Football Practice Report: Sept. 19
09/19/17 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon's offensive line is preparing to take on the Pac-12's leading defense at pressuring the quarterback at Arizona State on Saturday (7 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Network).
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
Since Todd Graham took over as head coach at Arizona State beginning with the 2012 season, the Sun Devils have routinely been among the Pac-12's most prolific pass-rushing teams. So far, 2017 is proving to be no exception.
ASU finished each of Graham's first five seasons in the top half of the Pac-12 in sacks, leading the conference with 46 in 2015. Through three weeks of this season, the Sun Devils again are atop the Pac-12, with 13 sacks entering a visit by Oregon to Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday (7 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Network).
Of the 15 Pac-12 players with at least two sacks so far in 2017, four are Sun Devils. That includes a pair of defensive linemen, JoJo Wicker and Tashon Smallwood, earning the attention of Oregon offensive line coach Mario Cristobal.
"The power that they play with up front, they're up the field," Cristobal said Tuesday before the first of two full-pads practices this week for the Ducks. "They're penetrators. They create a lot of negative plays."
Cristobal generally has been pleased with the play of his unit, led by senior left tackle Tyrell Crosby – the coaching staff's offensive player of the game last week at Wyoming. The Ducks are second in the Pac-12 in rushing at 285.3 yards per game, and have allowed the second-fewest sacks, just three.
"The standards are pretty high; the day we say, 'Hey, you guys are here, you've done it,' we don't want to do that," Cristobal said. "So, are we progressing, going the right direction? Yes. We're hitting a lot of the goals we've set, and surpassing some. But there's still so much room for improvement. When we hit on all cylinders, we'll be a pretty dangerous group."
Arizona State's pass rush Saturday night will have to compensate for the absence of edge rusher Koron Crump. A preseason candidate for the Butkus and Bednarik awards, Crump leads the Pac-12 with four sacks but suffered a leg injury last week against Texas Tech and has been declared out for the Oregon game.
The Sun Devils also have to tangle with an Oregon offense that so far has been arguably the most explosive in the country. The Ducks have 26 plays of 20 yards or longer on offense, tied for the most in the FBS with UCLA. Meanwhile, Arizona State as usual is paying a price for its aggressiveness – the Sun Devils have allowed 20 plays of 20 yards or more, worse than everyone in the Pac-12 but Oregon State.
So it could be a battle of big plays when the Ducks have the ball Saturday night. Oregon will look to counter ASU's aggressiveness by getting the ball to playmakers in space, while the Sun Devils will try to stop the Ducks before they ever get started in the backfield.
"If they decide to pressure us, we gotta deal with it," said Marcus Arroyo, the UO quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator along with Cristobal. "But we're gonna try to put our guys in position to be successful, and prepare them. We'll go through our normal preparation."
Practice highlights: Oregon's defense, which leads the country with 31 passes defended, showed off those skills throughout Tuesday's practice. A.J. Hotchkins picked off a Mike Irwin pass in the first team period, and Hotchkins and La'Mar Winston Jr. had picks in 7-on-7. Later, in a team period focused on third downs, Billy Gibson intercepted a Justin Herbert pass, and Irwin was victimized by Jonah Moi. Four of those five plays were by linebackers, you may have noted. … Nick Pickett nearly added to the interception total during the first 11-on-11 period, but he fell hard to the turf and couldn't hang on. …
Among the other really encouraging developments Tuesday was a return to form by Darrian McNeal. He was a standout much of training camp, but struggled at Wyoming in his most significant playing time of the first three weeks. Tuesday, he was back to making plays, including a couple deep balls from Herbert in team drills. … One of those completions to McNeal was aided by a block from tight end Jacob Breeland, who picked up Gus Cumberlander off the edge and held him off. Later, tight end Ryan Bay's block helped Malik Lovette get to the sticks in the third-down period.
Other observations: Doug Brenner got some reps with the first unit at right guard, where Jake Pisarcik has been the starter. With Brenner on the first unit, true freshman Alex Forsyth played some center on the twos. … Speaking of the offensive line, sophomore Brady Aiello took some snaps at guard in both 1-on-1 pass rush drills and later in a team situation. Malik Young beat him off the line on the first rep of the pass rush drill, but they reset it and Aiello locked up Young pretty well on the second rep. …
Punt returners Dillon Mitchell, Jaylon Redd, Darrian Felix and McNeal got a preview of the rain that fell later in practice, when a staff member unloaded on them with a squirt gun while they attempted to field kicks. Given that the Ducks have muffed some kicks this year, it was a good test of their concentration while tracking the ball in the air and hauling it in. … Speaking of Felix and Redd, they continue to get reps with the travel squad.
Pre-practice interviews:
Co-offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo
Co-offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal
