Home Football Practice Report #3

Practice Report #3

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Our personal beat reporter, Bone, is back with a highly detailed report. Enjoy.

Special Teams:

Cooks an Boldin were returning punts, looks like both of them will be back receiving punts and possibly at the same time.  Field goal unit looked good, clean snap to hold to kick.  Romaine is kicking field goals very well.  Kostol looks very good, and snaps look good.

Reynolds and Hatfield sat out practice; Mullaney, Christian and Cummings were back playing.  The first interaction that the quarterbacks and receivers had today was one on ones from about the 5 yard line, so a lot of fades and slants.  I got a real good angle of the Gwatchum and Mullaney but the rest of the receivers were on the opposite side of the field.  Gwatchum  went 1-2 against Nelson, catching a back shoulder fade and then Nelson stepped in front of the pass.  Mullany just abused Naji Patrick.  Kevin Cummings as well as Victor Boldin did well.  After that the team moved into the team session. Vaz and Gwatchum worked with the first team today.  The secondary was mostly in the nickel with Nelson, Scott, and Hunt.  Reynolds was out and I didn’t see Martin taking any snaps maybe he wasn’t there, but I pretty sure he was. Some other notes: Dylan Wynn was doing a lot of work as an interior d-lineman, probably only going to be for passing downs I’d assume, he seemed to fit there.

Because there is both a quarterback battle I tracked what each play that happened in team or 7 on 7.  I had to leave a little early so some of the later stuff I did not see.

Team 11 0n 11

Vaz

  • Completed 6 yard hitch to Gwatchum
  • Incomplete to Gwatchum on deep crossing route.  Good throw (should have been caught)
  • Draw to Ward
  • Completed 15 yard corner to Hamlet

Mannion

  • Draw to Brown
  • Dumped off to Brown for 10+ yards
  • Completed corner route to Boldin for 10 yards.  Really nice throw and catch

Vaz

  • Dive to storm for 10+ yards
  • Drop of f to the other full back who isn’t TA
  • Completed 7yrd.  slant route to Cooks
  • Dive to Ward for no gain

Mannion

  • Dive to Brown for 10+ yards
  • Completion to Boldin on 20 yard comebacker.  Really BIG throw, from the far hash.
  • Complete on corner route to Mullany.  Nice throw and catch.
  • Completed to Clute on 8 yard hitch.  Safety came in untouched so Mannion may have been sacked

7 on 7

Vaz

  • Complete 15 yard out route to Gwatchum.  Really Nice throw and catch.
  • Same exact play but this time Cooks
  • Incomplete pass to cooks on a deep dig route.  Pass was high but should have been caught.
  • Completed 6 yard hitch to Hamlet

Mannion

  • Completed 5 yard out to C. Smith.
  • Completed 5 yard hitch to Boldin
  • Dropped swing pass to Haskins.  he looks good running the ball but has had trouble catching the ball.
  • Incomplete slant to Boldin.  Little low and behind, could have been caught.

Vaz

  • Completed 10 yard hitch to Hamlet
  • Incomplete to Cooks on deep out.  Pass was short and behind Cooks.

Mannion

  • Completed 20 yard out to Boldin.  Great throw.
  • Another dropped pass by Haskins
  • Incomplete to Boldin

Vaz

  • Incomplete corner route to Gilmore, lead him too much and was short.
  • Completed 15 yard out to Cooks, really nice throw and anticipation.
  • Sacked, but scrambled for a first down.

Mannion

  • Completed deep crossing route to Caleb Smith.  Might have been sacked though, one player broke through.
  • To high for Gwatchum on deep crossing route. Incomplete
  • Incomplete pass to Boldin on deep comeback route, just a tad high for him.

Vaz

  • Perfeclty thrown deep ball to Cooks with Nelson in great coverage.  Greatly placed by Vaz
  • Completed wheel route to Storm for a good pick up
  • Incomplete pass to Cook on deep hitch.  Really inaccurate throw.

Mannion

  • Completed crossing route to Mullany.
  • Complete to Brown out of backfield, nice pick up
  • Perfectly thrown 10 yard hitch to Boldin but dropped.

