In the race for the starting QB spot, Nate Costa started out slow in practice as he struggled in the first set of 11 on 11 action. Costa threw multiple incomplete passes and two interceptions with one each going to Marvin Johnson and Casey Matthews, both sophomores. Costa finished the day of nicely and even redemed himself in 11 on 11 action near the end of practice. Costa hit Jaison Williams for a 70 yard TD pass where onlookers got a chance to the Senior Williams blow past two year starter Walter Thurmond III that left Thurmond on the ground and Williams heading to the end zone all by himself. Costa hit him perfect in stride and Williams was able to keep pace all 70 yards. Sophomore Justin Roper showed poise and maturity however he didn't make any breath taking passes or any major mistakes. Harper and Thomas both showed they fit the billing they recieved coming out of high school. Both freshmen showed however that they are just that, freshmen with each throwing a interception and not throwing the ball as accurate as offensive coordinator Chip Kelly would like.
JC transfer LeGarreette Blount showed his brute strength and agility breaking multiple tackles and then showing his vision and speed as he cut back and broke away from the pack multiple times. Its becoming more clear after every practice that Blount will be a play maker for the Ducks this coming fall. Andre Crenshaw and Remene Alston ran hard throughout practice and showed they have improved on their vision as well as they were very shifty in traffic between the tackles as they both churned out a few 8 or more yard gains.
Midway through the second week of practice its clear that Freshmen Darrion Weems is grossly out of shape as he is continuing to battle fatigue and trying to stick with the pack. Senior Fenuki Tupou and Sophomore Bo Thran were also held out of practice from the offensive line for other minor injuries.
A common theme among this year's spring practices has been the hard work mentality from the coaches and players and yet it seems everyone is enjoying being out there together and pushing each other to become better as an individual and as a team.
Its common to hear players from the offensive unit trash talking with the defense and trying to rattle the defender while pumping up the offensive player that is competing. The defense will quickly rise to the challenge, and when the defense makes a stop against the offense you will quickly hear them letting the offense know who won.
The coaches are now even getting into the action on a regular basis. Defensive Line coach Michael Gray was seen multiple times trash talking in a fun way with Jeremiah Johnson as they watched an offense vs defense drill that simulated down field blocking for the offense and shedding blocks and making a tackle for the defense. Johnson was quick to remind Gray that they even the QBs were deadly as Roper and Harper both made great cuts were not taken down.
All in all the practice resembled ones in the past week in that it was all work while they were out there and yet finding ways to enjoy playing the game. Fans and media were not the only ones out to watch the Ducks go through another great practice today however. Top QB recruit Tate Forcier from southern California who has close to 30 offers to date according to both Rivals.com and Scout.com was on hand and met with all the coaches throughout the practice while observing the aspects of the Ducks spread offense attack and more importantly the quarterbacks. It looked like Tate Forcier was enjoying himself and even had a long converstaion with Head Coach Mike Bellotti during the middle of practice.
Current Oregon commit for the 2010 class Curtis White was once again in attendance along with his teammate in the 2010 class RB Brandon Abene. There was also a few kids from South Eugene watching the practice from the sidelines along with another unknown recruit with his high school coach.
Here are a few other photos taken by our staff.
1 comment:
Thanks for the report, but please slow down the slideshow!
Post a Comment