Football Practice Report: April 3
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Pads
Oregon’s third practice of the spring had a decidedly different flavor, as the Ducks were in pads for the first time. Without pads, how the Ducks play pass-and-catch (or defend said plays) is the easiest thing for the layman to track, but days like today make the running game more interesting to watch.
The final period was 11-on-11 in the red zone. The first-team defense got off the field without allowing a score, and outside linebacker Tyson Coleman was around the ball a bunch.
“Once you put the pads on, all the excuses are gone,” Coleman said. “With other stuff you can say, ‘I don’t have pads on; I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do that.’ Now, there’s no excuse.
“With such great leaders leaving like Tony (Washington), (Erick) Dargan, Troy (Hill), somebody’s gotta do it. I’m not that rah-rah guy; I’ve just got to go out there and do it through my play. That’s the role I want to take. I want to outwork people, and I want teammates to see me work so they’ll work.”
The first team period of the day focused on run plays, and there were several big collisions between Royce Freeman and Rodney Hardrick. Jimmie Swain had a nice sequence, bringing down Kani Benoit on consecutive plays, once when Chris Seisay bottled up Benoit in the backfield and Swain swooped in for the tackle.
Junior defensive end T.J. Daniel, whose goal is to replace Arik Armstead in the starting lineup, also had a few nice plays. On one of the first snaps of the period, Daniel pressured Jeff Lockie into leaving the pocket and having to throw incomplete on the run. On the next play, Daniel had the quarterback on a read-option play, and when the ball was handed off he tracked down the runner from the back side.
Daniel had another sublime play a few snaps later when he used his long frame to keep an offensive lineman at bay, then held contain when Morgan Mahalak tried to leave the pocket. “It’s nice to get back into it – put the pads on, be more physical,” Daniel said. “You can let loose, play real football. It’s great to be back at it.”
Tony Brooks-James won a rep for the offense with a long breakaway run up the middle, behind an interior line of Tanner Davies, Zach Okun and Braden Eggert. Thomas Tyner and Ty Griffin also had long gains during the period.
The Ducks did more passing during another 11-on-11 segment later in practice. Taylor Alie lofted a beautiful deep ball down the sideline, with such great touch that Darren Carrington was able to make an effortless one-handed catch. Mahalak broke free for a long run a few reps later.
After the ones didn’t score in the red-zone period at the end of practice, the twos might have. That offensive group got off to a shaky start when Okun misfired on a couple snaps, but he settled down and the Ducks got off a play on which Benoit got down near the goal line. It was a full-contact drill but not totally “live,” so Khalil Oliver let up a little at the end of the play. I’m not sure whether Benoit would have ran through him into the end zone had it been live, or if Oliver would have made the stop.
Other highlights: After stretching, the Ducks went into a three-level Oklahoma drill, with a ballcarrier trying to negotiate past three sets of one-on-one blockers and tacklers stacked in a line. Tyree Robinson won an early rep for the defense, and Austin Daich teamed with Austin Maloata for another. J.J. Jones got the offense on the board, scoring behind blocks from Matt Pierson, Koa Ka’ai and Bralon Addison.
Freeman then broke a tackle to “score,” aided by an Alex Ofodile block, and Travis Jonsen scored with help from Evan Baylis and Jalen Brown. Canton Kaumatule got the best of Evan Voeller to make a tackle, and on one of the last reps of the day, Charles Nelson easily shed a blocker and rocketed past the other four players engaged in front of him to bring down a ballcarrier right after the rep began.
Other observations: The UO staff is hosting a coaches’ clinic, so the sidelines were a little more crowded than usual. The staff’s women’s clinic is tonight as well.… Dwayne Stanford has been as reliable as anybody in the receiving corps. If he’s dropped a pass, I haven’t seen it. … Arrion Springs had an interception during 1-on-1 drills. Allegedly. … Steve Greatwood is already cross-training his linemen. Oftentimes, Pierson is at tackle and Voeller at guard on the left side, with Cameron Hunt at guard and Tyrell Crosby at tackle on the right. For one series of team drills today, Hunt and Crosby switched spots, and on the next series Pierson and Voeller did so.