After watching 4 practices, with each quarterback getting 2 sessions with the first team, Mannion has been more impressive.  On days when he is with the first team the offense looks better and you can see separation between the first and second team.  When Vaz is with the first team, both teams look almost identical.  Also Vaz has turned the ball over during the 4 practices that I attended.  As for Mullany and Gwatchum, I don’t think the coaches need to rush to make a decision here, both are playing really well and it might be a good idea for them to get equal amount of snaps the first game or two.  I feel we will get a quarterback answer very soon.

108 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks Bone. It’s encouraging to see the high completion %, and it sounds like many of the drops were catchable balls. It also sounds like Brown is playing well. We have so many weapons at running back. I was hoping to see Haskins this year, but he may be wasting a redshirt year. Excited to see a Bolden/Cooks punt return team. Who will teams kick too? Both guys are threats to break one.

    • Both quarterbacks are looking good, very few bad throws. I think Haskins will red shirt, he has not been getting a lot of reps. And I am excited about Boldin and Cooks combo as well.

  2. When Wynn goes inside, who is taking his place at DE?

    Who is returning kick offs in camp?

    Nelson, Scott, Hunt sounds good, I imagine we’ll be seeing it next year. Unless Nelson has such a year he opts for draft.

    Thanks Bone.

    • Today when Wynn moved in, Devon Kell was playing DE. Cooks, Boldin, Ward,and Murphy are getting most the kick off returns. We have some nice depth at corner this year, even Jovan Stevenson and Malcolm Marable have been making some plays.

      • How does Kell look? Like he could take advantage of the the attention Chricton is going to get, or is he a non-factor? Any other 2nd string DEs look effective?

        • To be honest, I did not pay a ton of attention to it. I’ll pay more attention to it next practice I go to. I will say that during team sessions there is usually a pretty good pass rush, both up the middle and from the edges.

    • Has Akeem Gonzales been standing out at all? We are going to need at least 4 DE’s if Wynn is going to move inside on passing downs.

  3. Great updates!

    Question about the receiver alignments: where is everyone playing? I don’t remember OSU’s terminology for the three WR positions, but I know traditionally you have your speedier, downfield threats on the outsides with your bigger/more possession type receivers in the slot. That was basically what we had last year with Wheaton and Cooks on the outsides and Cummings/Hatfield/Whoever on the inside. Seems like a perfect fit would be having Cooks and the surprising Bolden play the outside spots with Gwacham and Mullaney playing the slot position (6’5 and 6’3 heights). Is this what they’ve been doing or do they have Gwacham/Mullaney playing in Wheaton’s old spot?

    • The three positions are flanker, split end and slot.

      Gilmore has been moved to slot full time with Cummings dealing with his nagging injuries. I don’t think Bolden is ready to start right away. I’m sure he’ll get his share of touches but not the starting nod.

      Flanker – Cooks, Bolden
      Split End – Gwacham, Mullaney
      Slot – Cummings, Gilmore.

      • The first several games should give OSU time to sort out the WR roles before heading into the difficult back end of the schedule. I suspect Mullaney will end up with the first string, and Bolden will have a firm part-time role. I hope if they don’t RS Bolden they use him more than they did Wheaton when he was a true FR; Imagine Wheaton here this yea, a RS Senior….

        Hopefully, the first 6-7 games will also allow new DTs on the team to grow into their roles and be ready for the meat of the Pac-12 schedule.

        • I’m afraid game #4 will be tougher than we think. San Diego State on the road after their bye week. They play Ohio State i the game 2 weeks before ours and will likely get beaten, but those 2 weeks off will make them hungry for a high profile non-con statement game.

          The addition of Bob Toledo to their coaching staff should help them offensively too. I dont want to call it a trap game, but it wont be easy.

          • I like that game and the characteristics that you identify; it’s not a gimme, it will be a genuine test progressively more difficult than the earlier games, and we’ll see how the team responds if SDSU provides a challenge.

  4. Bone – Any idea what the completion rate is for the QBs? If anyone can recall, during the camp that Canfield had a few years ago, he had something like a 75% completion rate during camp according to the coaches and it carried over to the regular season.

    • Egger’s observations are usually pretty accurate, so maybe Vaz does have a lead. It would seem from the reports we get here that Mannion is the clear leader.

