Great updates, Silverstream. Keep them coming.
It's disheartening to hear Romaine is struggling. I hear he has the leg, but can't find any accuracy or consistency. We need to keep an eye on this situation. Is Max Johnson the answer? Uh. I hope not. This is so unexpected. Romaine came with high praise and looked the part. Hopefully it's just a case of nerves. For those of you who have been to practice, share your impressions of Romaine. Convince me not to worry.
Disappointed to hear Grant Enger is at LT and Philipp is #2 at RT. The correct move is Enger (or Kelly) at RT and Philipp starting at RG. Rumor is Philipp won't change positions, but I find that hard to believe. If he said that to people in the program, the media should be able to get a quote and confirm, or at the very least confirm his disgust and frustration. At that point we could read between the lines. Of course, if Philpp is being a sour puss or prima dona then he deserves to ride the pine. Oregon media needs to step it up and get an answer.
Word is that Castro is back practicing (1 game suspension is pretty light if you ask me), but according to Joe Seumalo, he is not in football shape. With just three weeks before kickoff, that is obviously bad news. Makes you wonder what he's been doing while waiting for his court date.
Anyway, things will be low-key for the next couple days as I have family in town (through next Friday). I'll check in here and there to respond to emails, keep up on what's developing in camp, and create these placeholders once the old topic gets cluttered. But don't expect anything too enlightening until I have some more time to actually sit down and think. Thankfully you guys have been doing a great job of keeping things interesting in the comment area.
Offensive and defensive linemen doing some drills:
http://youtu.be/ODeBZAJ7gJ0
http://youtu.be/8K7boTJ-meU
I haven’t been to any summer practice, but during spring I can comfirm your fears. He has plenty of leg, but struggled with accuracy. On kickoffs he was putting them through the endzone, But he was about 50/50 through 30 yds, and worse farther out.
Practice Day 6 (Saturday morning):
I attended practice from 8:45 am to 10:30 am. Here are the most interesting things I saw, in no particular order:
– Saw some special teams work at start of practice with punting and punt coverage teams. Terron Ward was in with the punting team as a blocking back, and was also calling snap signals for the punting unit. Punt returners were Cooks, Wheaton, Poyer, and Reynolds.
– 11-on-11 passing drill — Colby Prince got wide open down the left sideline on one play, and caught the ball for a long gain. It appears that BH missed his assignment. After the play, BH asked the coach “where did he [Prince] come from?” The coach and BH then had a 30 second conversation about the play.
– Kevin Cummings had another good day, including a long TD catch down the left side of the field in 11-on-11 drills. Obum Gwachum and Richard Mullaney were praised by the coaches, too, for some nice catches in traffic during the same drills.
– 11-on-11 drill — I spent some time watching Reuben Robinson. RR seems slow to react when the ball is snapped, and also not super quick side-to-side trying close on open receivers in the flat. Michael Doctor seems noticeably quicker and faster than RR.
– Cam Collins was in full pads, and working on sled drills. Didn’t see whether CC got in to the 11-on-11 drills at all.
– Michael Phillip is not getting many reps, and seems to be standing around a lot during drills. MP’s body language suggests a lack of energy and enthusiasm. At 10:30, the coaches called “the varsity” players into a group, and said “the young guys” should work with position groups and coaches. MP went with “the young guys”. I’m getting a bad vibe that things are going in the wrong direction with MP.
– During drills, Coach Cav called one of his O-linemen “a f-ing loser” and then apologized a minute later. I couldn’t tell which lineman he was targeting, but it was clear that Cav had gone too far.
– In o-line drills, Geoff Garner looked good (and very big and strong). Cav got on Mike Remmers about getting lower on his blocks, but overall I thought Remmers did the best job of blocking in the drills, and looks like he is going to be effective this season.
– An OSU trainer was working on the side with two players: Shaydon Akuna and Fred Thompson. The workout included medicine ball squats and throws against a wall, push ups, and (for Akuna) open-hand punches against a workout pad held by the coach. Akuna is an impressive physical specimen and he was working hard and sweating profusely. Thompson seemed more casual in his workout. After 30 minutes, the OSU trainer called out to Coach Cav, who was standing 30 feet away, supervising O-line drills. The trainer asked whether Darryl Jackson (who was lolling around watching the O-linemen work) could join the private workout with Akuna and Thompson. Cav yelled back “Hell, yes”, and Darryl Jackson sauntered over to join the other two. Neither Jackson nor Thompson seemed particular intense or engaged about any of this, especially compared to Akuna.
– On the D-line, I thought Kevin Frahm did well in drills today. Frahm is bringing obvious intensity to most of his reps; he is routinely getting leverage and driving blockers backwards. The coaches also seemed to be giving attention and praise to John Braun, a soph d-lineman who may have potential.
– Still not much to say about the running backs. No one has yet impressed me as the obvious choice. In fact, none of the RB’s has shown even flashes of brilliance yet, as far as I can tell. But, again, it’s early, and there has not been a whole lot of emphasis yet in camp on the running game (compared to the passing game, which is getting a lot of attention and time each day).
Why is Darryl Jackson always standing around, observing practice? Is he recovering from an injury? Did I miss this?
I read somewhere awhile back that he was injured and using his redshirt year.
Yeah, he had hip surgery over the summer.
I’m a bit surprised he can work out at all.
I was there too, agree with your assessment. O line got some good hits on D line.
Josh Mitchell from Mt. Si HS has committed. Someone, can’t remember who, called it. Spot on.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/football/recruiting/player-Josh-Mitchell-114916
http://twitter.com/#!/CliffGT/status/102509942212272128
We talked about him and Jake Eldrenkamp about a month ago. I think the consensus was that they would both be great additions and are highly underrated.
Have you heard anything about why we didn’t offer Uso Olive? I’m still curious about who is out there that we could be holding out for.
Grades/core coursework… he committed to Portland State.
Mitchell game film: http://youtu.be/oyVUeBKoQTg
Thanks, SS …
If Romaine is chancy as a kicker… better dust off the fake kick plays…
Dockery saying he thinks B. Hardin could be the most dominant DB in the Pac-12 this season.
http://twitter.com/#!/JDOC4/status/102442581455151104
Is he drinking the kool-aide or does he know something we don’t?
BH is not the most dominant DB on his own team (that would be Jordan Poyer). In the first week of practice, BH has proven himself unable to stay with Brandin Cooks, a true freshman receiver (although, admittedly, Cooks is a very good freshman receiver).
So why is Dockery saying such things? Beats me….
Probably just giving a “shout out” to his bro.
I suspect he means “dominant” as in hard hitting. As to why Dockery is saying such things, I suspect he is trying to be positive and see his teammates by their best qualities.
Nothing wrong in that.
Cliff is reporting Peter Ashton is now playing safety.
That was kinda expected with the backlog at QB. I think Harrington might be a gem as a walk-on as well.
What’s the story with Woods and Angew? Are these guys going to compete for a RB spot?
All signs point to no.
Like the last 4 years we are hearing McCantcarrytheball is “looking big and fast and strong and superawesomepowerful. Then he will stutter-step into the hole and gain a yard.
Insted of using his 240+ body to destroy people. He will try and stop and juke and prance around people. It’s not who you are Ryan! Lower your shoulder and go through them!!! Don’t worry about Juking and breaking 50+ yard runs! If you gain 4 yards every time you touch the ball we will never lose a game!
I hope McCants can surprise, but he just seems like Ryan Cole redux to me. Awesome physical specimen, but could never adjust to the college game.
I agree with Angry. The coaching staff so far seems to be treating Terron Ward as the top young RB, clearly ahead of Woods and Agnew. Not sure about the reasons for this, since relatively little time and attention has been spent on the running game in practice so far (compared to the passing game, which has gotten lots of attention in every practice during the first week).
I’m hoping that the running game will get a lot more attention during the second week of practice, and that all of the RBs will be given a chance to show their stuff. Let the RBs compete against a “live” defense, and let’s see who stands out. Is that too much to hope for?
As I recall, Quizz was not no 1 his first year, but when the Penn State game (do I remember right?) was already lost, he got in and gained some good yards and scored). He then became no 1. They dont seem to be good in evaluating RB’s, or maybe they just dont trust freshmen.
McCants has had numerous chances and failed to produce. I wouldnt even consider him.
I agree that McCants has failed to make much of the (somewhat limited) opportunities he has been given in his first three years. Personally, I woudn’t give McCants much playing time now — as a senior — unless he proved himself to be significantly better than the younger players. If it were a tossup, I’d give the time to the younger players, because they have more upside for the program.
That being said, I’d still like to see an open competition among the RBs for playing time, with everyone (including McCants) getting a fair shot to show their stuff against a live defense, and may the best RB win.
If we’re going with a veteran I’d rather go with Stevenson than McCants. That’s based on McCant’s fumbling problems and the fact he doesn’t run with authority. If both problems have been resolved then he’s an option.
Stevenson is a boring RB, but he’s the more complete player (unless there’s been drastic change).
is Oregon State ready for Sac State? Not even close, said the coach. “This team is a little bit of a mystery, as I said before,” said Riley, “as to who we’re going to be, who we’re going to be playing with. … every game for us is a Super Bowl.
Unbelievable. We’re still hearing the “We’re not ready for Sac State” and “who we’re going to be…” lines??? These quotes could be straight out of a paper dated August 2010. Slow start where we “find who we are” coming up….AGAIN.
“These quotes could be straight out of a paper dated August 2010…”
or 2009, or 2008, or 2007…1967…1907. And by the way, not just the Oregonian. Practically any paper, anywhere, ever. Coach-speak rarely includes “We’re absolutely 100% prepared for _____. We’ll mop the floor with them tomorrow.”
We’ve lost an all conference running back and 75% of our D-Line. That raises questions. We return 80% of a shitty offensive line and every one of them has moved to a different position and we have injuries all over the place. Those things raise questions. Do you honestly believe that ALL of those questions should have been answered by now?
To me, that’s a bit unrealistic 6 practices in.
Riley’s statement reeks of proactive excuse making to me and drives me crazy. I wish somebody would ask him if he doesn’t think his “find our identity” approach doesn’t contribute to OSU’s slow starts.
Given the make up of this team, how about some statements like this:
“We’re going to be the best tackling team in the league.”
Rationale: A fundamental aspect of the game at which OSU has been weak because of timid camps. This is team that’s going to need to wrap up and tackle well; the small OSU d-line means the LB’s and safeties are going to be extra busy, and they can’t afford the poor tackling habits of recent years.
“We’re going to be the best run-blocking team in the league.”
Rationale: Another fundamental that is an OSU weakness. This line needs to be challenged, and they need to perform at a high level if OSU’s unimpressive stable of RBs is going to be effective. If Quizz struggled with this line, don’t expect much out of Stevenson, Jenkins, and McCants. This is likely going to have to be a pass first team, but they cannot let the players get lazy on run blocking.
“We’re going to take care of the ball and create turnovers.”
Rationale: This isn’t a team that can afford TO’s (few teams can), but its also a team with talent at the LB and DB, and turnovers are going to have to be created to mitigate the weakness of the defensive line.
“Are cover and return teams are going to be scary good.”
Rationale: OSU has speed for coverage and returns, go ahead and say it. Wheaton? Cooks? Zimmerman? They need to make a difference every game.
“We’re going to use the pass to set up the run.”
OSU is loaded at receiver and Katz is likely to exhibit signs of growth. Don’t abandon the run, but with Gwacham, Cooks, Wheaton, Bishop, and eventually Halahuni and Rodgers, use your strength. I don’t think this is contradictory to the “best run blocking team” statement, I think Riley needs to both be realistic in what this squad offers, and explicitly challenge them to overcome their weakness.
Contrast Riley’s approach to Kelly’s – “We want to be the fastest team in the country…I challenged our D to score 10 tds….” Obviously the guy’s not ethical, but he knows what he wants from his team, he doesn’t ask them to please maybe find their identity in November…
The only thing nearly as bad as Riley’s mantra is going to be watching Robinson get way too many snaps at OLB….
You say all those things in fall training and the team backs off and goes to sleep. Why should they work hard? The coach says their going to be the best.
There is nothing wrong with the coach saying they arent ready. Hell, some seasons, they ARENT ready to play, come the first game.
I think the point is that the coach needs to have some confidence in his team. Of course they are not ready to play a game yet, but set some expectations for the players to live up to. Say, we are not ready now, but we sure as hell will be in 3 weeks. If I was a player, I would want to know that the coach expects us to be great once the season starts.
Precisely. If a classroom teacher has high expectations and demands whilst encouraging a long-term goal, you can usually make it happen. I assume that carries over into football playing. Re: Ryan McCants – I listened to the CW blowout (2008?) when I was in Europe; it was 2 a.m., or some such awful hour and for reasons I don’t recall, Ryan McCants was playing. Every other McCants play-by-play sentence began with optimism and ended with 1 yard.
I trust Riley comes across better to his players than to those of us who glance at media reports. I hardly take notice of Oregonlive any more – it’s too mushy.
Quizz got hurt the game before at Arizona. James also went down late against UO. Finally, Moevao also had torn rotator ligaments that he played the game with.
Thanks for the history. A perfect storm!
OSU actually did very well in that game, on offense. 38 points. But the defense was a seive … and UO’s D scored some points.
I really hope the players aren’t reading the papers to find out about their team. Who cares what Riley tells the media, it is likely different that what he tells his team in the locker room. Every team operates this way.
I think the coach is dead on in saying his team isnt ready. Even if he thinks they could/would beat Sac State right now. The players need work hard and keep working hard. They are notorious slow starters and just based on recent history, should not hear, before the season starts, that they are ready. Unless they are morons, they know that history also, and know that in recent years they havent been “ready”.
I hope Riley is telling them straight out, that unless they work their butts off, they will get embarassed against Wisconsin. Embarassed, blown out, humiliated…. Tell em!
Spot on.
Even if he thinks they’re not ready, don’t say it and set the precedent that failure is okay. Just say, “just like every other team, we’re working hard to get ready…and we’ll be ready by game 1.”
And that’s the end of it. Avoids the question while also instilling a quiet confidence. As the quote stands, Riley sounds like a milquetoast. He does this every year, and then we spend half the season “finding out who we are”…it is old.
Riley indeed has the habit of speaking of his teams’ development as the season goes on, as THEM FINDING THEIR IDENTITY. Or somesuch.
That’s all well and good — how good can a team become? Still, it shouldnt be confused with properly evaluating the talent at hand and making the right choices in the charting of depth. Riley and staff have not done a good job with this. Glaring examples are Quizz’s first year, when McCants was no 1, and failed to produce, yet as soon as Quizz got a chance, he produced, big time. That means the staff wasnt bright enough to make the right person no 1 in the first place.
When you compound that by misjudging other positions, you end up with your typical slow start. So the buisness of evaluating your talent is one of the keys to getting a fast start to the season. Like you guys are arguing, this misjudgement unfortunately seems typical of the Riley coaching staff.
You would think with all the ex-players we have that are prospering in the NFL Riley could play off of that. Where was Steven Jackson to show McCants how a big back is supposed to run? We need to take advantage of that identity. We have Beavers that have made it and are damn good in thier NFL roles. The team needs something to get excited about and that is something this staff has not done very well. I am hoping one of the new coaches knows how to motivate. We need to rid ourselves of “the little engine that could” mentality.
Amen to that, brother. However good you are, you convince the players they might be better and pretty soon, maybe they are. Motivation is huge.
Had a good talk with my friend on campus. He tells me that some things are not as they seem in the printed media.
Dylan Wynn will relegate Taylor Henry to the 3rd down pass rush.
Zimmerman is looking pretty great.
Hardin looks like Roddy Piper… great athlete with a big ego who likes to pose at inappropriate times… and could be dead tomorrow for all we care. Still, he’s one of the tops of his game if he ever chose to play the tops.
The best o-lineman is by far Andrews, and he is the de facto leader if not the appointed and noted leader. He is starting to take the lead by his play and is being vocal about it.
Mannion will be the back-up this year, and that’s not to say that Vaz hasn’t improved quite a bit. It’s to say that Mannion has become a player.
RB is weird. Agnew is a much bigger back than was thought, and we get no good read on him since he’s looked gimpy for the first week. The rest are who we think they are for better or worse.
Among the young WRs, the star of the first week was clearly Brandin Cooks. Each of the other young WRs had their moments (good and bad), but none stood out like Cooks. I’ll try to take a closer look at Tyrequek Zimmerman this week during whatever practices I can manage to attend.
Both Vaz and Mannion have clearly improved a lot since last season. Personally, I haven’t seen any indication during practices that Mannion has edged ahead of Vaz in the eyes of the coaching staff, but I’ll watch for that, too.
As for the RBs, I don’t think they have really been tested or asked to compete for the job yet in any meaningful way. Hope that starts to happen this week….
I didn’t include the obvious, media-fed stories. Yes, Cooks is outstanding thus far, and he will be a star as soon as this year. But My friend is really impressed with Zimmerman and Wynn.
He tells me that Wynn is the nicest kid you could ever meet off the field, but he takes “mean streak” to a whole new level when he’s on the field. I’m told that he’s just a berserker with tremendous strength.
Good deal — I’ll add Dylan Wynn — along with Tyrequek Zimmerman — to my list of “must watch” freshmen this week.
I attended the Monday night practice, focusing on the offense and special teams. I looked for Tyrequek Zimmerman (#3), but didn’t see him. Either he was not there, or he was wearing a different number….
