PRACTICE REPORT: DAY 9 - Practices are Flying By
Aug. 16, 2011
CORVALLIS - Practices are flying by in more than one way. Head coach Mike Riley instituted a double huddle this fall to eliminate some of the time between plays during practice. The result has been that the veterans finish their portion of practice earlier, while still getting the necessary preparation, allowing more time for the young guys to work afterwards to get acclimated to the Oregon State playbook. “I like the work that we’re doing,” head coach Mike Riley said. “It’s quite a variety but it’s a pretty good pace. I don’t think practice drags and they’re working at it hard and we’re getting a lot of plays run.” As has been noted by the media, as well as here at osubeavers.com, several first year players are making a play for immediate playing time. Tuesday fans saw more of freshman running backs Malcolm Agnew and Storm Woods with the first and second teams than in previous practices. But Riley cautioned not to read too much into that. “All of these backs have a role on this team,” Riley said. “All of them could be on the travel squad for special teams. So we’re still evaluating them and preparing them to play.” Tuesday’s practice presented another stepping stone for James Rodgers. For the first time this fall Rodgers took reps in skelly drills. Although the exercise is designed as a touch drill, there is often plenty of contact as the offense and defense battle catches and interceptions and even Rodgers found himself in physical battles for the ball, which is surely a positive indication of his return to the field for the season. “That was a good step today,” Riley said. “He’s gone from individual work, to one-on-one, and now a little bit of skelly today and had to compete. I would say it’s just about building blocks and gaining confidence. He looks fast to me.” Monday night freshmen Tyrequek Zimmerman and Naji Patrick switched out their white shirts for black jerseys joining Peter Ashton, who made a similar move Saturday. Zimmerman, who was playing slotback, joined Ashton at safety last night and was already having to be reminded Tuesday to take it easy on his teammates. Meanwhile Patrick, who has shown tremendous athleticism on special teams coverage units, moved from running back to cornerback. Media in attendance Tuesday included Paul Buker, John Hunt and Joel Odom from The Oregonian, Cliff Kirkpatrick and Aaron Yost of the Corvallis Gazette-Times, Bryan Salmond and Jake Zivin from KEZI-TV, Brandon Sprague from Comcast Sports NW, Ron Callan from 860 AM (KPAM) and Mike Parker and Jon Warren from 1240 JOE RADIO. Practice resumes Wednesday for the third double day of the 2011 fall camp with the first practice scheduled for 8:30 a.m. and the second at 6:30 p.m. Follow Oregon State Athletics On YouTube.
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