Oregon Football Practice Report: Oct. 15
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Moshofsky Center
Format: Full pads
Both of Tui Talia’s tackles in last week’s win at UCLA – the JC transfer’s first in Pac-12 play this season – were good news/bad news situations.
Talia, the junior defensive end from Concord, Calif., teamed with Ifo Ekpre-Olomu to bring down Paul Perkins at the end of a 14-yard rush in the first quarter, then brought down Myles Jack on a seven-yard run early in the second quarter. Yes, those are longer gains than the UO defense wants to surrender. But they also demonstrate the motor Talia plays with, as he stayed with those plays down the field in order to get in on the tackles. (Departed defensive end Taylor Hart was the master of that.)
That motor is something Talia has brought to practices from day one with the Ducks. But lately he’s starting to be involved in more plays, both in games and in practices, as his comfort in Oregon’s scheme catches up with his energy level.
The Ducks played without Arik Armstead at UCLA, so guys like Talia, T.J. Daniel and Henry Mondeaux had more chances to make plays last week. Whatever Armstead’s status going forward, though, depth on the defensive line will be more than welcome, after a first half that saw Armstead and DeForest Buckner seemingly never come off the field when healthy.
Talia’s impact on practice is a little hard to quantify, as can be the case for defensive linemen. But he just seems to be showing up around the ball more, embracing the level of hustle and gang-tackling the coaches are constantly working to instill.
Talia’s emergence has coincided with the start of classes at the university a couple weeks ago, and he said there’s a correlation. “Ever since school started my focus has been better, in and out of football,” Talia said. “It’s in the classroom as well, but I feel like that’s helped me a lot over here (at the athletic facilities).”
Talia said he’s also learned to appreciate how much the coaching staff stresses hydration. Water or Gatorade is a constant companion. “I can feel myself in better condition,” said Talia, who was once verbally committed to this week’s opponent, Washington, before signing with the Ducks. “My legs feel a lot fresher.”
Highlights: The No. 1 offense hit the ground running when Mark Helfrich called an audible and moved the “clutch” drill to the start of practice. A couple Marcus Mariota passes to Devon Allen and a run by Royce Freeman got the ball deep into the red zone, where Matt Wogan converted a short, “game-winning” field goal. It was another story with the twos on the field, as the defense controlled the scenario. I always see that as the perfect outcome; you want the No. 1 offense to be able to score on anybody, but the No. 2 defense to win its reps because that shows the Ducks have the defensive depth they tend to need due to their low time of possession (currently 25:27.67 per game, second-lowest in the country). …
As usual on Wednesday, there was a lot of red-zone work. Chance Allen got the best of Ekpre-Olomu on a couple 1-on-1 reps, and Erick Dargan did a really nice job of finishing a play when a ball he tipped still might have been caught, so Dargan took another swat at it and knocked it away. … In team drills, Derrick Malone Jr. had an interception in the red zone, while Freeman and Thomas Tyner ran for TDs. … A period focused on run plays began with Jake Fisher holding off Buckner on a long Freeman run. But Buckner came back with a tackle for loss on the next rep, and Joe Walker and Johnny Ragin III each later came up with loud, aggressive stops in the backfield. This was Kiko Alonso type stuff – in the backfield like a missile and dropping the ballcarrier immediately with a thunderous hit.
Other observations: For the second straight week, it seemed like a particularly physical Wednesday practice. There’s a theoretical line coaches set regarding how much they want to hit in practice, in order to avoid injury, and it may be a little flexible at this point for the sake of cutting down missed tackles. “We go over that a lot in unit meetings, our missed tackles,” Talia said. “That’s been a big deal these past few games, and we’re trying to focus on that stuff.” … Reggie Daniels had a couple of interceptions over the course of the morning, but if you’re a regular reader of these reports, you probably already assumed that. … Pharaoh Brown might have the best hands on the team at this point. There’s nobody better at reaching out and bringing in a ball away from his body, with the possible exception of Jalen Brown (no relation).
