Oregon State Spring Practice Nuggets Day 2

The Oregon State football team continued spring practice 2020 on Thursday as the Beavers once again took to the Prothro Practice Fields under sunny skies. BeaversEdge.com Managing Editor Brenden Slaughter was live in Corvallis and has the breakdown from Day 2.

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Practice Nuggets

OFFENSE

- Compared to Day 1, Day 2 was a little bit different as the Beavers elected to do less 11-on-11 work and focus more on the individual drill stations that they rotate. For a good look at exactly what those drills look like, check out the Practice Highlights as they give a good lens into what the Beavers are working on when they aren't going live. With that all being said, we didn't get to see a lot of live work today, but there were still plenty of notable moments...

- If there was a standout player from Day 2, I'd have to give the nod to freshman QB Ben Gulbranson. Gulbranson was impressive on Day 1 and he picked up right where he left off as he actually received for 11-on-11 reps than Chance Nolan. Tristan Gebbia took the most live reps, but I was somewhat surprised to see Gulbranson take more than Nolan. FWIW, Nolan was a lot sharper and more in-tuned with the offense compared to Day 1, but Gulbranson has come out of the gates firing.

- Gulbranson was also responsible for one of the most jaw-dropping plays of the day as he fired a 40-yard laser down the middle to fellow true-freshman wide receiver Zeriah Beason who was able to come away with the catch in TRIPLE coverage... Make no mistake, this was the one play that caught the attention of all the media as it's not often you see a true-freshman to true-freshman connection this early on. Gulbranson's ability to place the deep ball in tight-windows is far better than advertised and he's certainly caught the attention of the coaching staff.

DEFENSE

Here's what the first-team defense looked like today:

DL: Isaac Hodgins

DL: Alexander Skelton

DL: Simon Sandberg

OLB: Hamilcar Rashed / Matthew Tago

ILB: Omar Speights

ILB: Doug Taumoelau

OLB: Riley Sharp / Tago

CB: Kaleb Hayes

CB: Alex Austin / Alton Julian

S: David Morris

S: Jonathan Riley / Jaydon Grant

- Today definitely followed the script of Day 1 in the sense that the defense had a clear advantage over the offense. The Beavers are extremely experienced on the defensive side of the ball and that's given them a noticeable advantage over the offensive line that is still putting the pieces together.