Football Practice Report: Aug. 31
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
If Vernon Adams Jr. wants to know beforehand what facing his old team will be like, there’s a resource available on the UO football team who can speak to the experience first-hand.
On Saturday, Adams leads the Ducks into their opener at Autzen Stadium against Eastern Washington, where Adams played the last three seasons. It’s a strange circumstance, but one to which UO linebacker Johnny Ragin III can relate – just last year Ragin had two tackles against Cal, where he played the year before.
“It's always interesting seeing guys you used to play with, and all the coaches,” Ragin said. “You’ve just got to play your game, stick to what you’re doing at the new school you’re at, and just keep pushing throughout the game.”
Ragin, a native of Wilsonville, played a season with the Golden Bears in 2013 before transferring to Oregon. He petitioned for immediate eligibility and suited up for the Ducks in 2014, when they faced Cal in October.
Adams enrolled at Oregon as a graduate transfer. But though the details are different, the circumstances will be similar when Adams sees familiar faces on the opposing sideline Saturday (5 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).
“I talked to them a little bit before the game when we were warming up,” Ragin said. “Saying what’s up, seeing how they’re doing and everything. And then after the game, it’s the same. It was cool to see them.”
That familiarity paid dividends during the game, too, Ragin said.
“I knew each guy’s different strengths; this guy’s fast, this guy’s going to try to jam you off the ball, stuff like that,” he said. “I think it kind of helps a little bit.”
Highlights: The opening tempo period of Monday’s practice featured Adams sharply moving the offense down the field; he got help in the form of a blitz pickup by Royce Freeman before zipping a pass to Dwayne Stanford, who held on despite a big hit by Tyree Robinson. When the twos were up, the defense really put the clamps down. I’ve mentioned before that I think that’s the best overall result: the Ducks want to see their offense be able to score on anyone, but because they like to utilize so much depth on defense, they want that group of twos to get the better of things. …
A period with the travel squad going head-to-head was bookended by a couple long Freeman runs. In the middle, Jeff Lockie had a nice completion to Jalen Brown, backpedaling and then jumping to get the throw off in the face of a heavy pass rush. The period also featured tackles by Ragin on back-to-back plays. … Robinson, Fotu Leiato, Ugo Amadi and Reggie Daniels came up with interceptions in various drills. … Lockie finished with a flourish the last team period, firing TD passes to Devon Allen, Byron Marshall and Stanford deep down the field.
Other observations: The scout-team front seven really got after it during the first team period of the day. The offense had almost no room to run, owing to the efforts of the likes of Jonah Moi, Drayton Carlberg, Rex Manu and Gus Cumberlander. Indeed, after practice UO coach Mark Helfrich called it “our best scout-team defense of all time. Now, are we going to bring it like that every single day?” … Leiato also had a big play on kickoff coverage, an area where he’s really going to be an asset. When he’s on the field on special teams, guys on the sideline take note. …
Oregon’s senior inside linebackers set the tone during the kickoff coverage drill. Twice there was confusion about who was supposed to be taking reps, and both times Joe Walker stepped in to keep the drill moving. Then, when players were walking back up the sideline following a rep, Rodney Hardrick was there to double-check that they’d known their assignments and executed them properly. … Doug Brenner is listed as the backup at both left guard and center. I’ve gotten the sense over the last month he’d be first off the bench no matter where the Ducks needed a backup on the offensive line; the other guys would shuffle positions accordingly to accommodate Brenner on the interior.
