Oregon Football Practice Report: Oct. 17
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Autzen Stadium
Format: Fast Friday
Paramount to Oregon’s confidence and execution offensively at UCLA last week was the return from injury of Jake Fisher, whose presence both improved the Ducks’ talent level up front and provided a calming effect for a unit that had allowed 12 sacks in the previous two games.
But the Ducks also got strong performances from young starters Cameron Hunt and Matt Pierson on the right side of the line, too, and Tyrell Crosby was effective in reserve. The trial by fire those guys endured in Fisher’s absence against Washington State and Arizona groomed them for success at UCLA. But so too did the work they did in practice against a scout-team defensive front that, while lacking the talent level of those Pac-12 opponents, played just as hard every day of the week.
“We outhit UCLA because we were able to be so physical in practice, and because our scout-team guys did such a great job – that’s it,” said Joe Bernardi, the graduate assistant who works with Steve Greatwood and the offensive line, and coordinates the scout-team defense’s front seven. “They’ve had to work.
“When Jalen Jelks beats Jake Fisher on a pass rush, when Spencer Stark beats Hamani Stevens or Cameron Hunt on a run block, for those guys that’s a big deal. It’s competitive, and we’ve made it competitive – and we have to continue to make it competitive. But those kids have made our O line better, week in and week out.”
The scouts on defense had the challenge this week of replicating the big-play front of Washington, which plays at Oregon on Saturday in Autzen Stadium (5 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1). The Huskies boast the national leader entering this week in sacks, in outside linebacker Hau’oli Kikaha; massive nose tackle Danny Shelton, who is fifth in the nation in sacks; and linebacker/safety Shaq Thompson, whose 100-yard fumble return against Cal last week was his fourth defensive touchdown of the season already.
Complicating the challenge for the scouts is the number of schemes they’ve been asked to replicate the last two weeks. UCLA ran the most complicated defense the Ducks had seen all season, head coach Mark Helfrich said, and Washington raised the bar again this week with its schematic complexity.
“Jonathan Kenion, Spencer Stark, Jason Sloan, Jalen Jelks, Grant Thompson, Isaac Ava, Eddie Heard, Ivan Faulhaber, Mike Garrity – they’ve all been vital because of A) the personnel that UCLA and Washington have, but B) what they do on defense, too,” Bernardi said. “We’ve asked those guys to do a lot schematically. They’ve done a great job.
“Between myself with the front seven and (graduate assistant) Nate (Costa) and (intern Matt) Noyer with the back-end guys, there’s challenges every week. But the thing those guys have done, physically those front-seven guys have made it hard on our offensive line. They’ve made those guys better, physically as well as mentally.”
Scout-team scrimmage highlights: This might have been the most entertaining 10-minute scrimmage for the non-travel squad guys all season, and credit perhaps goes to Glen Ihenacho. The redshirting safety had a big hit to break up a pass to a tight end early in the scrimmage, and the intensity didn’t lag for the remainder of the period. …. Ihenacho’s hit got the defense going after the offense started with a couple big plays, a Morgan Mahalak completion to B.J. Kelley and a long run by Tony James, who slipped a tackle in the backfield and was off to the races. …
Garrity, who played the role of Thompson all week, had at least three sacks by my count, at one point using some nice footwork to side-step offensive tackle Braden Eggert and get into the backfield. … Sloan made a nice play to stop running back Jarret LaCoste. Eggert had Sloan locked up at the snap, but as LaCoste tried to get through the line and to the second level, Sloan came off the block and made the tackle. … On the next play, Jimmie Swain brought down Lane Roseberry on a run play, as Evan Voeller was driving a defensive end all the way to the sideline. …
The offense made a couple big plays late in the period, a Kelley touchdown reception from Mahalak and a long run by Ty Griffin. But the defense ended the day on a big note when Khalil Oliver had a big hit to bring down a receiver after the catch.
