The Beavers returned to Prothro Practice Fields on Tuesday in preparation for their Saturday night showdown against Minnesota. BeaversEdge.com was in Corvallis and Brenden Slaughter has all of the most newsworthy nuggets from practice.
-Backup quarterback Darell Garretson made his debut against Portland State rushing for 29 yards and a touchdown on six designed carries. Despite one fumble that led to a PSU touchdown, offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven was pleased with how Garretson came in and ran the offense. He also noted that he and the coaching staff like using Garretson in certain packages and that it will continue throughout the season.
-The defense was once again the focal point of practice in my opinion. The defense was being vocally coached heavily by Chad Kauha'aha'a and Kevin Clune. For an OSU defense that has allowed over 1000 yards of total offense through two games, the Beaver coaches need to pull out all of the stops to fix this unit.
-In terms of injury news, Titus Failauga was dressed in pads but did not partake in practice. He had his right leg heavily taped. Seth Collins who was upgraded to doubtful in today’s injury report was doing individual work on the side with coach Kerry Taylor. Collins was dressed in pads but didn’t partake in any drills in the portion of practice open to the media. Cornerback Xavier Crawford was in a red no-contact jersey for the duration of practice. It didn’t appear to be limiting him in any fashion.
-Former wide-receiver Hunter Jarmon made an appearance at practice today. Today was the first time that I’ve seen him since he decided to pursue a career in the MLB. He was sporting a dark blue San Diego Padres shirt while watching his former teammates in practice.
-In terms of the defense, they are still showing a very good pass rush during practice. I sound like a broken record when it comes to how much I’ve said that, but it’s true. Today, Hamilcar Rashed was in the backfield before the scout team quarterback (Conor Blount or Aidan Willard) could have time to go through their progressions. Plus, the defensive line was extremely sound in tackling on the edges as well. There were multiple times where Paisa Savea and Baker Pritchard were able to use swim moves on the LT and RT respectively and make a play on the ball carrier to knock him backwards for a loss or no gain on the play. This information has to be taken with a grain of salt given that this is against the scout team offense, but the Beavers are showing the ability to be the defense that many pundits thought they would be coming into the season. Andersen said during his press conference on Monday that he thought the Beavers were just a few adjustments away from being a good defense and I think there is some merit to that. Minnesota presents one of the most lethal 1-2 punches at running back this weekend and the Beavers will need to be much better against the run if they want to make a bowl game this season.
-In terms of offense, it was mostly the same stuff that we’ve been seeing all along. Jake Luton was the No. 1 quarterback, while Garretson came in to establish a more rushing based attack. Luton was particularly sharp in the RPO game today as he was able to get the ball out wide to playmakers like Calvin Tyler, Ryan Nall, and Thomas Tyner and let them do their thing in space. We haven’t too much of the RPO’s during OSU’s first two games and I think they will be employing it a lot more during Minnesota as I believe the Beavers have a speed advantage on the Gophers.
-In terms of several position changes, Jonathan Willis moved to middle linebacker today while Shemar Smith will be starting on the outside.
Blake Brandel interview
Kevin McGiven interview
-Backup quarterback Darell Garretson made his debut against Portland State rushing for 29 yards and a touchdown on six designed carries. Despite one fumble that led to a PSU touchdown, offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven was pleased with how Garretson came in and ran the offense. He also noted that he and the coaching staff like using Garretson in certain packages and that it will continue throughout the season.
-The defense was once again the focal point of practice in my opinion. The defense was being vocally coached heavily by Chad Kauha'aha'a and Kevin Clune. For an OSU defense that has allowed over 1000 yards of total offense through two games, the Beaver coaches need to pull out all of the stops to fix this unit.
-In terms of injury news, Titus Failauga was dressed in pads but did not partake in practice. He had his right leg heavily taped. Seth Collins who was upgraded to doubtful in today’s injury report was doing individual work on the side with coach Kerry Taylor. Collins was dressed in pads but didn’t partake in any drills in the portion of practice open to the media. Cornerback Xavier Crawford was in a red no-contact jersey for the duration of practice. It didn’t appear to be limiting him in any fashion.
-Former wide-receiver Hunter Jarmon made an appearance at practice today. Today was the first time that I’ve seen him since he decided to pursue a career in the MLB. He was sporting a dark blue San Diego Padres shirt while watching his former teammates in practice.
-In terms of the defense, they are still showing a very good pass rush during practice. I sound like a broken record when it comes to how much I’ve said that, but it’s true. Today, Hamilcar Rashed was in the backfield before the scout team quarterback (Conor Blount or Aidan Willard) could have time to go through their progressions. Plus, the defensive line was extremely sound in tackling on the edges as well. There were multiple times where Paisa Savea and Baker Pritchard were able to use swim moves on the LT and RT respectively and make a play on the ball carrier to knock him backwards for a loss or no gain on the play. This information has to be taken with a grain of salt given that this is against the scout team offense, but the Beavers are showing the ability to be the defense that many pundits thought they would be coming into the season. Andersen said during his press conference on Monday that he thought the Beavers were just a few adjustments away from being a good defense and I think there is some merit to that. Minnesota presents one of the most lethal 1-2 punches at running back this weekend and the Beavers will need to be much better against the run if they want to make a bowl game this season.
-In terms of offense, it was mostly the same stuff that we’ve been seeing all along. Jake Luton was the No. 1 quarterback, while Garretson came in to establish a more rushing based attack. Luton was particularly sharp in the RPO game today as he was able to get the ball out wide to playmakers like Calvin Tyler, Ryan Nall, and Thomas Tyner and let them do their thing in space. We haven’t too much of the RPO’s during OSU’s first two games and I think they will be employing it a lot more during Minnesota as I believe the Beavers have a speed advantage on the Gophers.
-In terms of several position changes, Jonathan Willis moved to middle linebacker today while Shemar Smith will be starting on the outside.
Blake Brandel interview
Kevin McGiven interview
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