Football Practice Report: Aug. 17
08/17/17 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
In the last practice before Sunday's scrimmage, Oregon's defense ended the week on a high note.
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
For the final team period of Thursday's Oregon football practice, the offense was given the ball around midfield and tasked with driving to a go-ahead touchdown in the waning moments of a game.
The first-team units took the field to face off, and a short pass from Justin Herbert to Royce Freeman yielded little owing to a beautiful open-field tackle by Troy Dye. But the offense quickly reached the red zone when Herbert dropped back, found Dillon Mitchell against single coverage and lofted a deep ball that Mitchell hauled in.
That's been a common sight the last few days in practice, as the offense – and particularly the passing game – has found its timing during week three of preseason camp. At least some of that credit owes to the presence of Mitchell and fellow first-team receivers Charles Nelson and Alex Ofodile, all of whom missed at least some practice time early in camp but have since returned to action.
Herbert has been the beneficiary, thanks to timing he established with those receivers over the past year.
"He knows where we're gonna be, he knows what we can and can't do, he knows our speed," Nelson said.
The receiver back from the longest absence is Ofodile, who had a broken foot repaired in the spring. He's still being eased back into action by the athletic training staff, but the big, physical wideout has rejoined team drills at this point.
"At first it was a little rough, getting back into it," Ofodile said. "But the whole offense, we're a bunch of hard-working guys, so I think we can get the job done."
Previously in camp, the absence of the veterans allowed freshmen Darrian McNeal, Johnny Johnson III, Daewood Davis and Jaylon Redd to get valuable reps. And Brenden Schooler was able to jump right in to a prominent place in the rotation after moving over from safety. Those guys benefitted from that seasoning, and now the veterans are back to enhance the group even further.
Ofodile said Herbert "is definitely excited to have us all out there. And we're excited too. It's fun to see what we might have this season, and watch that develop."
Other highlights: All that being said, after a few days of the offense having the edge, the defense really dominated Thursday. After Mitchell's catch got the offense into the red zone during the clutch drill, Herbert hustled the unit downfield to get off a play before time expired, but his throw into the end zone caromed off the intended receiver and was intercepted by Nick Pickett. That was the only time in four tries that the offense even got into the red zone; the drill demands they execute a miracle comeback, so failing to do so isn't shocking. But still, the defense walked off the field feeling good about itself. …
In an earlier team period, Schooler made a fingertips catch of a Taylor Alie pass for a touchdown. … Tyree Robinson anticipated a checkdown by Herbert and picked off the UO starter in 7-on-7. That period also featured a really nice adjustment on the ball by Johnson, who leaped into the air in order to slow his momentum and haul in a pass thrown a hair behind him. … The 9-on-7 run game drill began with Kaulana Apelu forcefully wrapping up Freeman on the first rep. Freeman had a long gain on the next play, cutting behind a Jacob Breeland block. Two freshmen went back and forth later in the drill; Sampson Niu showed great instincts to shoot a gap and get into the backfield, but Darrian Felix juked past the linebacker to avoid a tackle for loss. And the next rep, Niu again found the ball and this time wrapped up Felix. …
Practice began with an Oklahoma drill, in which the defense set the tone for the day. Jalon Jelks shed Logan Bathke to make a tackle, and Austin Faoliu kept Jake Pisarcik at arm's length before disengaging to make a stop. Thomas Graham Jr. (above) shed a block and took out the legs of Cyrus Habibi-Likio – no small thing against the burly back – and Deommodore Lenoir had the most impress rep of the drive, driving a receiver off the line and making a tackle. Offensively, Cam McCormick turned Justin Hollins to make way for a ballcarrier, and Brady Aiello put a defensive lineman on his back. Hunter Kampmoyer was the iron man, jumping in for three reps during the period.
Other observations: Former UO defensive lineman Will Tukuafu attended practice and watched D line drills. … For the second time in recent days, Taggart offered a lineman the chance to field a punt and save the team from post-practice conditioning. A couple days ago, Tyrell Crosby successfully made a catch. Alas, on Thursday, Jordon Scott did not. … Niu and Isaac Slade-Matautia got quite a few reps with the second-team defense. … The Ducks are now off for two days prior to Sunday's scrimmage. Then, they'll got into their game-week schedule – off Monday, followed by morning practices – for two full weeks prior to the regular-season opener Sept. 2.
Interviews:
Head coach Willie Taggart
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