OK. Just saw Cliff’s tweet that Zimmerman moved to safety before tonight’s practice. That explains why I didn’t see him among the WRs tonight.
Frankly, I’m not that surprised, since in the Week One drills Zimmerman didn’t seem to be doing nearly as well as fellow-freshman Brandin Cooks, and was also looking at a number of other WRs ahead of him on the depth chart for this year and probably next year, too.
OSU official write-up:
http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/081511aaa.html
Zimmerman is a specimen. If he was a S prospect, he likely would have been a 5-star prospect. But he insisted on being recruited as a WR. Still, it’s interesting that he would move so early to be a S. All these frosh position changes are by the players so far.
Having been around camp a lot in years past the players almost always “willing” change positions but only after a conversation with the coaches. The coaches explain the facts and then the player change spots. I think we recruit guys to wr cause they want to be but ask them to change later if they dont prove themselves. Hekker came in as QB but quickly changed.
On live chat on the Oregonian, I just asked Buker whether Dylan Wynn will make the team and play much this season. Here is Buker’s response: “I know they love Dylan Wynn. And they aren’t super deep at DE. But RS seems more likely to me. In a pinch, we’ll see DT Dom Glover move back to DE.” Again, take it for what it’s worth….
I’m guessing Riley’s got Ironing Board McCant’s etched in already, so he doesn’t care about a hard core competition at RB. I’d like to see him go for it…he’s too ‘loyal’ to these lifers at OSU.
Not sure how loyal he is to mccants, he was vocally in love with Jenkins before he went down
I’m curious if Cooks and Zimmerman are being used on fly sweeps? They both sound like they have the speed, and I hope they are used in that capacity.
In the first week of practice, Cooks definitely got some reps running the fly sweep during drills. I don’t recall seeing Zimmerman run any fly sweeps during drills, but he may have done so while I was off watching different drills on another practice field (especially Friday and Saturday, when I spent much of my time watching o-line and d-line and linebacker drills).
Cliff’s midday report on today’s morning practice confirms your information on Mannion: “QB Sean Mannion is making a move on the depth chart. He took his reps with the second string.”
Just asked Buker in live chat on Oregonian site whether Mannion is ahead of Vaz on the depth chart. Buker’s response: ” I like Mannion a lot. Looks like a young S. Canfield. But no, he’s not ahead of Vaz”. For what it’s worth (which is probably not much….)
Back to the lack of a clear image and associated campaign, OSU “opens the vault” and offers old school smilin’ benny:
http://www.osubeaversshop.com/
and a single block letter “O”….
Would like to see them wear last year’s CW uniforms at Wisconsin…probably little chance of that(?).
I’ve been eyeing some gear lately with the old benny logo. They seem to be unveiling more of it piece by piece lately. Don’t really like the giant Nike logo on the shoulder of the shirts though. It’s almost like putting a giant green “O” on the shoulder of your OSU shirt.
I don’t think there’s much chance OSU pulls out the win vs. Wisconsin, so not sure how I’d feel about breaking in those old school uniforms with 2 losses. The Giant Killers need to prove they can beat a giant before they earn the right to wear those uniforms again, in my opinion.
Also, gotta say, the lack of clear image is a little perplexing. On the same web page (titled OSUbeaversshop.com) you find gear with the giant blocky “O”, next to that is gear with the newer “OS” logo. And the webaddress is “OSU” Why can’t we choose one and stick with it? I thought 3 years ago they said “OS” was going to be the new brand. But “OSU” never faded away and the blocky “O” logo seems to be the most popular with fans lately. Like Riley says about the team “We’re just trying to figure out who we are”
“Like Riley says about the team “We’re just trying to figure out who we are”
Exactly. Its been discussed here many times, and I think some readers think we are only concerned about marketing or branding, but I think the deeper concern is about the identity of the program, and how having a clear identity can make a difference on the field and for the fan base.
The use of uniforms and logo for team indentity seems to be going in different directions these days. Some schools, with historic success associated with uniforms, keep em the same — USC, UCLA … But then you have UO, with a different combo every game, and some not really using the school colors at all (and some are really ugly). The feathers on the shoulders are the only constant? But I am told that the players think they are super cool.
Seems to me you generate image by using your colors and keeping the logo constant.
The giant killer unis dont seem very cool, or pleasing, to me. They look like they’re from another era, and not in a good sense. In any case, the use of them didnt work in terms of inspiration.
I suspect the sale of the different logo types is to max sales — you can have whatever you like. I like the idea of using a particular logo and when you get success with it, continue with it to use that success for name brand recognition. In a pic of football players in action, the uniform should inform the viewer of what team the player is from. Like USC or UCLA etc uniforms do. (that is, I dont like whats happening with the UO uniforms, but maybe I am old fashioned)
I was excited to see a brand new Beaver store downtown in SW Portland this week. They had several of these old school Benny shirts, different then on the website (addidas, not nike).
Cliff is tweeting that Cooks is on fire today (no pun intented I presume). Kid’s gonna play.
Buker tweeting that Will Storey, Joe Lopez, Connor Hamlett, Tyler Perry each suspended a game. MIPs on Sat night.
See Tyler Perry in “Madea Gets an MIP”, now on DVD and BluRay…..
Luckily there are no impact players on the list. Stupid move. But they are young guys (all RS Frosh and one true frosh) and young guys do dumb stuff. At least they didn’t beat up a girl, drive 118mph, or get caught with weed.
Also, who hasn’t been hassled by the Corvallis Police. They can be dicks and overreact constantly. Here’s an idea – instead of handing out MPIs to every drunk college student they find, if they aren’t causing trouble, send them home safely and give them a warning.
Agreed. If you’re going to give me a ticket for pissing in a bush behind Sancho’s on Cinco de Mayo, at least have the decency to let me finish. I have no love for CPD.
