Football Practice Report: Dec. 16
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Moshofsky Center
Format: Shells
On Tuesday, Mark Helfrich wasn’t overjoyed with Oregon’s energy level to kick off two straight days of practice. He had to like the way they finished them Wednesday.
In the final two periods of practice before a day off Thursday, the Ducks’ non-travel squad got another 10 minutes to shine while the veterans looked on. And they took full advantage, making for an entertaining, energetic 10 minutes that featured six possessions of big plays by the offense, a couple stops by the defense and pad-popping hits both ways.
The Ducks will be back in action Friday and Saturday, their final practices before they break for the holidays and then reconvene in San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl. Those practices, Helfrich told the team, will be structured like Tuesday and Wednesday during the season – typically full-pad workouts, the most physical preparation the Ducks undertake for an upcoming game.
Thus, practice will start to resemble a normal game week after today. In what may have been their last chance of the season to perform for coaches in the spotlight, the developmental squad guys delivered.
“It gives us time to work on the offense and have a little fun,” said running back J.J. Jones, the scout-team offensive player of the year. “Most of us are on scout-team and do the other team’s offense. So it’s a good time, to play in front of our teammates and have a little bit of fun.”
Jones helped turn Wednesday’s developmental squad scrimmage period from routine to about the most entertaining portion of postseason practices so far. On the fourth of the period’s six drives, he took a pass from Morgan Mahalak, turned upfield and was met at the sideline by safety Dylan Kane
An explosive collision ensued, with Jones getting the better of it; from that point on, the veterans on both sidelines were whooping it up on each play, and the intensity level ratcheted up noticeably. Already, those periods allow tackling rather than the typical “thud” tempo of practice, but they really cut it loose the last few minutes Wednesday.
“You kind of just go with the flow of the period,” Jones said. “Everybody started hitting a little bit more. Everybody was more aware of more collisions. That was just a reaction.”
On the next play, Gus Cumberlander got into the backfield to bring down a running back for a loss. Lane Roseberry followed with a rush to the second level, but the ball was punched out at the end of the run, and Fotu Leiato came up with it.
The offense was reset to begin another possession. On the second play, Leiato was in the middle of the action again, dragging down Jake Breeland at the end of a seven-yard reception and flinging him out of bounds. Again, the intensity ratcheted up.
“I’ve been trying to do my thing; it’s fun,” Leiato said. “The whole team’s mojo changed. If you’re going hard everybody else’s going to be motivated to do that too.”
The first drive was a win for the defense, thanks in part to a quarterback hurry by Paris Bostick and a tackle for loss by Rex Manu. The offense evened the score on the next possession, which started at the 30-yard line; Mahalak went 4-for-4 on the drive, including a 35-yard touchdown pass to Chris Tewhill.
Walk-on running back Langston Stuckey kept the momentum with the offense to begin the next drive, rushing five straight times for 38 yards. But the defense held just short of the red zone, with a Bostick sack contributing to the stop.
The next drive ended in Leiato’s fumble recovery, and the defense kept the offense off the scoreboard on the final two possessions as well. In what might have been the last major chance for the scout-team guys to cut it loose this season, they went out with a bang.
Other highlights: The secondary really had a nice period of 1-on-1 pass drills. Reggie Daniels broke up a ball to Dwayne Stanford, and Ty Griffin ran with Jalen Brown to break up a pass in the end zone. Tyree Robinson intercepted a ball Bralon Addison tipped but couldn’t secure, and Khalil Oliver and Malik Lovette also had pass breakups. It was an impressive display of the unit’s man coverage skills. …
The 7-on-7 period perfectly encapsulated how back-and-forth practice is every day, but in the space of just a couple minutes. Rebounding from the 1-on-1 period, Vernon Adams Jr. and his receivers sliced and diced the coverage, with Adams completing a couple balls to Darren Carrington and another to Evan Baylis. But the next time the first group was up, the defense dominated. Chris Seisay broke up a ball to Stanford, Adams overthrew a receiver and Charles Nelson should have had an interception, though it was dropped, and Seisay laid out for a diving breakup of another ball to Stanford. If you only saw one of the series, you’d think one of the two groups dominated the day, but as always, there were moments when each group looked great and some where they didn’t.
Other observations: Like Monday, the Ducks have only a morning team meeting scheduled for their off day Thursday. … Helfrich declared Roseberry the MVP of the developmental squad scrimmage periods. … In case you missed it, the program on Tuesday evening confirmed its signed financial-aid agreement with quarterback Dakota Prukop, a transfer from Montana State. On Wednesday, a similar agreement was announced with junior college linebacker A.J. Hotchkins. Hotchkins is a transfer from Riverside (Calif.) City College, the same program that developed redshirting outside linebacker Jonah Moi.