      • I curious to how many times Egger is at practice. Because like I mentioned when Vaz is with the first team, the quarterbacks are preforming very well and the teams look the same. The separation that I see is when Mannion is the first team. But I have only been to 4 of the practices, a lot could have happened that I did not see.

        • Good question, Eggers does seem to have an inside track with Riley.
          BTW, I thought your method of evaluating QB performance by comparing the separation between 1’s and 2’s depending on the QB was a great approach!

          I hope the best guy gets the nod. Going with Mannion simply because he has another year or because he might transfer would be a big mistake but delaying the decision does feed these lines of thought. If pushed, I’d go with the idea that it is what is: two guys who Riley sees as nearly equal.

          • The reports of Vaz getting a few ball batted down at the line of scrimmage by D linemen (read that one of them actually intercepted one of his passes this week) are enough for me to say Mannion should be the guy. Teams will have better scouting on Vaz now and be ready to knock down his low balls, which will kill drives. If one of our guys is going to get intercepted, I’d much rather have that happen down field than at the line of scrimmage. The field position resulting from those plays can kill a defense.

    • Thanks for the link.
      I was surprised to read that, “A year ago, OSU used a two-tight-end set 50 percent of the time and three tight ends on 10 percent of its plays.” Didn’t seem that way to me but I’ll not argue with Eggers.

    • We saw what each guy can do last year, and it doesn’t sound like either made huge progress over the off season. So, last year they were fairly equal…Vaz has better leadership skills, Mannion has the better physique and “looks the part” (think he’s getting by on this, personally).

      I’d like to see Vaz win the job because leadership is huge at QB, but only if he can stop fumbling and make some of the tougher throws (e.g. deep out). If the playbook gets cut in half because the QB can’t make a certain throw then you have to go with Mannion.

      • Is the aforementioned leadership enough to overcome 5+ batted down balls, 2-3 more sacks and the occasional interception by a DT?

        Vaz gives me anxiety with every snap. With Mannion, at least I know the turnover will be 20-30 yards down field (if at all. It sounds like Vaz has trown 2-3 times the amount of ints Mannion has in camp. Unless people just aren’t reporting Mannion’s.)

      • In a recent article, Wheaton contrasted catching a pass in the NFL v. college like this: “In the NFL, you turn and the ball is in your face. In college, you see it leave the QB’s hand.”

        Mannion needs to get rid of the ball quicker, both could stand to hit receivers in stride more often.

        I realize height is not a limitation for all QB’s (e.g. Brees, Wilson), but for Vaz I think it is.

        Mannion’s election to team captain seems to say something positive about how he is perceived as a leader by his teammates.

        How are each doing on shovel passes? Each seem mediocre on rb screens.

      • I haven’t really gotten the vibe that Vaz has better leadership skills. I feel like all I’ve read is players referencing Mannion as leading off season workouts and things like that. Plus the players themselves voted Mannion as a team captain which I’d assume also speaks to Mannion’s leadership skills.

        To me I hope Mannion gets the nod because I think his ceiling is much much higher. Mannion makes some riskier throws, but that’s part of being a sophomore quarterback and hopefully his decision making will continue to improve. Vaz is already a senior and comes off as more of a game manager to me. A game manager is fine at QB, but if that’s the case we better hope Woods and Ward can get a combined 2000 yards on the ground because I don’t expect to rack up a lot of 300+ yard games with Vaz throwing.

          • Haven’t seem any media tweets or other blogs with any info yet. Bone, is there no media there today? I saw Angie tweet earlier that she was the only media member there before practice started. Tyner, a 3rd string RB tweaks a leg and the whole world jumps on it, but our starting LB goes down and there’s barely a peep.

          • Tyner is 2nd string behind Marshall and that would be a huge loss for the Ducks. That would move DAT into a every down back role which would increase his injury chances and is not exactly the role you want for a guy with his versatility.

          • I’m just going off their depth chart from Rival. Thomas and Marshal are listed as #1 and #2. If Marshal is their starting tailback, they’re going to have a big drop off in production from the LMJ and Barner years. Completely different back who doesn’t have the same level of savvy and elusiveness.

            http://oregon.rivals.com/cdepthtext.asp

          • I just think part of what makes DAT so productive is that they move him around so much and make it difficult for the opposing D to account for him. You move him behind the QB full time and you lose a bit of what makes him great in that system. Also UofO is thin at RB.