People know the rules and athletes need to be even more mindful of those rules. I agree youngsters make bad choices, but they learn by paying the penalty for those choices. It is silly to blame the Police for enforcing the laws.
I think it goes both ways…the Lincoln police once cited Brent Musberger for an open container when he was in a car as a passenger (Corporate cab). They like to bust the football players I think too, it makes ’em feel good about their likely athletic failures since I’m guessing most of them were hot shot athletes in High School but didn’t make it.
But these players should know better. Will it kill their career, no, but If I had a free ride and a possible trip to the NFL down the road, I’d try to be a little more discrete.
Better they did it now…lots of time to get back in good graces.
This is probably a blessing in disguise. Like you said, no big names on the list, and it will be a tangible lesson/reminder for the rest of the team.
According to today’s Dallas Morning News Victor is kicking ass in camp. Led the team in tackles in the first ex game and should have had one more but went too high on the physical Tebow and slid off instead of sacking him. He told me last Sept. before the TCU game he thought he would be playing a lot more beginning this season. Very glad for him, he and his mother are very gracious people.
Zimmerman has moved to safety. Got to say I think he should have stayed at WR
Weird. I guess with the amount of WR talent we have coming in this year (and apparently next) that makes some sense but I would have thought he could project to OLB. Safety sounds okay too.
I kind of like it. Sounds like he is a decent safety and having WR hands on D is great. Also we are stacked at WR and need depth in the secondary.
Osich signs with the Giants for $450K no word on Susac just yet.
Susac just signed for 1.1m.
Good news though, Jace Frye turned down the A’s best offer and will be attending OSU.
http://www.sfgiantsnirvana.com/andrew-susac-sign?utm_source=web&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SplashingPumpkins+%28Splashing+Pumpkins%29
Glad Fry turned down the A’s, he’s gonna be a good one for the Beavers. Before the summer I was concerned about the catching position if Susac signed but Gorton has shown a lot this summer and turned into a solid catcher. Catching position should be fine next season.
Yeah, I think catcher is fine. Rodriguez is in the mix too, though I prefer him on the infield.
Susac has signed with the Giants. I thought he would return but not really surprised he did sign. Jace Fry will be a Beaver as he did not sign with A’s.
Chris Santini has given his verbal to Boise State.
I attended the Monday evening practice in Reser Stadium from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. I focused tonight on special teams and on the offense. Here are the most interesting things I saw, in no particular order:
– The kickers looked good tonight during special team drills. Hekker was booming punts (most of them very high, and a number of them over 55 or even 60 yards). Trevor Romaine and Max Johnson were both reaching the end zone on many of their kickoffs. In drills with the field goal unit, I believe that Trevor Romaine hit all five of his kicks (two from the 10 yard line, one from the 19 yard line, one from the 23 yard line, and one from the 33 yard line). Max Johnson missed from the 33 yard line, but appeared to hit all his other kicks during the same drill. Later, during 11-on-1l drills, Trevor Romaine and the field goal unit hurried on to the field for a 22-yard attempt under time pressure, and TR hit that kick, too. All of TR’s kicks were plenty long — he appears to have a good leg. (Note: I was sitting in the West stands, so I had a side view of the goalposts, which made it hard to be sure whether or not the kicks were good — but I’m pretty sure they were, based on what I saw, and also based on the reactions of players and coaches on the field). The only kicker who didn’t look so good was backup punter Keith Kostol, who shanked several punts.
– Fielding kicks and punts during tonight’s drills, Poyer, Cooks, and Wheaton all looked solid.
– Ryan Katz did not have a great practice. He overthrew a number of wide open receivers during 11-on-11 drills. On one of those overthrows, Poyer intercepted the ball and took it back for a TD. Katz also took a few sacks (of the non-contact variety, of course). During goal-line drills, several times he rolled out to his right, and had to throw the ball away when he couldn’t find an open receiver. I’m getting concerned that Katz still has trouble seeing the whole field. He seems to look right at his primary receiver most of the time. If the primary receiver is covered, Katz then has trouble finding his secondary receivers downfield, and ends up eating the ball or dumping it to his RB. Hope I’m wrong about this….
– We will likely see the Beavers try to utilize their height in their red-zone offense this season. During tonight’s red-zone and goal-line offense drills, the Beavers threw a lot to Obum Gwacham (6’5″) and to Conner Hamlett (6’7″). Gwacham made one nice catch in the corner of the endzone, and dropped a few other passes that would have been TDs. Hamlett caught some, too (and dropped fewer than Gwacham tonight).
– In the goal-line offense drill, Storm Woods flat-out fumbled a handoff from Ryan Katz. Not used to seeing that. Quizz spoiled Beaver fans with his amazing ball control.
– James Rodgers worked hard on the sidelines for the last hour of tonight’s practice. James set up an agility ladder on the ground, and repeatedly stepped through the ladder, ending by catching a pass from a trainer. James also ran hard on some short sideline patterns, again ending by catching a pass from a trainer. James’s footwork looked strong and quick, and he also looked comfortable catching the ball. Seems to be making good progress…
– In tonight’s practice, the receivers who shone the brightest in my opinion were Brandin Cooks, Jordan Bishop, Kevin Cummings, and Connor Hamlett (although Hamlett had one bad moment when he let a high pass go right through his hands and it got intercepted). Each of these guys made a number of nice catches. Brandin Cooks had a particularly memorable play during a 7-on-7 drill where he beat Ryan Handford deep, and caught a bomb for a TD. The receiver who dropped the most passes tonight was probably Obum Gwacham, who was getting open frequently, but just had trouble hanging on to passes tonight.
You should start keeping tabs on Obum, in the past when I have watched him he is a drop machine. It doesn’t sound like he is improving. My impression was that he went for one handed grabs and what not when they were unnecessary.
Also, you mentioned Hekker, were did you measure the distance of the kick from? If he hit only 60 yds from his foot that isn’t good but 60 from the LOS is amazing.
