Football Practice Report: Nov. 14
11/14/17 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The Ducks continued their preparations for a matchup with Arizona on Saturday (4:15 p.m., Pac-12 Network), which will feature a battle of the Schooler brothers.
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
The Schooler family will wear its allegiance on its sleeve Saturday. In which case, it's a good thing a football jersey has two sleeves.
Split an Oregon jersey down the middle, do the same with an Arizona jersey, then sew together one side from each – that will be the garb of choice Saturday for the family of UO receiver Brenden Schooler and Arizona linebacker Colin Schooler. The brothers will face off this weekend, when the Ducks host the Wildcats in Autzen Stadium on Saturday (4:15 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
"It's going to be different," Brenden Schooler said Tuesday, when the Ducks resumed practice following a day off Monday. "I've never played against him; I've always been with him. So this will be a first for me."
Neither Schooler boy wasted any time making an impact at the collegiate level. A year ago, Brenden Schooler was a lightly recruited true freshman safety who broke into the starting lineup against Nebraska, and finished as Oregon's third-leading tackler with 74. This fall, Colin Schooler is a true freshman inside linebacker who has been starting for the Wildcats since midseason, and is second on their defense with 63 tackles.
"He's gone out and proved himself, just like I did going out and trying to prove myself last year," said Brenden Schooler, adding that he was also the trendsetter when it came to growing out his hair, as Colin Schooler has since done as well.
This fall, Brenden Schooler moved to receiver for the Ducks. He has 17 receptions in 10 games, with touchdown receptions in Oregon's victories over Nebraska and California. Like the rest of the UO receivers, he's seen his production dip since the injury to quarterback Justin Herbert, who is poised to return to action possibly as soon as this week.
Even when Herbert was available, the Ducks didn't often send outside receivers like Schooler over the middle on underneath routes. So it's unlikely the brothers will cross paths much Saturday night.
But if they do?
"He'd probably hit me," Brenden Schooler said Tuesday with a smile. "And if I had the chance, I'd probably hit him."
Practice highlights: Brady Breeze got off to a strong start. He picked off a pass during the "Insanity" 11-on-11 two-minute drill that kicks off practice. Then, in a perimeter passing drill, he beat blocks a couple different times and wrapped up receivers at the line of scrimmage. … Daewood Davis scored a win for the scout team early on, taking the ball on a reverse and hitting the edge for a long gain. But the defense adjusted to that look as the day wore on, and later Austin Faoliu brought down Davis in the backfield for lost yardage. … Demetri Burch again proved his value playing the part of Arizona QB Khalil Tate with a couple long runs, but he was also bottled up at the line by Scott Pagano on one rep.
Other observations: After looking very sharp Sunday, Herbert didn't have quite the same chemistry with his receivers Tuesday morning. Prior to practice, assistant coach Marcus Arroyo made it clear some rust is to be expected after missing several weeks. Herbert was a little long on some deep balls, which could also possibly be an issue of receivers needing to adjust back to his arm strength. In one case, a receiver jumped a hair too early, the ball sailed just past his fingertips and Billy Gibson intercepted it. …
With Jake Pisarcik not in pads Tuesday, Calvin Throckmorton played right guard and Brady Aiello played tackle. Throckmorton has also taken reps here and there at center, since the injuries to Pisarcik and Doug Brenner. The sophomore is easily Oregon's most versatile offensive lineman at this point. … On Sunday, the offense did 7-on-7 while the defense did a "team pass" period to prepare for Tate. On Tuesday, the Ducks went back to their standard format of the last several weeks, with the defense in 7-on-7 – and Mike Irwin playing scout-team QB – while the offense did "team pass" so the quarterbacks could balance reading coverages with handling a pass rush.
Pre-practice interviews:
Co-offensive coordinator and QB/TE coach Marcus Arroyo
Co-offensive coordinator and OL coach Mario Cristobal
