Football Practice Report: Nov. 20
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Autzen Stadium
Format: Fast Friday
On the first play of Friday’s developmental squad scrimmage, a little over 24 hours before the Ducks were to host USC on Saturday (12:30 p.m., ESPN), running back Jarret LaCoste took a handoff and ran to the right side. He never had a chance to turn upfield, as linebacker De'Quan McDowell pursued LaCoste down the line and out of bounds.
LaCoste’s next rush resulted in a gain of about six yards, before he was brought down by another inside linebacker, Kaulana Apelu. Moments later, both McDowell and Apelu converged on quarterback Morgan Mahalak, and the linebacker duo helped stop Langston Stuckey on the very next play.
That McDowell and Apelu were in on a bunch of tackles was pretty standard for the weekly 10-minute scrimmage period for scout-team players. What makes them different among the group is, come Saturday they along with safety Fotu Leiato will be on the field for the Ducks, as members of the kickoff coverage team
McDowell, who joined the Ducks this past spring, and Apelu, who arrived for preseason camp, won jobs on the kickoff coverage team to open the season. An injury has limited McDowell to seven games, while Apelu has appeared in all 10. They’ve played side-by-side all season long as the scout-team inside linebackers, and they’ve combined for five tackles on kickoffs.
“They’ve helped us a ton,” special teams coordinator Tom Osborne said. “It’s awesome when you get guys who, it’s important to them. That’s the Super Bowl for them, and it helps our team because you don’t have to play guys who are playing 80 snaps on offense or defense.”
McDowell was a junior college receiver who enrolled at Oregon in the spring, and just hoped to play well enough that he was invited to stick around for the fall. He showed a nose for the ball that helped him overcome his 200-pound frame, and which is serving him well on special teams.
Apelu was a high school running back who suffered major knee injuries each of his last two years of prep football. His instincts and explosiveness were on display for each of the final two snaps of Friday’s scrimmage, on which he sacked Mahalak and then pressured him into an incompletion, both in the red zone.
“The instincts are there, and the toughness is there,” said defensive coordinator Don Pellum, the position coach for inside linebackers. “If you want to build a linebacker, start with instincts and toughness and then we can teach him the other stuff. Both those guys have a chance to help us.”
It won’t be an easy path. Both McDowell and Apelu weigh in around 200 pounds. And they’re still trying to process Oregon’s defensive schemes beyond the basics.
But in earning starting jobs on special teams, both demonstrated the attitude they’ll need to try and carve out bigger roles in the future. “My thing was,” McDowell said, “wherever they want me at, I’ll play and give it my best effort.”
Other scrimmage highlights: This was another week dominated by the defense. Early on Mahalak found Alex Ofodile in the end zone, but UO coach Mark Helfrich waved off the play due to a false start. Mahalak attempted another pass into the end zone, and it was picked off by Jonah Moi. … The next series was a three-and-out on which Matt Mariota flushed Mahalak from the pocket, the play whistled dead as Drayton Carlberg was closing in on the quarterback. … Another three-and-out followed, that one ending on a diving pass breakup by Malik Lovette. … The offense did eventually score once, on a pass from Malahak to Jacob Breeland of around 17 yards.
