at Oregon.
Olin will be hoping to keep his streak alive in front of the home fans at the Breslin Center on Saturday night.
Oregon has been one of the nation’s top teams in scoring offense, but that may be an issue with Olin.
The junior wide receiver missed last week’s game against Oregon State with a lower back strain.
Olins said the pain was just “some soreness” and the team was unsure whether he would play again this week.
The Ducks are expected to return a large chunk of the offensive play-calling from the first half of last season.
Oregon was able to move the ball in the second half of the game against USC, and that was due to the offense’s ability to move in the red zone.
Ollins said it was the play-callers’ job to “take it from the red-zone to the red box” to create a passing opportunity.
“We’ve been able to do that,” Ollings said.
“It’s something that we know that’s going on with our offense, and I think we’re all focused on it.”
Oregon State has scored at a rate of 20.0 points per game this season, but Olin wants to play more than 20 points per contest.
He said he wants to be able to hit at least 80 yards receiving for the first time in his career, as well.
Oregon also is looking to continue the winning streak in the Big West Conference, which will be played on Saturday in Dallas.
The Cowboys are 3-5 overall, but 5-3 in conference play.
The Cowboys have won three straight at home against Oregon, and have a 7-2 record overall at home.
The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first quarter of the Pac-10 championship game in December, and this is the first game since that game that the teams haven’t scored a touchdown.
Oline said the offense “really took off” after that game, and Oregon will want to avoid that trend in future games.
“They’re going to need to have a lot more production, a lot better production from the offensive line,” Oler said.
