Football Practice Report: April 5
04/05/18 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The Ducks were outside and in full pads Thursday afternoon, their last workout prior to Saturday's scrimmage at Franklin High in Portland.
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
The drill was a 3-on-3 passing game scenario, with three defenders covering three offensive skill guys attacking a single side of the field Thursday morning.
From the outset, the offense had the advantage when Justin Herbert was at quarterback. He opened the drill with a long bomb to Johnny Johnson III, found Cam McCormick over the middle on the next rep and then checked down to running backs a couple of times when the coverage required that.
The drill wasn't marred by many incompletions from Herbert. One of the few exceptions came when he didn't get quite enough air under a throw, and Ugochukwu Amadi leaped to intercept it while positioned underneath the receiver's route. Amadi made the play from his new position, safety, where he moved in the middle of last season and has remained this fall.
Safety is Amadi's new home, and he is making himself comfortable.
"I don't have to worry about moving back," Amadi said prior to practice Thursday, joking that, "I'm a lot more settled – got my furniture now. Just waiting on my TV."
Amadi spent the previous two seasons as a cornerback, starting 10 games. The emergence of freshman Thomas Graham Jr. freed up the coaching staff to move Amadi to safety in 2017, and he remains there this spring with Deommodore Lenoir having stepped up to replace Arrion Springs at the other corner spot.
Keith Heyward, Oregon's safeties coach, said the UO defense benefits from a player with Amadi's coverage skills on the back end.
"In this conference, there's a lot of 11 personnel, a lot of really good receivers," Heyward said, using coaching jargon for offensive groupings that include just one tight end and one running back, and thus three wide receivers.
Head coach Mario Cristobal said Amadi's experience also is an asset at safety.
"Ugo's seen a lot of football," Cristobal said. "He's like a quarterback for the defense. He can do a really good job lining us up, especially at the linebacker position. Ugo's like a traffic cop, making sure guys are in the right spots."
Along with playing safety, Amadi also has been among the group of Ducks fielding punts this spring. He did so in high school, he said, and has been waiting for his chance to return kicks in college.
"I was lobbying for it," Amadi said. "But they trusted the receivers more. Senior year, I'm getting my chance."
Other highlights: Matt Mariota had a diving catch in that 3-on-3 drill, and later on in a team period he caught a pass, got a block upfield from receiver Kyle Buckner and turned it into a gain of perhaps 30 yards. Because receiver depth is currently taxed, Cristobal said the Ducks would need their tight ends to step up Thursday, and Mariota obliged. … Despite Amadi's steady presence, Brady Breeze spent much of Thursday ahead of him with the No. 1 defense, and also took advantage of his opportunity. Breeze broke up a Tyler Shough pass intended for Cam McCormick in the 3-on-3 drill, and in 11-on-11 he deflected a Herbert pass and then picked it out of the air for an interception. ….
Shough dropped a pass just over a defender's shoulder into the waiting arms of Buckner during 7-on-7. The freshman is starting to have a standout throw or two like that most every practice at this point. … The first 11-on-11 period was a live-ball drill in which the offense had a chance to drive the field. Breeze's deflected interception got the No. 1 defense off the field without allowing a first down, but the No. 2 offense responded by moving the chains on yet another Mariota reception, from Braxton Burmeister. With the ones back on the field, Herbert got the offense rolling with a completion to McCormick, and on the next play CJ Verdell broke loose for a touchdown run from around midfield. …
Late in the 11-on-11 period, momentum was firmly with the defense. Justin Hollins and La'Mar Winston Jr. flushed Herbert for a stop on third down with the ones, and on their next series Mattrell McGraw jumped on a fumble for another stop. The period ended with the twos up, and included Keith Simms breaking up Hunter Kampmoyer's attempt at a fingertips catch, plus sacks by Isaac Slade-Matautia and Fotu T. Leiato II. … But in a short-yardage third-down drill to cap practice, the No. 1 offense converted three straight attempts, on a Herbert completion to Dillon Mitchell and two Tony Brooks-James runs. Results between the twos were mixed; Simms broke up another pass, on a rollout by Burmeister, before Kampmoyer and Cody Shear cleared out the right side of the line for a short run by Travis Dye. Shear jumped before the snap on the last play, so he had some good and some bad to review on film.
Other observations: The false start was whistled by one of the officials Cristobal had on hand, and boy were they joykills. On the first rep of 7-on-7, Johnson made an amazing diving touchdown reception from Herbert, but the back judge said the ball hit the ground. Later, Shough kept the ball on the option for good yardage, but that play was called back too. … The tight ends were more in the mix Thursday due to the absence of Jalen Hall and Darrian McNeal from the receiving corps. McNeal has left the team permanently, and Hall returned home to attend to a personal matter after practicing for the first time with the Ducks on Tuesday. …
Though it was a cool, drizzly morning in Eugene, the Ducks stayed outside for practice after working out indoors Tuesday. Strength coach Aaron Feld was undeterred; he wore only a sleeveless vest Thursday. … With Kaulana Apelu more in the mix after recovering from the leg injury that cut short his 2017 season, inside linebacker depth is such that Leiato and Simms took some reps Thursday on the outside. … During kickoff return drills, Brooks-James and Jaylon Redd were the first return tandem, followed by Taj Griffin and Daewood Davis.
REMINDER: The Ducks will hold a scrimmage Saturday at Franklin High in Portland, with the public invited to attend. Click here for more details.
Pre-practice interviews:
Head coach Mario Cristobal
Safeties coach Keith Heyward
Sophomore safety Nick Pickett
