Oregon freshman offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu discusses stepping into a larger role for the Ducks.
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00:00 Without Jackson around, it looks like you might be getting an opportunity to play a little bit more at center.
00:05 I know, yeah. I mean, I appreciate Jackson. He kind of set the tone of being, you know what I'm saying,
00:11 obviously he won the Remington, and he set the tone for me, and he taught me so much about being center.
00:15 Because coming in from high school, I never thought I would play center, but when I came here and realized
00:20 that they needed centers, I took the role of learning from Jackson as much as I can.
00:24 So, did you start in spring and then working at center kind of walk us through that?
00:27 Yeah, so basically I kind of started in the spring, but I was actually kind of still working because I had my injury
00:33 coming out of high school. So, when I came in during the spring, I was still working on getting better and stuff,
00:39 getting healthier. And then as the spring went on, I came back and then I was playing a little left guard.
00:45 And as we had those practices in the spring, Coach T, he noticed how small I was.
00:50 I was the smallest guy over there in the building, out of the O-line, so he kind of threw me over there at center.
00:55 So, I've been getting better. It's not easy. It's a process.
01:00 What is the most challenging part for you?
01:03 I feel like the most challenging part about playing center is snapping. That's my problem, snapping.
01:08 I'm not that good. It's kind of hard because you want to get off the ball, make contact, and protect as much as you can
01:14 for the guys in the back like Bowe and Bucky.
01:17 So, there's some big shoes to fill going into this ballgame. Do you feel a sense of responsibility?
01:21 Most definitely. I mean, that's some big shoes to fill. Like I said, Jackson, who just won a Remington,
01:26 he kind of set the tone. Hurrigan, we got some good O-linemen.
01:31 If you're going to come here, you better be ready to play.
01:33 So, for me to fill in the shoes and play center is going to be a big role for me and a huge responsibility.