OSU’s first public scrimmage is in the books as Jonathan Smith and the Beavers make headlines at Mountainside High. BeaversEdge.com’s senior writer Brenden Slaughter breaks it all down in our nugget recap.
Quarterback
Quarterback
- The quarterback carousel continued at Mountainside High School as the Beavers had every quarterback with the exception of Nick Moore take reps. Jake Luton started off the 11-on-11 work and was followed by Conor Blount, Jack Colletto, and Aidan Willard.
- Luton was the best quarterback and the field today and it showed. He ran the offense with poise, precision, and leadership and really took the reigns of the team. Whether it was comforting Isaiah Hodgins after he was dinged up or being the first player in the autograph line, Luton is starting to make his mark on the team as a leader.
- Speaking of Luton, he connected with Kolby Taylor on two touchdown passes late in the live 11-on-11 and really appears to be growing a rapport with Taylor. Luton noted that Taylor is a guy who naturally finds the holes in the defense and that he’s becoming a very good target.
- In a bit of surprising QB news, Conor Blount was the second quarterback to take reps during the live work. I’ve had mixed feelings on Blount since he’s been at OSU, but today was by far and away the best he’s looked in practice in an OSU uniform. He made nearly all of his throws and his scrambling ability was perhaps his most impressive trait. His ability to extend plays with his feet really make him unique in this battle as none of the other quarterbacks can scramble and throw accurately on the run. Blount’s highlight was a touchdown fade pass to Isaiah Hodgins that was 100 percent on the money.
- Colletto and Willard received plenty of snaps, but didn’t particularly impress me. Both guys seemed a little tense today and didn’t seemed to be quite as poised as we’ve seen in regular practices. Colletto was the better of the two today and showed some nice flashes, but it appears this race is starting to perhaps thin out. Monday’s practice will tell us a lot about the position moving forward.
- This group was a lot of fun to watch today! With it being a scrimmage, naturally the pads were popping and the running back corps brought the lumber today as they played with a swagger as they looked for contact.
- Calvin Tyler, BJ Baylor, Artavis Pierce, Hunter Mattison and Christian Wallace all took reps in the backfield and all showed their stuff.
- In terms of scheme, it appears that the Beavers and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren want to get their running backs in space given their speed and shiftiness. Gone are power backs Ryan Nall and Thomas Tyner, so the Beavers might be shifting towards running between the tackles and that would follow the mold that Lindgren had in Colorado with Phillip Lindsay and Smith with Gaskin at Washington.
- Artavis Pierce hasn’t gotten a lot of headlines this spring with his limited reps, but he showcased why he’s going to be OSU’s starter come fall. His blend of speed, footwork, and hands make him a complete player and I’m excited to see what he can do with the opportunity to be the featured running back.
- Christian Wallace started on the defensive side before finishing the day on offense and he continued to impress. He earned oohs and aahs from the orange-clad crowd for his power running style where he simply ran through defenders. The way that he kept churning his legs to muscle through contact for the extra yard was particularly impressive and it’s still a question to me as to why this change didn’t happen quicker.
- The wide receiver unit was a mixed bag today as there were good performances and some that could use some work. The MVP of the receiving corps was Kolby Taylor as he snagged two red zone touchdown passes from Luton and controlled the ball through the contact much to the delight of his fellow teammates.
- Isaiah Hodgins had a scary moment today when he caught a touchdown pass from Conor Blount, he came down very awkwardly on his left shoulder and was in a significant amount of pain for 15-20 mins. Once his pads were removed, he was iced and continued to support his team from the sideline. He signed autographs for the fans post-practice leading me to believe that he’ll be alright, but it’s something to keep an eye on moving forward.
- Arex Flemings continues to be a hot target for the various quarterbacks as he was involved in a lot of action today. He looked most at home when the Beavers were running their trademarked “fly sweep” with him but struggled with consistency with his hands. He dropped several catchable balls and had a hard time hanging onto punts as well. Flemings still has a lot of work to do to be a regular contributor, but early returns are promising.
- With Noah Togiai and Tuli Wily-Matagi not practicing this spring, many younger tight ends are getting reps and because of that, the tight ends didn’t really figure into the equation today other than being pass and run blockers. No one in the unit tallied a catch today and reps seemed limited.
- Tight ends are going to be a big part of Smith and Lindgren’s offense but with Togiai and Wily-Matagi coming back in fall camp, they probably feel very good about where they are at. Plus they have a very good position coach in Mike Riley to coach them up so I wouldn’t worry about this group.
- The first team offensive line looked like this today: Blake Brandel-LT, Gus Lavaka-LG, Sumner Houston-C, Yanni Demogerontas-RG, and Trent Moore-RT. This unit is a little more diverse than past groups over the past two weeks, but it’s still pretty arbitrary to put much emphasis on the line at this point since OSU is rotating 15 guys for five spots.
- The emphasis from the line today was on double-teaming the nose tackle. Offensive line coach Jim Michalczik was preaching that the Beavers needed to be fundamentally sound to handle OSU’s pass rush.
- In addition, the Beavers worked a lot on the pulling of offensive linemen in run-blocking schemes. Usually the center and either the left guard or right guard pulled to the opposite side and led blocked for the various RB’s.
- The defensive line was a nice surprise today as they haven’t made many headlines this spring, but they sure did on Saturday. Kalani Vakameilalo, Elu Aydon, Jeromy Reichner, Isaac Garcia, and Isaac Hodgins teamed up to wreck some havoc on OSU’s offensive line. When you combine those guys with the Hybrid play of Kee Whetzel and Hamilcar Rashed, the Beavers have an imposing front line. They’ll need more time together to grow rapport, but the line is shaping up to be nicer than people might think.
- The communication on the line was also key today. Multiple times Aydon and Vakameilalo were helping the younger players get into position and were offering tips and advice etc. Both of those guys told BeaversEdge earlier this week that they want to be vocal leaders and it appears they are.
- Like the offensive line, the linebacking corps is a lot of heavy rotation. The starting group appeared to be Whetzel, Jonathan Willis, Shemar Smith and Doug Taumoelau with others mixed in at various points.
- The bottom line with this group is that they are going to be physical. They have made it clear to us in interviews and in their style of play that they are going to make their opponent feel them. Linebackers coach Trent Bray instills a grit and a swagger in his linebackers that really intimidate opponents (Michael Doctor, DJ Alexander, Caleb Saulo, etc.) and Bray is really taking the time to teach this group his style of play.
- Prior to the start of 11-on-11 work secondary coach Greg Burns was preaching physicality to his players and clearly they got the message as the DB’s absolutely laid the lumber on several offensive players.
- Deshon Wilson brought the thunder today as he had two massive hits that might have been the highlight of practice. The first was a hit on Artavis Pierce that knocked AP backwards which given AP’s physical upper body and momentum is extremely hard to do. The second was on Christian Wallace who fumbled the ball as a result of the hit. Wilson reminds me of Al Afalava in a lot of ways and plays the game very physically. Burns was asking for toughness from his guys and Wilson delivered enough for the whole team on Saturday.
- Nothing new to report in terms of first or second teamers as the Beavers continue to rotate younger players to get them much needed reps. Today Justin Gardner and Isaiah Dunn led the way at the corner spots while Jalen Moore, Jeffrey Manning, and Trajon Cotton locked down the rest of the back end.
