'Last season to prove what I've got': Alex Forsyth preps for final year with Ducks

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- We are in the midst of fall camp for all of our collegiate football teams and the biggest star from the Portland area resides in Oregon’s trenches.

West Linn alum Alex Forsyth will be one of the undisputed leaders for the Ducks this fall. The preseason first team All-Pac-12 offensive lineman could have elected to go pro after last year, but to say the least, he felt like he had some unfinished business.

“I just wanted to come back because I’ve got one last season to prove what I’ve got and really just to elevate this team for years to come,” said Forsyth.

Legacy was something Forsyth harped upon during his interview, and watching the Ducks lose three out of their final four games last season was just not how he wanted to go out.

“Last year was not how I wanted to end it, at all. I don’t think anyone would want to end a season like that. It really pisses you off and makes you hungry for this next year,” said Forsyth. “I’ve watched those last two games quite a few times just trying to never let myself forget the feelings I had after those two games. I think for me, personally, it’s been a motivating factor and a driving factor going into this year that I never want to let that happen again, and I never want the program to be in that place again.”

Oregon’s last few games certainly weren’t without drama as rumors, that eventually became true, that Mario Cristobal was leaving the team for Miami began to swirl. In Oregon’s final three games under Cristobal they won the Civil War, but got lambasted by Utah twice. Once in the regular season, 38-7, and again in the Pac-12 Championship game, 38-10. The Ducks then went on to play Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl, sans Cristobal as he had already moved on to Miami, and fell 47-32.

To say the least, Forsyth has learned some lessons from last year’s team in terms of how he wants this year’s team to act.

“I think for us it’s just not letting the outside noise seep in. I think we might have done that a little bit last year and let outside distractions determine how we were going to play,” said Alex. “That really makes me upset. You can just tell from watching those last two games that no one played even close to their best games. We can’t make excuses for why that happened, we’ve just got to get it done.”

And so he’ll get it done one last season at Oregon in the final year he’ll ever play football in his home state.

“I didn’t really think about it actually until you put it like that,” said Alex with a chuckle that after this year he’ll never play football in the state of Oregon again. “I guess it hasn’t really hit me yet, but I’m sure once senior day comes around, then it’ll finally become a reality. I know this is my last go around here, the last time I’ll put on a Duck jersey, so I’m going to make the most of it.”