Football Practice Report: Oct. 5
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Shells
The Oregon coaching staff has always tried to keep three quarterbacks game ready, as members of the “travel squad,” a designation that applies whether the Ducks are preparing to play at home or away.
Last week, though, offensive coordinator Scott Frost watched his No. 3 guy, Taylor Alie, just a little closer than usual, both in practice and afterward on film. “Well, obviously – because our No. 3 was playing on Saturday,” Frost said Monday, two days after Alie shared playing time with starter Jeff Lockie in Oregon’s win at Colorado.
Alie began the season behind opening game starter Vernon Adams Jr. as well as Lockie on the depth chart. Adams has missed two of the last three games, both of which were started by Lockie.
But Alie has impressed the staff in increasingly more substantial appearances over the past three weeks, and Frost said today he wasn’t sure what order his three quarterbacks might be in for this Saturday’s visit to Autzen Stadium by Washington State (3 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).
“We’ve got to count on a lot of these guys to play,” Frost said. “I was pleased, for the most part, with what the guys on the field did (at Colorado). I felt both guys did good things, and had things to improve on. So we’ll build on that.”
Adams continues to try and stay sharp while battling to get back on the field.
“Just gotta continue to stay locked into the game,” Adams said today. “Keep guys on the sideline positive; even when things aren’t going right, still gotta make sure everybody knows we’ve got to keep our composure. It’s tough for me not playing, especially because this is my senior year. But I’ve got to be 100 percent before I can go out there. I want to give this team 100 percent, because they’re giving me this opportunity to come in and compete and play for the Ducks.”
With the quarterbacks in flux, the Ducks rushed for 361 yards against the Buffaloes, while passing for 176. When Marcus Mariota was behind center the last two seasons, Oregon passed for more yards than it rushed, a departure from 2007-12, in which the Ducks consistently averaged at least 40 more rushing yards per game than passing.
"For a long time around here we've leaned on our running game," Frost said. "If we have to do that again, I feel OK."
Highlights: The most competitive period was 7-on-7. Lockie connected on a deep ball with Devon Allen, who got behind the secondary. … Otherwise, much of practice was conducted at a “teach” tempo. “Good work day today,” UO coach Mark Helfrich told the team afterward. “If we can get a ton out of today, we can keep doing it like this – and then cut it loose Tuesday and Wednesday.” … The teach tempo provided time for coaches to accentuate things like tackling technique. “We had 170 yards of missed tackles against these guys last year,” defensive backs coach John Neal told his guys. “One-seventy.”
Other observations: In case you missed it, it was announced Monday that Oregon’s game Oct. 17 at Washington will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN2. … The walk-ons who made the cut from last week’s open tryout have been assigned numbers in order to join practice this week. Receiver Jhet Janis is No. 87, offensive lineman Mike Miller is No. 65, linebacker Blake Rugraff is No. 53 and running back Langston Stuckey is No. 36. … Tight end Taylor Stinson is wearing the No. 21 jersey of WSU receiver River Cracraft, who caught eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown against the Ducks last season.