Regarding Hekker: I was talking about 60 yards from the line of scrimmage (sorry, should have made that clear). He had one of those for sure, and another one that was close to that (both with good hang time). He really boomed a few last night.
Regarding Obum, he did a good job catching the ball in Week One. Last night, iIt wasn’t so much that Obum was going for circus catches. Instead, he was failing to grab the ball cleanly and bring it into his body. As a result, he would get two hands on the ball, but fail to hang on if there was pressure or contact. The coaches were talking to him last night after each of the drops. I hope to attend practice this afternoon, and to see if Obum can do a better job today.
Hi guys, I know we all like to be smart and intelligent Beaver fans, but even intelligence deserves a laugh once in a while. If you’d like to get a little chuckle at the expense of a certain other school, check out this little jab I just uploaded for all of Beaver Nation (I’m sorry, this opportunity was just TOO good to pass up!!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGn7cPujrlg
Put me in the “disappointed by Zimmerman’s move to safety” camp…
The guy looked like a more physically dominant version of Stroughter.
It sounds like a few schools were recruiting him to play safety so maybe that play making ability will translate to D. Maybe he didn’t think he would get on the field as a WR or something.
On Zimmerman I don’t think we can have it both ways though. I’ve seen quite a few critical comments on here about coaches not getting the young guys to play early and not always having the best athlete take the position. To me, this fall has felt different. Everything that I’m reading looks to be a departure from the old ways. I’ve seen where they are increasing the pace, they moved Robinson away from the middle even though he was a starter there last year, there are young guys competing for spots that traditionally would always go to the veteran…
You can only have a finite number of WR in a game at a given time. We recruited a significant number of WR’s this year that were gifted all-around athletes, so if they are not going to crack much playing time at WR, I would rather not waste a year or two of limited play, if he can see the field earlier at safety. He looks to be a beast of an athlete, so good for him.
yeah…. we are going to need playmakers at safety for sure. I guess we won’t know if this is a good move or not for a couple of years.
Regarding the MIP’s on Saturday night. I am worried about more than the MIP, something is amiss in that story because we have only completed the first week of fall camp. The athletes are required to stay in the dorms for the first couple of weeks of fall camp. Now, they usually are rewarded with a later curfew on the weekends (based on good behavior/practice) but they are still required to stay overnight in the dorms. The curfew involves a physical bed check by coaches (usually GA’s). Why were they out past curfew and why was it allowed? The rules may have changed in the last year but I am willing to bet they haven’t changed much.
We picked up a JC punter:
http://www.times-standard.com/sports/ci_18690487
http://youtu.be/iX15L0mJSOo
He has the same average as Hekker. I assume he can kick the Aussie rules and Rugby boot also seeing as though he is an Aussie. He sounds confident he can beat out Hekker. I wonder if he has a redshirt year if he doesn’t beat him out?
nm… looked at the video. He already redshirted and can does kick the Aussie and Rugby kicks. Kind of reminds me of Hekker… I imagine Hekker has the leg up with his ability to pass if they kick to a draw in camp.
Competition is a good thing — glad to see it. I can’t help wondering whether Hekker’s strong performance in last night’s practice at Reser may have been spurred by this….
tough to say…. although punting in practice with no rush should be automatic for any punter.
One of Hekker’s practice punts last night was a free kick after a safety (simulated), where there was no rush. But his other punts were in 11-on-11 drills, with defenders coming at him (although without full contact or full pads).
Hekker has always had ability, it is just the consistency that has been a problem. Either way, I’m glad that we have an option for next year.
His “rugby” style of kicks could come in handy with OSU’s offensive line….
In live chat on the Oregonian (just ended), someone asked Buker about new punter Tim McMullen (just offered a scholarship, and transferring to OSU from Humboldt State). Buker said he had heard nothing about this at all — it was news to him.
How could Buker not know about this? What does that say about Buker and his sources?
I like your info better than his info anyway.
Agreed. I’m never quite sure of Buker’s comments or analyses. Moreover, his attempts at fluff and filler are even less impressive.
I can see from the observations on here, that Buker isnt a good judge of what is going on. But at least he watches and blogs. I dont see similar coverage for Uknowho.
I was just thinking. If Phillip can’t earn a starting spot does it make sense to redshirt him?
No way. We’re already ridiculously thin at the T spots. If he gets beat out, at least he’s a better backup for both T spots than we had last year.
well if he gets beat out for both OT spots and wont switch to OG he might not play.
In live chat on the Oregonian site (just ended a minute ago), Buker responded to a question about redshirting Phillip by saying this was not yet being considered. Buker also said that Phillip is still hampered by knee problems, which is why Colin Kelly is now entrenched as the starter at right tackle.
Malcolm Agnew working a lot with the starters today according to Cliff Kirkpatrick.
Confirmed. I just got back from Tuesday afternoon practice. More emphasis on the running game today, with all the backs getting turns. Agnew got lots of reps with the starters. I thought Agnew did the best, with McCants second. More when I file my full report on practice later today…
Michael Lamb has been moved to guard with the starters and Ellis has been moved to the second string. Thank god.
finally!
I haven’t seen much of Lamb, is he significantly better?
No.
The lone positive: the coaches finally recognized Ellis stinks. Now they need to do the same with Lamb. And fast…
http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/08/video_of_cliff_harris_traffic.html
Explain how Cliff Harris wasn’t arrested please. Did this trooper get a little star struck by the big time 18 year old college football star?
I agree. Hamlett and 2 others get arrested for an MIP, but no arrest for Harris when caught driving someone else’s car 118 with no ID and the car smelling of pot?!
Yep.
He better hope he didn’t tell Chimp Kelly that nobody had been smoking weed.
Who am I kidding, it doesn’t matter.
They’re very lucky he didn’t search the car. If that’s any random Joe off the street, they get hammered for all of this.
No, that’s simply not how it works. You guys sound like Beaver honks right now.
