The Beaver offense looked a tad sluggish Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t their fault.
The Beaver defense came to play.
The OSU football team scrimmaged Saturday afternoon, without officials. It looked like they had some of the equipment staff ran out there with whistles. While today was the first day of live tackling, the players kept themselves in check and made sure not to hurt each other.
“We’re all competing for a spot, but we are also trying to win games as a team,” redshirt sophomore Aaron Nichols said.
The action was broken up into three separate scrimmages. There were 20+ plays each of first down situations, third downs and red zone opportunities.
The defense shined and intercepted passes, batted down balls and gave the Beaver offense a case of the hiccups.
Lyle Moevao, who has looked sharp all fall, had a tough day under center because the defensive backfield was going to town. Keenan Lewis, Al Afalava and Brandon Hughes all had great afternoons.
Moevao did connect with Sammie Stroughter for a long TD during one scrimmage rep. It looked like a deep post pattern with a blown coverage.
Speaking of wide receivers, freshman Keynan Parker moved from WR to CB – a la Brandon Hughes. With four freshman at WR in camp the move helps break up the crowd and fills the CB position.
“He brought it up first,” Riley told reporters. “But in my mind for a long time I though he could be a three-way player. He could be a receiver, a runner and a corner. He has never been a corner, but he has that frame and that speed. And also, a great awareness about playing. You can’t play that position without all those things. I think he can be like a Brandon Hughes.”
Ryan McCants and Jaquizz Rodgers had a good afternoon. Quizz two-stepped the entire defense on one play and nearly shook the crowd of over 100 out of their seats. “The Quizz kid” moves faster than his offensive line can set blocks at times. On a few plays he would receive the hand off and be in the hole before it would be opened.
As Always, picture gallery included – here – enjoy.
I also had a chance to take in OSU volleyball practice for a while. Fall camp opened today for the team and practice wasn’t anything too crazy. Mostly the women were shaking the rust off. The freshman look good and the triple threat of Bree Knitter, Lexie Rathegeber and Rachel Rourke is still frightening.
The team was picked 9th in the Pac-10 and may have some surprising wins this season.
Its awesome how much more attention I get from the opposite sex now that I own a Challenger!
(Editor’s note: I know this is spam, but it was too good to pass up.)