Football Practice Report: April 22
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
As the Ducks grind through the final two weeks of springs drills, the nature of the game inevitably takes its toll. A strain here, a tweak there, and a few guys need to be held out of team drills while sporting red non-contact jerseys.
That’s nothing out of the ordinary. What is noteworthy this spring is how much one guy in a red jersey is helping account for a few others. That would be Ty Griffin, who along with the other quarterbacks wears a non-contact jersey every day. While showing impressive strides at his own position, Griffin has helped out in a number of other roles over the last couple weeks.
In Monday’s scrimmage, Griffin got reps on both kickoff and punt coverage, and fielded at least one kickoff. During Wednesday’s practice, he took some reps at receiver.
Griffin called juggling those extra duties “not too bad. Especially going to receiver, because I already know the plays. It’s really not that difficult. I know the routes; just trying to keep a positive attitude, help out the team.”
Griffin’s knowledge of routes and such is an area in which he’s made significant strides since arriving at Oregon as a redshirt freshman transfer last fall. Griffin’s passing efficiency has improved markedly as well; after firing fastballs on the scout team last season, he’s putting nice touch on deeper balls.
“I’ve definitely improved since last fall,” Griffin said. “I’ve still got a ways to go, but I’ve been making some huge improvement. Finishing learning all the plays, getting guys lined up, all the stuff like that.”
When the quarterbacks are off in a group throwing amongst themselves, Griffin will sometimes break out an Odell Beckham Jr. style one-handed catch if a ball is over his head. He’s also easily one of the most electric runners on the team with the ball in his hands. It’s easy to see Griffin helping in a number of roles, but he’s focused on continued development behind center.
The toughest of his fill-in duties might be kickoff and punt coverage; Griffin’s speed is an asset getting downfield to ballcarriers, but the collisions are more than he’s accustomed to. Griffin said the last time he can recall playing on special teams was middle school. “It’s not fun at all,” he joked. “But it’s all good.”
Highlights: A mid-practice 11-on-11 period in the red zone was pretty even between the offense and defense. The D scored an early win when Rodney Hardrick got to Royce Freeman in the backfield and Torrodney Prevot recorded a sack. The No. 2 offense evened the score with a Kani Benoit rushing touchdown, which followed a swing pass from Taylor Alie to Benoit and then a tackle for loss by Canton Kaumatule. Morgan Mahalak got the No. 1 offense into the end zone with a scramble of about 15 yards and then a TD pass to Thomas Tyner. The defense then got another stop, and the two sides fought to a draw in the fifth and final possession, when another Prevot sack forced the offense to settle for an Aidan Schneider field goal of about 46 yards. …
The defense controlled a clutch period to end the day. Jeff Lockie moved the chains a couple of times with completions to Dwayne Stanford, but the clock ran out before the offense could get a “game-winning” touchdown. The No. 2 defense also scored a win when Glen Ihenacho intercepted Alie. Given the scenario, several defenders yelled to make sure Ihenacho didn’t try some crazy return, and he quickly fell to the turf. … In highlights from position drills and such, Arrion Springs had a scoop-and-score in the tempo drill to start the day, Springs and Ugo Amadi had pass breakups in 1-on-1 drills, Mattrell McGraw and Joe Walker made the pads pop with hits on run plays and Jake McCreath blocked a punt.
Other observations: Evan Voeller and Haniteli Lousi are really pushing each other for reps on the No. 1 offensive line, with mainstays Matt Pierson, Jake Pisarcik, Cameron Hunt and Tyrell Crosby. … Amadi showed himself to be pretty coachable during 1-on-1 drills. He always seems to be going against Darren Carrington – like, all spring long – and at one point John Neal advised Amadi to stay with plays because of how crafty Carrington can be at sticking to it and making improbable catches. Moments later a ball was underthrown and Carrington leaped in the air to adjust to it, but Amadi stayed with it and broke up the pass. … An early period was spent on open-field tackling in special teams situations. “Watch that on film!” Neal yelled to the participants after one rep. “Study yourselves! Learn to make these plays in space!”
