Football Practice Report: Dec. 29
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Alamo Heights High School
Format: Full pads
Oregon’s practice Tuesday began with a clutch situation, and though the UO offense was only tasked with setting up a “game-winning” field goal, the Ducks on that side of the ball had some making up to do.
Monday’s practice was dominated by the defense, the sting of which lingered for Oregon’s offensive players overnight. They did something about it Tuesday, as the ones responded by scoring a touchdown in the scenario that required only a field goal.
“I feel like we were back to our normal selves today,” receiver Dwayne Stanford said, four days before the Ducks face TCU on Saturday in the Alamo Bowl (3:45 p.m. PT, ESPN).
With the ones on the field, Vernon Adams Jr. completed passes to his full complement of receivers — one each to Darren Carrington, Bralon Addison, Evan Baylis and Stanford — to get the offense into the red zone. From there, Royce Freeman caught a pass, split a couple blockers and raced past the goal line, where receiver Jalen Brown was holding off the last potential tackler.
For an offense that experienced a pretty miserable Monday, the touchdown was most welcome. “That’s the way you start the day!” Adams shouted after returning to the sideline.
The next competitive period was 1-on-1 pass drills in the red zone. Stanford is typically dominant in that drill, putting his 6-foot-5, 205-pound frame to use. After a number of drops Sunday and Monday, he was happy to bounce back with scoring receptions on all three of his reps in the drill Tuesday.
“The DBs getting the best of us (Monday) in clutch and 1-on-1, that really motivated us,” Stanford said. “We came out today really wanting to make some plays and leave a lasting impression for this year.”
Indeed, this was the final practice of the season for the Ducks in full pads. In the developmental squad period to end the workout, the threes capped the offense’s big day with a touchdown drive that ended in a Morgan Mahalak pass to Casey Eugenio on the last rep of the day.
For offensive players like Stanford, the hope is that Tuesday’s performance in the clutch drills is a sign of things to come Saturday.
“That’s the biggest determining factor going into the game, because we’re going against our ones,” Stanford said. “Making plays in clutch, that’s a big thing.”
Other highlights: Along with Stanford, the other standout in 1-on-1s was Tyree Robinson. He broke up a pass to Taj Griffin short of the goal line, and then denied Freeman a catch in the end zone on his next rep. UO coach Mark Helfrich provided the jinx though — “‘Ree’s pitching a shutout,” Helfrich said before the last rep of the drill — and Kirk Merritt beat Robinson for a touchdown on the play. … Reggie Daniels also had a standout moment, popping loose the ball as Addison was about to catch it for a touchdown, then tipping it again to keep the play alive before hauling in an interception. …
The defense did manage to win the clutch scenario for the twos, though it was questionable. With time left for one play, Jeff Lockie uncorked a pass from near midfield that Zac Schuller hauled in for a touchdown. But Helfrich ruled the play would have been a sack, and awarded the “victory” to the defense. … In red-zone drills for the defense, scouts ran for a touchdown on the first play, drawing the ire of coordinator Don Pellum. He got after his guys, and on the next play Charles Nelson forced a fumble that Danny Mattingly recovered. Nelson was all over the ball for the rest of the drill. … Griffin had a pretty stiff-arm in the backfield before turning on the jets against the scout team at one point, and De’Quan McDowell hauled in an interception late in the day.
Other observations: This being the final padded practice of the year, by tradition the offensive and defensive linemen switched sides for pass-rush drills. Alex Balducci was a rock in pass protection, while Zach Okun used a quick first step along with an array of pass-rush techniques to get to the quarterback. Henry Mondeaux pancaked Evan Voeller and Austin Maloata put Okun on his back, one play after Okun used a spin move to beat Maloata. Guys were hooting and hollering throughout the period, jumping on each other to celebrate winning reps — it was as entertaining a practice period as there’s been all season.
