(EUGENE, Ore. ) — Tony James was mentioned in Saturday’s practice report for knifing through Oregon’s kickoff team on a long return.

He stood out Monday both on an acrobatic catch in 1-on-1s, and for a coach’s enthusiastic appreciation for his effort against the Ducks’ punt return unit.

So it seemed reasonable to feature James in this weekly scout-team spotlight, the day prior to an Oregon game, in this case Thursday’s visit to Autzen Stadium by Arizona (7:30 p.m. PT, ESPN).

James is a former high school all-American from Gainesville, Fla., who ran for 1,242 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior. For the Ducks, he’s practicing both at running back and wide receiver, perhaps making him the next all-purpose threat in the mold of Kenjon Barner, De'Anthony Thomas and Byron Marshall.

James already has been named one of Oregon’s scout-team players of the week twice this season, for his efforts leading up to the Michigan State and Wyoming games. He has embraced his role in practices while being kept on track to redshirt this season.

“I just try to bring a positive attitude to the team,” James said. “If I look at it like I can’t contribute to the team, what good am I? I try to bring the attitude that I’d want a person to bring on the opposite side of the ball from me. Just full-speed, full-tilt.”

James put his speed to good use with a couple of 101-yard kickoff returns in high school, but he said he didn’t really take seriously the importance of special teams back then. That changed, he said, when he watched Levonte Whitfield return a kickoff 100 yards for Florida State in this year’s BCS Championship game, helping the Seminoles win the national title.

“Ever since then,” James said, “it’s been, ‘OK, I need to go hard on special teams.’ I’m going to give it all I’ve got.”

He’s doing so in practice so far at Oregon, and making life difficult for the Ducks’ travel squad in the process.

Scout-team scrimmage highlights:

Despite the best efforts of James and the other young guys offensively, today’s 10-minute period was controlled by the defense. Jimmie Swain was all over the place, teaming with Jonathan Kenion to bottle up James on the first snap and later assisting on tackles with Ivan Faulhaber twice against the run. … Jalen Jelks also had a tackle for loss, and Faulhaber had a sack. … Completions were few and far between, but Chris Tewhill and Casey Eugenio caught passes from Ty Griffin. The transfer QB from Georgia Tech is among the fastest players on the team and his mechanics have come a long way in the last two months, but he was a little high on a few throws this morning.

Source: goducks.com

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