          • Marshall is like a faster version of Blount. He could be hard to bring down and pretty good. Then Thomas as the speed guy…

            Could be brutal.

            I don’t think the new coach can keep the same intensity. That will be the bigger problem.

          • I agree, it will be brutal if all three backs are healthy, but as soon as one of them goes down, it will really change their strategy and require Mariota to throw more. I’d much rather take my chances against their passing game. With Tyner and Thomas already getting injured in camp, it’s starting to look like durability over the course of a season will be an issue.

          • I don’t see any problem with their passing game(?). Mariotta’s freshman season was ridiculous. And even if they lose one back, Mariotta can still run when needed; which means there’s going to be space in the D for throwing the ball. This is a fast, loaded team.

            Now that Cheatin’ Chip is gone, I don’t resent them so much. I don’t begrudge anybody’s success, as long as it’s earned honestly. Chip was a fantastic coach with some ethical issues I think were enabled by an “owner” who wanted return-on-investment (championship).

            I agree with Angry, the biggest challenge for Helfrich will be keeping player focus and control. If somebody goes all-Blount and starts throwing punches, how do Helfrich and the program respond? How does he handle all of the positive and negative media attention? Players get busted for speeding and/or pot, does he keep control and still get the same results on Saturday?

            The opulent football center is absurd, but I’ve opined about that and what I think that trend means for the sport…

          • It’s not that they have a bad passing game, but we”re better equipped to defend the passing game more than the ground. plus, the run game is where they take advantage of their no huddle hurry up offense. It hard to pull the hurry up off whem your receivers are running deep on passing plays.

          • and it sounds like Tyner is still injured. Still in protective boot today and crutches and not putting any weight on his bad leg. That sounds like it could take some time to recover from. Hope he’s healthy for track season. I’ve been looking forward to seeing what kind of 4 x 100 team they could put together with him.

  5. What’s the word on P-12 network this year?
    Same crappy arrangement as last year?

    ———–

    Any opinions on Dashon Hunt, Hunter Jarmon, or Charlie Tuaau?
    I’m still pissed about Cody Lawrence. Dude looked like Randall Cobb on film.

    • Dashon looks really good, getting a lot of reps with Reynolds and Martin being out the past couple days. I think he plays this season. Hunter Jarmon is playing in the slot and will probably red shirt, I haven’t seen anything special that would put him on the two-deep, isn’t outperforming Cummings or Gilmore to this point. I am kind of surprised by Boldin as well, he is really playing well and won’t red shirt. The biggest surprise to me has been Darrel Songy, I doubt he will red shirt, he has looked good in pass coverage.

  6. Pac-12 network has same crappy arrangement as last year. They’ve recently launched an ad campaign urging people to drop Direct-tv so they can get the Pac-12 network on another subscriber. The ads show a Beaver building a dam out in nature and say, this is the only type of Beaver on Direct-TV. (I disagree….) Then they show some game film from an OSU game to show the type of Beaver they show on the Pac-12 network.

    http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-pac-12-directv-20130812,0,3564240.story#axzz2bz1AZC4K

    Eggers said Tuaau is likely joining the team soon, but he hasn’t even been to a single practice as of yet. I can’t comment on the rest.

    • Sounds like Mannion played better. Also sounds like Riley et al are making good on their word to diversify the offense and get more passes to the RBs. Incorporate the shovel passes (I hope they are doing that well), some great WRs, and potentially no huddle, this could be a very entertaining offense.

    • Just by reading these practice notes of each play ran…I’d pick Mannion over Vaz based on decision making…throwing the ball away when running isn’t an option, threading passes in tight areas, not getting intercepted by the defense on a recurring basis..especially by a DL?! that just screams backup QB.

