4/6/2021 football Edit

NUGGETS: Oregon State's First 2021 Spring Practice

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

Publisher

The Oregon State football team kicked off spring football practices Tuesday at the Prothro Practice Fields and BeaversEdge.com Managing Editor Brenden Slaughter was live in Corvallis to report on the first practice of the calendar year.

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MORE: WATCH: Day 1 Practice Interviews | Spring Preview: Offensive Skill Positions

- Football is back! After playing a shortened seven-game schedule in 2020, the Oregon State football team officially took to the Prothro Practice Fields on Tuesday morning in advance of a full-slate 2021 schedule.

- Compared to previous seasons, the Beavers are starting practices a little late as they usually kick off in early March, but with last season ending later than normal, the gap between the end of the season and the start of spring is relatively close to normal.

- The first thing that stood out to me was the energy that the entire team brought to practice. It's not uncommon to have a team super fired up on the first day of practice, but today seemed even more so. The Beavers seemed equal parts laser-focused and loose on day one as they looked like a team chock full of veteran experience that's capable of being able to push the envelope this season.

- Entering the fourth year of the Jonathan Smith-era, the Beavers will be looking to lay the groundwork for a successful 2021 campaign this spring. OSU came oh-so-close to a bowl appearance in 2019 and showed flashes of being able to take that next step in 2020, so there's no question what the expectation is for this group this year, and that's making the postseason for the first time since 2013.

- Starting with the quarterbacks... it's going to be an interesting spring competition between Chance Nolan, Ben Gulbranson & Sam Vidlak now that we know that Tristan Gebbia likely won't see much of the field during the spring session as he continues to rehab from his season-ending injury last November.