No, not in college. Pro football maybe, but not in school.
Oregon is a program in transition and one thought to be soft from their results last year. The kids are going to naturally try to work their asses off (literally) to change that. It is expected they will overdo the work. They want to win and want to win badly as well as impress the new staff. They have every incentive to not stop unless directed to do so.
If you read any of the articles on it, many point out the NCAA has rules and guidelines meant to prevent this and they were not followed. Not just breaks and hydration, but in their guideline it specifically states each student should be independently evaluated and a program put together targeted to each kids ability/needs. This was not done in this case which is why I believe there may be legal recourse. Failing to follow established NCAA guidelines leaves them open to further action.
Yes, in college most of these guys are legally adults and need to act like it. There are thousands of men and women the same age in the military that are expected to act like adults why can't these gentlemen be held to the same standards? I agree the coaches were reckless letting the players go so hard so early, but as has been pointed out the majority of the players went just as hard and they're fine. Also is there any evidence that these players didn't have the required individual evaluations and then pushed themselves too much while the coaches were working the entire team and couldn't possibly monitor every single player closely?