FREE: Nuggets from Oregon State's second day of fall camp
BeaversEdge.com's Brenden Slaughter was live in Corvallis on Saturday evening to take in Oregon State's second practice of fall camp. He took notes during practice and wrote up "nuggets" from practice.
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Practice Nuggets: August 4
- As it was during day one, day two was a relatively slow paced practice that featured more individual drills rather than 11-on-11 work. Whether it was the wide receivers dribbling basketballs or the quarterbacks working on footwork, today was a very drill heavy day.
- Offensive line coach Jim Michalczik has been the most vocal of the coaching staff so far in two days of camp as you can hear his voice across the field. “Drive, Drive, Drive” was the most common saying from Michalczik to his offensive lineman pushing on lev sleds.
- Christian Wallace, who is still learning the nuances of playing running back full-time, showed flashes of potential, while also reminding us why he’s still learning the position. He made several nice plays in the passing game off running back swing passes and some screens, but still struggles with ball security and general feel for the spot. Wallace still needs some seasoning, but I believe this staff, particularly running backs coach Michael Pitre are up to the task.
- Kase Rogers is definitely a guy to keep an eye on moving forward. Today was his second straight practice having reps with the second and third teams and given his ability to make plays in space as both a runner and receiver, I’d say he’s a prime candidate to play immediately. With Artavis Pierce not taking any more extra reps than necessary early in fall camp and Calvin Tyler not participating in team work, there have been opportunities for young RB’s like Rogers and Jermar Jefferson.
- One of the drills that was used extensively between multiple position groups was tackling in space. The Beavers have been notoriously bad at making plays in space recently, and the OSU coaches are certainly hoping to correct those bad habits. In this particular drill, the tackler had to shove a lev sled and dodge a defender before ultimately wrapping up and diving at the tackling dummy at full speed.
- After offseason surgery, tight end Noah Togiai sat out spring practice with a left foot injury. Togiai has been in a white no-contact jersey for the first two days, but near the middle of practice Togiai took off his shoe to ice down his left foot. He didn’t participate in 11-on-11 work. I don’t want to speculate, but I’d say this is more precautionary than worrisome. He’s still getting his football legs back and is trying to work himself back into a groove on the field. With Sunday being an off day, it will be interesting to see if Togiai is out there on Monday.
- Footwork and timing appear to be some of the most important attributes that Jonathan Smith and Brian Lindgren are looking for in their starting quarterback. One of the drills that the quarterbacks participated in focused on the QB executing a certain footwork pattern as designed by the coaches before rolling out to throw to either Christian Wallace or Isaiah Hodgins.
- The most interesting drill of the day came from the receivers as for about 10 minutes, the group was tasked with dribbling a basketball on the turf around tackling dummies.
- We didn’t get to see much of the defense other than during 11-on-11 work which was brief today as they practice on the opposite side of the Prothro Practice Fields compared to where the media is allowed to watch. Until the Beavers crank up 11-on-11 work, we’re somewhat limited on what we can learn about the defense during practices.
- Speaking of 11-on-11, today Conor Blount was the most impressive of all the quarterbacks. He was the first one to take reps followed by Aidan Willard, Jack Colletto, and Jake Luton. Blount played very much within himself today as his decision making was really on point. When the open receiver was there, he hit him in stride. When the play was breaking down, he extended the play with his legs before ultimately throwing the ball away.
- Overall, today was a much better day for the quarterbacks as a whole as there were no interceptions thrown compared to several on day one.
- Blount, along with receiver Andre Bodden, perhaps had the best individual play of the day as on a play action pass, Blount tossed a perfect fade to Bodden who had burned defensive back Deshon Wilson for the touchdown.
- Moving back to the offensive line, there doesn’t seem to be much set in stone with starters and bench guys yet. Michalczik had about 15 different players rotating in the last two days, and until they settle on a consistent rotation, it’s anyone’s guess who’s with what team.
- Miki Fifita, Jeromy Reichner, Isaac Hodgins, and Isaac Garcia were the guys that I was able to pick as the most consistently taking reps on the defensive line with the first team. Garcia and Reichner look very game ready while the younger Hodgins and Fifita will certainly figure into the defensive line plan for Saturday’s.