The MIP-ers were NOT ARRESTED. They were cited for MIP and 36 counts of furnishing alcohol to minors. That was well deserved. They also dubiously locked the door, turned off the lights, and pretended nobody was home. Which forced the cops to get a warrant: dumbest idea ever, did they think the cops would just get tired and leave?? Clearly, they were not going to do any punk ass college kids any favors after that.
Second, Harris received permission to use the car; that’s not an arrest-able offense, that’s completely legal if the car is insured… which it was. He passed the intoxication test so he was fit to drive, albeit without a license to do so. Also, Nobody gets arrested for driving 118 miles/hr on the freeway, unless you’re out of control. If you read the article (having a hard time believing you did) it clearly states the cops assessment was, they were not driving out of control. This is traffic citation/violation, not an arrest-able offense. Tell me, when was the last time you got arrested for speeding? Only if the officer deems you were out of control reckless. It’s judgement call on the cops part. He might have done them a favor by not searching the car, otherwise it was a pretty reasonable response given the situation.
I’m surprised they didn’t get their car searched. That part doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Either way, you don’t get arrested for possession of weed unless it’s ounce. And, I’m not sure if this is true, but it’s not illegal to be high.
correction. You probably do get arrested for possession of any amount of weed.
Sorry KC, you absolutely can be arrested for speeding.
“Hastings says people often do get arrested for excessive speed.
But because Harris’s license was suspended for non-misdemeanor or felony violations and his speed wasn’t deemed reckless, a ticket was more appropriate.”
Considering the fact that the cop KNEW he had been going even MORE than 118mph (as he says in the tape) and the fact that Harris admits to having smoked weed earlier, it’s absolutely absurd that all he got was a speeding ticket. I stand by my statement that if this happens to anybody else, they get absolutely screwed.
http://www.crookedsapd.com/2011/06/oregon-ducks-cornerback-gets-special-treatment-after-driving-118mph/
Never said you couldn’t be arrested for speeding, “nobody gets arrested for driving 118 miles/hr on the freeway, unless you’re out of control.” <–catch the last part bucko. "Nobody ever" is a poor choice of words, a figure of speech, but a poor choice of words on my part.
Doesn't matter if the cop KNEW he was going faster than 118. You can consider that fact all you want, it's not prove-able though, and the officer admitted he could not prove that he was going faster than 118. That's a crucially important distinction.
Nevertheless, it's not unreasonable that they didn't get arrested.
I'm willing to rescind sentiment that they didn't get preferential treatment on some level. It's rather odd that their car wasn't search. But if it was searched and nothing was found… a speeding ticket is what Harris deserved. That's it.
KC… you’re all sorts of wrong here. People aren’t always arrested for driving over 100 mph (the legislative mark for distinction between speeding and reckless driving). And depending on what jurisdiction you’re in you will likely not even be cited for pot possession for small amounts in Oregon municipalities.
But people who recklessly drive a borrowed rental car with a suspended license and without insurance for the third or fourth time while smoking pot… and are pulled over by state troopers who have reasonable suspicion (smell) enough to ask about pot possession… and gets a flippant answer from punksville… those people get arrested. And the trooper failed miserably on the rental car. He should have called the rental service, informed them of who was driving, asked if anyone else in the car was authorized to be in possession of the car. And when he discovered that they were illegally in possession of a rental, he should have had it impounded.
The trooper actually aided them in breaking the law because he allowed someone not authorized to drive the rental to drive away. If you’re not authorized by the rental agreement to drive a car, you are not legally insured, no matter what kind of personal insurance you have. The only implied secondary driver is a spouse (in 38 states).
These things happen all the time to normal people. The fact that a long-time Duck season ticket holder pulled over three Duck football stars (Daron Thomas was yet again in a car stopped by cops and noted by said cops to have recently contained pot… if it didn’t at that time) and just let them go kinda doesn’t pass the smell test.
KC, the truth is always short, if you have to explain something that long-winded you sound like a 3rd grader with crumbs on his face explaining to Mom why the cookie jar is shattered on the floor.
My source was the Democrat-Herald website:
http://www.democratherald.com/sports/article_82f73269-9212-59f9-a355-93424b1391b4.html
That state that they were arrested. They could be wrong of course.
Lastly, of course we’re Beaver honks!
Are you calling me fat? Or are you saying the Bible is not the Truth? Either way, Cliff K. says they were “arrested” at 1am as well. So I’m in the wrong.
I just have a hard time believing you get arrested for a MIP, although 36 counts of furnishing alcohol to minors, and not opening the door for police officers…
I also have a rather limited definition of arrested. Were they taken in and jailed? Or, handcuffed and put in the squad car? Or is an arrest in the case simply the being cited.
Either way, it scarcely matter. MIPs are doled out daily on college campuses. Whether they were arrested for it or not, it’s a tiny infraction.
My issue is with how the cop’s tone changed as soon as he found out it was Cliff Harris. His vocal inflection changed from authority to reverence.
note: I once had my car searched because the cop saw a dried up maple leaf on my foot-mat and thought it was weed. So for this guy to accept “we smoked it all” as an answer…well, I find it hard to believe the average citizen gets that same treatment.
Harris doesnt get reamed because he is a football star. Period. He had no license, and no permission to drinve that car. The permission given was not legal, as it was a rental car (rented by no one in the car) and Harris was not an authorized driver. I think the car could have been impounded. The smell of marajuana gives the cop the right to search the car. He should have, and then impounded it.
Its unfortunate that Oregon doesnt have a law that allows the arrest of someone without a license.
The cop definitely let them off easy.
*At Friday’s practice we saw WR Gwacham drop more than his share of passes and it seems from some others close to the team that this is normal. If he gets his hands right we could have a world-beater. But until then…
*Also noticed at Friday’s practice they had the TE’s running 25 yard routes. Also TE #89 Connor Hamlett at 6?-7? was running crisp routes for such a big guy. Looked better than my favorite TE Joe the Tank! I like Hamlett’s future if the staff will utilize our TE’s in the passing game more. I would say the weakest looking TE was freshman Kellen Clute. Looked very much like a freshman and unsure of himself. Let’s hope he grows in confidence.
