EUGENE -- Ever since starting his career on punt coverage, Charles Nelson has made versatility his calling card.

The 5-foot-8, 170-pound senior from Florida's Daytona Beach has scored touchdowns as a rusher, receiver and returner -- on both punts and kickoffs.



He's caught short passes and long touchdowns, averaged 9.9 yards per carry as a ballcarrier and punched in three two-point conversions. In 2015, when Oregon's secondary depth chart was paper-thin, he moonlighted at safety and finished ninth on the team in tackles.



So it figures that this fall, his last as a Duck, he's adding another discipline.



Martial arts.



Nelson is one of 12 Ducks who earned their undergraduate degrees prior to the 2017 season, which allowed them to either pursue a master's program or take a lighter class load. (Only Northwestern, Coastal Carolina, Cincinnati and Toledo had more graduates on their roster entering the season, according to the National Football Foundation.) In Nelson's case, his twice-a-week martial arts class is his only course.



Like Nelson the class, which meets Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after UO's practice, focuses on versatility. The first two weeks were spent teaching boxing fundamentals before transitioning to Thai boxing. Nelson has done it all on a football field, but said the athleticism required for Thai boxing is "a lot different, I can tell you that."





Five weeks into UO's fall academic quarter, he sounded satisfied with his progress.



"I know the techniques and stuff but we haven't really put it all together just to spar with other people," he said Tuesday. "Just learning the fundamentals and we'll keep progressing like that.



"I know a lot of stuff. I feel like I can go out there and protect myself."



While Nelson has been learning self-defense, his team is searching for ways to strike first.



The Ducks (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) have lost their last three games since a collarbone injury to starting quarterback Justin Herbert and the offense's passing game hasn't been the same since. Coach Willie Taggart's "Gulf Coast Offense" led the Football Bowl Subdivision in points and touchdowns after the season's first month, scoring 42 points before halftime in UO's first three games. In the past three weeks, however, Oregon has eked out a combined 31 points.



Nelson's 19 catches and 283 receiving yards and both team highs, but it would be understandable if he considered this a frustrating end to his UO career, and not only for the offensive struggles of late -- an ankle injury suffered Sept. 16 forced him to miss three games.



Though Taggart did not rule Herbert out from playing Saturday against Utah in Autzen Stadium (2:45 p.m., Pac-12 Networks), it's likely that freshman Braxton Burmeister starts for a fourth straight game. Burmeister "definitely" made progress in last week's loss at UCLA, Nelson said, in a sentiment that echoed coaches' reviews. In the second quarter, Burmeister found Nelson for a 22-yard completion down the middle that set up a touchdown.



"I just feel like he knew what he was supposed to do this game and where he was supposed to go with the ball," Nelson said. "He was able to get us the ball a few times."



Meanwhile, Nelson could soon be making big strides with his martial arts skills.



He has a resource on the UO staff in co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Mario Cristobal.



Before he entered coaching in 1998 as a graduate assistant at Miami, his alma mater, Cristobal trained seriously in MMA and jiu jitsu and spent weekends sparring in tournaments across south Florida.



"Different dojos would get together and we'd go in and roll and beat the heck out of each other for a couple of hours," Cristobal said this week. At UO, he will sometimes get in a quick workout using the boxing ring inside the Marcus Mariota Sports Performance Center.



"Good cardio," he said.



When Cristobal learned of Nelson's martial arts class this week, he approached the senior receiver with a promise.



"I'm going to show him an ankle lock, two choke holds and a wrist lock," Cristobal said. "I promised I would show him a couple moves that would be effective in getting a fumble out of a pile."



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif