Football Practice Report: April 15

Photo by: Andy McNamara/GoDucks.com

04/15/17 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley

The Ducks held their first scrimmage of the Willie Taggart era at Jesuit High School in Beaverton.

By: Rob Moseley

Venue: Jesuit High School
Format: Scrimmage

Henry Mondeaux looked out over the field where he once starred as a two-way standout for Jesuit High, and couldn't believe he was back.

Mondeaux, two of his fellow Jesuit alums and the rest of the UO football team were at the Beaverton high school Saturday for Oregon's first major scrimmage of this spring. New coach Willie Taggart's effort to bring UO football to its loyal fan base in the Portland Metro area served the dual purpose of providing a homecoming for Mondeaux, along with offensive linemen Doug Brenner and Charlie Landgraf.

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"It's weird; it's fun though," Mondeaux said, prior to the start of Saturday's scrimmage. "I thought I'd never play here again, but it's really cool. A lot of memories came back."

The Ducks created a few more Saturday, during a lengthy scrimmage with about 1,200 fans looking on. Afterward, fans lined the fence at the bottom of the bleachers, and the Ducks went down the line to shake hands and thank them for coming.

Justin Herbert and @CoachTaggart thanking the fans who came out to today's scrimmage. Whole team went down the fence line. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/bh1BABCTip
— Rob Moseley (@DuckFootball) April 15, 2017

Among the last two people in line were Taggart and first-string quarterback Justin Herbert. They were still signing autographs and posing for photos even while some players trickled out of the locker room, having already showered and dressed for the bus trip home to Eugene.

"That was a heck of a crowd," Taggart told the team in the post-scrimmage huddle. "You guy don't know how privileged you are. We owe it to them, in the fall, to play our butts off."

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Highlights: Herbert got off to an inauspicious start. The first play of the scrimmage was an underthrown pass over the middle to Dillon Mitchell, which was picked off by Arrion Springs. The next time the first team was on the field, Springs nearly picked off Oregon's returning starting quarterback again, but the ball slipped through his hands. … From there, though, Herbert settled in and, as usual, directed the most scoring drives on the day. He threw four touchdown passes, including a trio to Jacob Breeland, with whom he's had a nice connection all spring. … Herbert's other TD pass was a 45-yard laser to Darren Carrington II, who caught it with one hand while using the other to ward off freshman corner Thomas Graham Jr. Those two continued their spring battle, with Graham breaking up a couple other deep balls intended for Carrington. …

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Braxton Burmeister took the reps that had been going to Terry Wilson Jr. for the second straight day, and for the second straight day he took full advantage. Burmeister threw touchdown passes of 12 and 25 yards to Malik Lovette, and also juked past linebacker Kaulana Apelu on a 31-yard touchdown run. Technically quarterbacks can't be hit, so Apelu wasn't going full speed, but Burmeister definitely demonstrated some quickness. … My notes credited Fotu T. Leiato II, Jimmie Swain, Jalen Jelks, Hunter Kampmoyer and Jonah Moi with sacks. Jelks also looked pretty stout against the run a couple times, a good sign for a guy who looks lankier than the typical 3-4 defensive end. … Practice ended with Aidan Schneider attempting a 47-yard field goal, with the whole team gathered around him as a distraction — including offensive line coach Mario Cristobal yelling, "Wide right! Wide right!" Schneider banged the kick through with room to spare.

Saturday's two-deep
QB: Justin Herbert, Travis Jonsen
RB: Royce Freeman, Kani Benoit
WR: Dillon Mitchell, Malik Lovette
TE: Jacob Breeland, Ryan Bay
LT: Brady Aiello, Logan Bathke
LG: Shane Lemieux, Evan Voeller
C: Jake Hanson, Zach Okun
RG: Doug Brenner, Valentino Daltoso
RT: Calvin Throckmorton, Jacob Capra
WR: Charles Nelson, Casey Eugenio
WR: Darren Carrington II, Taylor Alie

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DE: Elijah George (above), Jalen Jelks
DT: Jordon Scott, Gary Baker
DE: Henry Mondeaux, Hunter Kampmoyer
OLB: Jimmie Swain, Jonah Moi
ILB: Troy Dye, Kaulana Apelu
ILB: A.J. Hotchkins, Blake Rugraff
"Duck" LB/S: Khalil Oliver, Fotu T. Leiato II
CB: Arrion Springs, Ugochukwe Amadi
CB: Thomas Graham Jr., Tyree Robinson
S: Brady Breeze, Billy Gibson
S: Mattrell McGraw, Juwaan Williams

Observations: The 11-on-11 practice periods began with work for the punt team. Deep to receive kicks from Blake Maimone and Adam Stack were Carrington, Darrian McNeal and Casey Eugenio. … Gus Cumberlander moved from defensive end to outside linebacker on Friday, and he had the defensive play Saturday that drew the loudest reaction from the fans, other than Springs' interception. McNeal was running the ball on a sweep play when Cumberlander (below) reached out and tackled him up high, essentially a clothesline. … Jake Pisarcik, who began the month as the first-string right guard, was not suited up. …

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The officiating crew on hand threw no less than 10 flags over the course of the two-hour scrimmage. The majority were procedural penalties on the offense. Those penalties were the first critique Taggart raised with the team in the post-practice huddle. … Taggart said fatigue was likely a factor in some of the flags, and he thought the Ducks wore down defensively a bit too. He said at the start of spring the team wasn't in "football shape" yet, and that appears still to be the case. … Former UO cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu watched from the defensive sideline and helped break the post-practice huddle. … There were no significant injuries, at least none that were apparent from the sideline.