Obum Gwacham did much better today, at the Tuesday afternoon practice. More details to come…
Cliff Harris being pulled over:
http://www.kval.com/news/local/127896303.html
Seems like preferential treatment to me.
Absolutely. Anybody else gets completely effed in this situation. I can not believe they didn’t search the car. ‘We smoked it all.’ Are you kidding me? That’s all it takes?
At least Cliff Harris didn’t sell his Pac-10 ring.
This is crazy! I cant wait for ESPN to show this. Preferential big time.
Video also at Beaver Byte now with poll..
You would think with Albany being close to Corvallis these cops would have thrown the book at them. I know I would have. “Beaver believer till the day I die” Home town treatment if you know what I mean.
On another note, anyone interested in doing a song for the Beavers? Writing lyrics, supplying the beat, rapping, singing, rocking. I have access to a studio and can run protools(I will need a quick refresher) and have rocked the mic a number of times. Let me know what you guys think? Tired of the quacks getting all the airplay!
The quacks may get some “play,” but it’s still embarrassing horrible music. You’re from Oregon, you shouldn’t be “rapping/rocking the mic” under any circumstances.
Report on practice on Tuesday afternoon, August 16:
Here is what I saw at today’s practice, in no particular order:
– Unlike yesterday, the field goal kickers didn’t look so good today. Trevor Romaine missed his last/longest attempt, from the 33 or 34 yard line (this is when I arrived at today’s practice, so I didn’t see Romaine’s earlier kicks). Max Johnson then stunk up the place, missing most of his attempts, some of then both wide and short.
– Looks like the real competition for RB has now begun. In one drill, RBs took turns running the ball into a “live” line, with each RB getting a rep, then moving aside for the next RB, etc. Today’s overall winner, from what I saw, was probably Malcolm Agnew. He made some nice jump cuts to find holes, looked quick getting through holes, and ran downhill at every opportunity. Agnew also showed good balance (although he did have one unforced slip). Agnew also did the best job in the goal line drills, where he found the end zone a number of times by running with his head up and choosing the right hole to hit. I thought Ryan McCants also looked pretty good today, showing improved hands, and more quickness to the hole. Terron Ward, Storm Woods, and Jovan Stevenson seemed to have a harder time today finding and hitting holes at the line of scrimmage, seemed to go down more easily than Agnew and McCants, and didn’t seem as solid with their ball control (Terron Ward, in particular, had another unforced fumble today). I expect that Agnew will move up the depth chart if he performs this well during practices for the rest of this week.
– I spent quite a bit of time watching Tyrequek Zimmerman this afternoon at his new position — safety. TZ is now wearing #8 (no name on the jersey yet). TZ made some athletic plays early in drills, batting away one pass, and doing a good job of staying with receivers. In later drills, TZ seemed to struggle a bit more, sometimes dropping his head, or shaking his head from side-to-side. However, it’s clear that the coaches recognize TZ’s upside. For many of the drills, a coach stood next to TZ, helping to position him properly for the upcoming play, and then talking to him after the rep, to coach him up further. I think it’s fair to say that TZ got more personal attention from the coaching staff than any other Beaver at today’s practice.
– The WRs had a good day in the one-on-one and 11-on-11 drills (the flip side, of course, is that the DBs did not do so well). It’s not news, but Brandin Cooks just keeps impressing everyone. He already looks prepared for PAC-12 competition. I think BC is going to play a lot this year, and I think he’s going to do very well in games — can’t wait to see him perform. Wheaton had a very good day, making a number of difficult catches. Obum Gwacham did a better job today of catching and holding on to the ball (although he still dropped a few balls he needs to catch). Kevin Cummings also had a very good day (KC has been strong throughout camp — I expect he is going to surprise people this season). And James Rodgers looked good, running routes and catching balls in 7-on-7 contact drills. Around 4 pm, JR shut it down, and put a big cold pack on his knee, but again I assume (and hope) that was just precautionary, and not because JR tweaked anything.
– Dropping back from center after the snap, Sean Mannion tripped two or three times in today’s practice. Looks like Mannion’s footwork is still a work in progress. It appears that Vaz remains #2 on the depth chart behind Katz, although I think Vaz and Mannion are pretty much a toss up in terms of their current ability to lead the offense. Either one could probably do a capable job as a backup for Katz if that became necessary (unlike last season, when Vaz clearly wasn’t ready, and Mannion wasn’t even playing).
– I spent as much time as I could watching freshman DE Dylan Wynn today. DW looks solid and strong, and seems to have good athleticism. However, he got very few reps in today’s practice, so it’s hard to say more at this point.
YES! SS, great stuff as usual. This team sounds like it’s really coming together. Just gotta stay/get healthy.
Speaking of trying to stay healthy, Kevin Frahm was injured today and is on crutches right now.
Yes, I saw that news report. Must have happened late in today’s practice, because I saw Frahm playing for most of today’s practice, and didn’t see when he came off the field injured.
Henceforth, please list or refer only to players who AREN’T injured, in rehab, on the mend, nursing something, going easy, suspended,or sorting out academics. I might then be able to keep track of who might actually be playing come September.
That is not well. If it’s just a precaution I’d be happy, but we are woefully thin on the DL. Someone’s going to get injured at some point.
Thanks, SS….you da man.
As a QB in the spread, it appears Darron Thomas is pretty good at calling SHOTGUN! Pleasent, Masoli, and now this…
http://www.uomatters.com/2011/08/fiesta-bowl-kickbacks-pay-for-strippers.html
Also, I’m sure you guys saw that Miami likely to become death penalty U once the NCAA is done with Oregon.
I notice Miami issued almost the same statement as UO…. lol