    • James Dockery ?@JamesDockery31 56m

      Man my bro @D_alexander4 and myself are both out for brief stints. Minor setbacks for major comebacks #DesertBoys #760 #PD

      • I haven’t heard anything about the length of time he’ll be out, but if it’s a half season type deal, then missing the first half of the season is better than last half at least. Silver lining is we’ll get to develop some of the guys behind him at least. Let’s hope it really is as “minor” as Dockery says. Dock is out for Carolina for a couple weeks for surgery on a broken thumb. Hopefully DJ’s setback falls into a similar time frame.

  7. If it is true that last year the Beavers played half the time with two tight ends, how is it that Okefor got double digit sacks in one game? How can that be? Does this mean that he was beating two guys half of the time? If they technically had two tight ends on the field at one time but split them wide or put them in motion wide away from the blocking scheme, then the 50 percent stat is meaningless.

  8. Agreed on 1st half of season. Bright side – maybe he’s fresh for October on. A few weeks/month would be okay. Who is #2 behind him?

    • I noticed they rarely attend the evening practice, Well, at least I assume they don’t due to the lack of tweets about the evening practice

  9. Machado has a brief video interview with Hungalau. Cleared NCAA yesterday amd flew overnight to Corvallis to be there for todays practice. Needs to go through the normal practice acclimation period before going full pads. Theyre going to use him at MLB. good size. I’m sure he’s tired from such a drastic life change in such a short period of time.

    http://oregonstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1536882

    Manase Hungalu (@hungalu_05) tweeted at 9:19 AM on Thu, Aug 15, 2013:
    I love it here! #OREGONSTATE
    (https://twitter.com/hungalu_05/status/368044365907623936)

    Also, dj Alexander tweeted:
    DJ Alexander (@D_alexander4) tweeted at 10:13 AM on Thu, Aug 15, 2013:
    I wanna thank all of my fans for the love and support y’all been showing. Ill be back and no time at all. ????????
    (https://twitter.com/D_alexander4/status/368057909822763009

  10. Nelson tweets, “Alexander (knee sprain) told me he feels alright. “Could’ve been a lot worse.” Jabral Johnson sliding into DJ’s spot.”

    https://twitter.com/Stephen__Nelson

    And this from Lindsay, “DJ Alexander is here, but sitting out. Hobbling around with one crutch. Hearing it’s a sprain.”

  11. I’m reading that today’s mini “scrimmage” is being cancelled. Not sure why? Maybe lack of available players to participate? Sounded like the starters were going to miss it for the most part, but it also sounds like there are a ton of guys sitting out today’s practice with various small injuries.

  12. Brandon Sprague ?@BrandonSprague 5m

    Riley not giving much info. He lists DJ as week to week. Says he might think about changing the contact amt because of the injuries.

    Spoke with defensive coordinator Mark Banker about the defense and he spoke very highly of LB Darrell Songy. The way he praised him…

    …I’d be stunned if he redshirted. Especially with Alexander injury. Also spoke highly about Hunt and S Brandon Arnold.

    Expect Friday to be a potentially big day. Riley could announce starting QB and redshirt list.

  13. Stephen Nelson ?@Stephen__Nelson 2m

    Linebackers coach Trent Bray told me DJ Alexander will be out about four weeks. Opportunities for J. ohnson & frosh Songy.

    So that sounds like 2 to 3 games out to me. Not too bad, but I feel like I’ve heard that “about 4 weeks” line before

  14. OT: the sports psychologist factor lives on with remarks by Jimmie Sherfy, “Strangely, Sherfy doesn’t attribute his improved command to mechanical changes or a better feel for his pitches. He credits sports psychologist Dr. Ken Ravizza.”

    http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro-hops/index.ssf/2013/08/jimmie_sherfy_called_up_from_h.html

    I think Mannion could really benefit from someone like Dr. Ken; his biggest problems seem to have been between the ears.

  15. I’m thinking the numbers and logos will be added later. i think these are just the paint jobs, but those items will be added with adhesive i suspect. they don’t even have the face guards in place out of the box like that. I’m afraid they won’t look this clean when finished.

  16. Schnell on DJ

    “Alexander, who injured his right knee Wednesday morning, is technically listed as “week to week,” and limped around Thursday with a wrap (and one crutch, for a period of time). He is expected to miss the rest of the week, but should be fine come Aug. 31 vs. Eastern Washington.”

    Sounds good to me

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