UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen's criticism of the academic and athletic workload college athletes face became a national talking point Tuesday, reaching all the way to Oregon's locker room in Eugene.

Rosen, in an interview with Bleacher Report, took aim at the demands college athletes face when focusing on their studies and their sport.

"Look, football and school don't go together," Rosen told Bleacher Report. "They just don't. Trying to do both is like trying to do two full-time jobs. There are guys who have no business being in school, but they're here because this is the path to the NFL. There's no other way. Then there's the other side that says raise the SAT eligibility requirements. OK, raise the SAT requirement at Alabama and see what kind of team they have. You lose athletes and then the product on the field suffers."

Oregon linebacker Troy Dye, whose older brother, Tony, played for UCLA from 2008-11, echoed Rosen's sentiment by saying that "it doesn't mesh well, but we have to get it done."

"(Rosen) goes to UCLA, so I mean the academics there are a lot harder than they are here probably," Dye said before Tuesday's practice. "I mean, academics are academics. I kind of agree with him, they don't really mesh but we're student-athletes at the end of the day and student comes first so we understood what we were getting into when we signed our letter of intent and came to the university that we chose."

UO coach Willie Taggart has made his prioritization of academics known since his introductory press conference in December. Then, in the spring, he touted the team's increased GPA. With that background, he pointed out that many athletes juggle both successfully.

"I know for years people have been doing football and sports and academics," Taggart said Tuesday. "You've seen plenty of people over the years who've done well. We've got a lot of academic all-Americans out there and pretty good football players, too.

"If you want to play big-time college football and you want to get a big-time education then it's on the individual to get it done. There's a lot of individuals who've proved they can do it both."

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com