Football Practice Report: Oct. 14
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
Before things went south in just about every phase midway through the fourth quarter against Washington State, the Oregon defense was in position to celebrate an impressive performance by a line that is demonstrating its depth in recent weeks. The Ducks had seven sacks among 13 tackles for loss, giving them 20 TFLs and a dozen sacks over the last two weeks.
The Ducks played nine D linemen against the Cougars, a year after relying heavily on the starting trio of DeForest Buckner, Alex Balducci and Arik Armstead. Redshirt freshman Jalen Jelks came up with his first career sack, T.J. Daniel returned from missing two games, Henry Mondeaux and Tui Talia continue to play extensively in Armstead’s absence, and Balducci was spelled by backup nose tackles Austin Maloata and Rex Manu.
The Ducks are preparing to face a different kind of offense Saturday at Washington (7:30 p.m., ESPN2). But against passing teams like the Cougars, and likely also California in November, Oregon’s depth is of great value.
“In a game like that where you’re chasing a guy and pass-rushing 75 times, you have to rotate guys,” defensive coordinator Don Pellum said. “Fortunately there are some guys starting to come on, the Jalen Jelks and the Austins, that are not only giving us minutes but giving us quality minutes. If we have the opportunity to continue to rotate a lot of guys – if the freshness helps, if it helps us get closer to the quarterback, helps us get off blocks better — then that’s something we really need to continue to look at.”
The ninth guy in the rotation last week was talented true freshman Canton Kaumatule. He didn’t make the stat sheet, but he played with Buckner and Balducci at times against the Cougars, a trio that has also spent time together in practices of late.
Kaumatule is budding with potential, but has been eased into the rotation. He made his debut with one series at Michigan State, a quick touchdown drive by the Spartans, and made his only two tackles of the season a week later against Georgia State.
“I feel like I’ve been making some great progress,” Kaumatule said. “But like everybody else I’ve got to keep moving, keep preparing and stick with it.”
That Kaumatule is playing with Buckner must cause some déjà vu for Oregon’s star senior. One of Buckner’s fellow starters on the defensive line back at Punahou School in Hawaii was Kaumatule’s older brother, Luke, now a senior outside linebacker at Stanford.
Canton Kaumatule is soaking up all he can from the experience of playing alongside Buckner and Balducci when he gets a chance.
“It’s a great honor; those two guys are pretty much the powerhouses of the defense,” Kaumatule said. “They’re guys I look up to.”
Highlights: Today was a really encouraging day offensively. It started out with a clutch drill, in which the offense needed to drive to a field goal. Darren Carrington and Dwayne Stanford had receptions that helped set up a 38-yard field goal made by Aidan Schneider. … In the “good-on-good” team period featuring both sides of the travel squad, the offensive line was really firing off the ball. Royce Freeman parlayed that into a couple long carries, and Stanford sealed the edge for a long TD run by Tony Brooks-James. …
Between those two periods, the defense had some highlights in 1-on-1 passing drills near the goal line. Arrion Springs and Tyree Robinson each broke up balls intended for Carrington, and Reggie Daniels jumped a short route for an interception, which is very rare in this scenario. Stanford did win a couple reps against Ugo Amadi, continuing his dominance in this situation each week, and Alex Ofodile made a tremendous leaping catch in the back corner but came down just out of bounds. …
The scout-team offense started well when the defense did red-zone work, with Jarret LaCoste and Morgan Mahalak running for touchdowns on the first two reps. The defense tightened it up and finished well; in the last period of the day, Jimmie Swain leaped for an interception and Buckner batted down a pass that Jelks had a shot at intercepting.
Other observations: This was a particularly salty practice, probably the saltiest since preseason camp. Nothing specific to pass along, just some brief instances of chippiness here and there. Understandable the Ducks might have a chip on their shoulder right now. … Inevitable addition to the practice soundtrack this week: “Who Let the Dogs Out” … Check out our Facebook page for a post-practice interview with Scott Frost, who along with his QB situation and the UW defense talked about his efforts to follow his beloved Cubs during their ongoing postseason run.
