Cliff Kirkpatrick

The 2009 seniors together one last time.
LAS VEGAS – Sunday was a time for Oregon State football players to congratulate each other, begin the goodbyes and take pictures – many pictures.

Players in various positions groups took photos together, support personnel who grew close to some of the athletes took photos and there were photos of the seniors taken together.

The Beavers completed their final full practice of the season. It was a two-our workout to prepare for Tuesday’s Las Vegas Bowl. Only a light walkthrough at Sam Boyd Stadium remains.

“I liked it,” coach Mike Riley said. “I think it was another good one. The game is getting close, so that’s good.”

Riley didn’t leave anything out of the practice plan, and offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh demanded the usual precision.

However, there was some emotion attached to the final practices of the season, and for some their career.

“It’s crazy,” senior WR Damola Adeniji said. “A year ago we were at the Sun Bowl sending off our seniors off. It’s crazy how fast it goes by. But now it feels good for me. It’s an accomplishment.”

Coaches enjoyed working with these players because they were good to work with. There were no thugs or divas.

Being a lower-level bowl doesn’t matter to them, or that a 24-hour playground surrounds them. This is a very professional and mature group that wants to take care of business.

“We’ve had enough time to get our minds ready,” Adeniji said. “We feel good and confident about it. Practice has gone very well since we’ve been down here. It was the best bowl practice we’ve ever had since I’ve been here.”

As for the media, it’s a far cry from 2005 when stories were easy to find. All I had to do was check the police blotter.

So what are these guys doing until game time?

“Rest and get off our feet,” Adeniji said. “We’ll do some team things and just play our game.”

New OSU Beavers gloves.

Dead bird
Someone placed a dead bird that was laying around the field in OG Gregg Peat’s helmet before practice. It got the desired response from Peat .

He picked it up and threw it at people who he thought could be responsible. OT Michael Philipp unjustly received most of his wrath because he was a freshman walking by.

Health report
CB Brandon Hardin (knee) didn’t have an issue today from yesterday’s hard fall. There were no other lingering injuries for the game. We just have to watch Peat to see if he get any diseases from the dead bird.

Video report
Check out the below video of WR James Rodgers talking about his brother, their relationship and other things. The sound gets bad in the middle because heavy equipment was being moved nearby.

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Related posts:

1. Cliff: Final practice update
2. Cliff: Back to practice, recruiting notes
3. Final bowl practice
4. Sun Bowl practice No. 3
5. Spring practice, Day 7