Aug. 20, 2010

Oregon State football and its athletes continue to garner national attention this week. Yesterday afternoon rivals.com announced its Preseason All-America teams with three Beavers on the list, tying for the most (UCLA) in the Pacific-10 Conference.

Star defensive tackle Stephen Paea was selected as a first team All-American, while flanker James Rodgers earned second team and tailback Jacquizz Rodgers wrapped up third team honors.

Overall, the Pac-10 Conference tallied 15 players on the Rivals.com Preseason All-America teams, the most of any conference in the nation.

OSU also continues to add players to the various national award watch lists. Justin Kahut has been selected as a preseason member of the Lou Groza Award Watch List, which is presented to the nation's premier placekicker. In 2005, OSU's Alexis Serna won the Groza Award. Kahut, who has been the starting kicker for the Beavers for two years, is second to Serna on most of the school's records lists.

Head coach Mike Riley was questioned Friday about the quarterback situation and having Cody Vaz, a freshman, as the back-up. "We are very young at quarterback, but I don't know if in this situation, with a sophomore and three freshman, that I could be any more pleased. We've got four good arms. We've got four smart guys. We've got four very conscientious people. I love the (Vaz's) poise, he appears to be unflappable. He made some great throws in our scrimmage and I feel very confident in the guy."

The OSU offense focused on their `jumbo' package at the goal line with all kinds of variations including everything from Jacquizz Rodgers throwing a lead block for Ryan Katz to Colby Prince grabbing touchdown tosses. The offense also worked hard on the `Wild Beaver' (wildcat) formation, which was introduced to OSU fans midway through the 2009 season.

Highlights from Friday morning's action included:
• Freshman split end Obum Gwacham continues to make the most of his snaps. Today he made a nice play to come back to make a rolling catch for a ball thrown behind him. Gwacham has been working a lot with the second team with Darrell Catchings and Markus Wheaton sidelined by nagging injuries throughout most of fall camp.
• James Rodgers got wide open and Katz found him streaking down the field for a long gain.
• Colby Prince made a spectacular catch on a pass over the middle, reaching back to snare a ball off the top of a linebackers helmet, then turned upfield and ran away from the defense.

Friday is a bit of a break for the Beavers from the media. There is no national media scheduled for today, for the first time this week, but Jacquizz Rodgers is slated to appear on Fox Sports Radio Saturday at 12:15 p.m. The local media contingent was relatively small as well with Paul Buker from The Oregonian, Cliff Kirkpatrick of the Corvallis Gazette-Times and Bryan Salmond from KEZI-TV on hand. Buker chatted with Kevin Frahm, while KEZI focused on Cody Vaz.

Wide receivers Darrell Catchings (groin) and Geno Munoz (hamstring) along with running back Jovan Stevenson (shoulder) remain out of practice, while wide out Kevin Cummings (hip), who had a nice performance in Thursday's scrum, joined them on the sideline. Safety Cameron Collins was also out for the second practice in a row. Returning to the field was Brandon Hardin (quad) and Markus Wheaton (shoulder).

Friday is OSU's fourth double day with the evening practice beginning at 6:30 p.m. inside Reser Stadium. Saturday's practice is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Prothro Field.

 

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