Bryan Miller gets them warmed up for practice.
It was a quite day on the field for the Oregon State football for Day 1 of spring practice Tuesday inside the Truax Indoor Center. Here’s my full story in Wednesday’s GT.
However, there was plenty of news. Redshirt freshman DT Desmond Collins broke a bone in one of his feet playing basketball.
Collins was on crutches and already had surgery. Coach Mike Riley said he’ll be ready for the fall.
WR Tyler Trosin and DE Akeem Gonzales were suspended for violating team rules. This was hinted about before spring break since they are not on the Riley’s depth chart.
Previously suspended CBs Sean Martin (DUII), Malcolm Marable (excessive speeding) and Mishawn Cummings (team violations) were reinstated.
As for the practice, both Sean Mannion and Cody Vaz looked sharp, while WR Markus Wheaton and Brandin Cooks caught everything their way.
“I thought it was good give and take since it was pretty much vanilla the first day,” Riley said.
RB Terron Ward ran with the first string with Jordan Jenkins, Malcolm Agnew and Storm Woods filling out the depths. That depth chart just started were it ended last season.
“I thought they looked good, considering they weren’t going to get tackled today,” Riley said. “They stayed on their feet. We will have more information at the end of the spring. We might not have a final answer by then. We have a lot of good football player there. I don’t now who is going to step up and be great.”
DL coach Joe Seumalo oversees a special teams drill.
TE Caleb Smith didn’t look out of place, since he’s only supposed to be a senior in high school. The other player, LB Caleb Saulo, who wanted to graduate early didn’t make it in academically and will wait for the summer.
“You would not know he’s a senior in high school,” Riley said of Smith. “With 15 (spring) practices, a summer to work out and fall camp, I don’t know why he can’t be in the mix when we get to the games.”
Practice was three hours. It started early and went late. Many plays were run against air and backups. There was about 20 minutes of offense vs. defense.
Players didn’t have pads on, just helmets. Full pads go on Saturday.
“It was good movement,” Riley said. “There was a good vibe around and the enthusiasm is good. They were looking forward to it.”
Hear more about what Riley said to the media after practice in the above video.
26 comments
dunerat says:
Apr 3, 2012
Say what you want about the Coaches. When this team played Sac. St. last year, Sac. St. had more talent overall and was Coached better. Yes the Coaches are to blame for the Recruiting and Conditioning of this Team. Pettibone left Riley more talent than Riley had last year.
Brad says:
Apr 3, 2012
You really xxxxxx aren’t you?
Cliff Kirkpatrick says:
Apr 3, 2012
Please no getting personal with the posters. If you want to point out what you think is a misguided opinion, feel free.
Tagup says:
Apr 3, 2012
So what is the point of your post? We lost a horrible game to Sac State…get over it! This is the team and staff for next year..if you can’t support them fine, find another team. All the bitching in the world won’t change the past!
Bob says:
Apr 4, 2012
Dungrat…take a break.
floridabeav says:
Apr 4, 2012
Cliff:
No “shout out” to Obum? Does that mean he was dropping balls? Not running crisp routes? Not being thrown to? If that guy doesn’t see at least one fade to the corner of the end zone every game someone must be telling stories about his high jumping ability.
mike says:
Apr 4, 2012
I saw Obum make a catch in practice that was nfl’ish. The guy can jump-I have no clue why he keeps getting buried in the depth chart (I don’t go to all of the practices) but to not have him on the field seems kind of goofy.
Cliff-can you give some insight as to the burying of Agnew in the depth chart? Seemed like the biggest break away threat the team had last year.
Cliff Kirkpatrick says:
Apr 4, 2012
As for Agnew, they just put them in order of how the season ended and will see what happens by the end of practice. Things change.
Tagup says:
Apr 4, 2012
My take on Obum has been that he has a hard time getting off the line against press coverage….moving him to slot will go a long way to help him get free.
AndyPanda says:
Apr 4, 2012
Obum is in my observation still working on running the route as drawn up, and lacks the experience to adjust either the route or his execution to the circumstances he encounters, which makes it much easier for an even over-matched defender to disrupt him.
Completely different type of player, admittedly, but what was that quality that really made James Rodgers so good? His vision and ability to adjust on the fly allowed him to create an opportunity out of something that had otherwise turned into nothing.
That quality is what makes the difference between Obum being a matchup nightmare and not an available option.
Cliff Kirkpatrick says:
Apr 4, 2012
He was fine, just didn’t stand out like the veterans.
RenoNVbeavr says:
Apr 4, 2012
Losing Dez Collins, on paper, seems to be a blow. In terms of depth, I agree. There are too few bodies as it is and this is another loss of depth. However, the guy is listed at 269lbs for a DT. Who is he going to be pushing around on the opposing OL?!? Also, as for Obum, either TAGUP is right on the money and Obum cant separate off the LOS (at his size that will be a challenge but elite WR’s seem to do it) or the coaching staff is waaaaaaaaaay too locked into the primary WR’s (really Wheaton) to spread the ball around. Obum can High Jump 7’00″, which no DB in the conf (or CFB) can likely do. If he isnt getting at least 2-3 jump balls thrown his way then this coaching staff is completely inept.
Cliff Kirkpatrick says:
Apr 4, 2012
Obum was always a project. He was new to football when he arrived at OSU. He’s still learning the nuances, such as getting off the line.
And it’s the QB going to primary receivers. He has to read who is open. It’s up to the QB get the ball to the No. 2 or 3 guys, who are not Wheaton.
AndyPanda says:
Apr 4, 2012
“…the QB going to primary receivers. He has to read who is open.”
This is the problem with not really scrimmaging, even in practice, let alone a game situation, against a defense that is playing full speed. The primary receiver is almost always open in a passing drill against air or a defense told to let the qb make the throw.
Then gameday comes, and the opponent doesn’t follow the script.
bbb says:
Apr 4, 2012
reno-
good stuff as usual. to have any chance at a bowl (ppppffffrrrtttt) osu needs to go to almost a Texas Tech (under leach) offense. 3 seconds and the ball is out. throw it to everyone. put wheaton, cooks, obum, AND bishop on the field for at least 50% of the plays. everyone of those guys gets 6-8 balls thrown their way. spread the o-line splits out and get the occasional quick hit run play to keep the opposition honest.
that is a short term view of offensive success. or we have to believe in riley and suffer another season of sacks, ints, 0.5 yards up the middle runs and 1 to 4 wins.
Beavrob says:
Apr 4, 2012
Agreed, a 4 WR lineup featuring all these guys could be explosive. Until the O-line develops some effective run-blocking, OSU will be stuck being a pass-only threat, so they might as well utilize the best weapons at their disposal and run some 4 WR sets.
bbb says:
Apr 4, 2012
as per the norm (getting sick of this) we fail to recruit the DT position and guess where the injury bug bites. if this trend continues its possible osu will have a “practice” where we have a position unmanned. either that or we will have 1 string at said position. can we convert cooks from WR to DT. sure he is undersized but his speed could be effective. lol.
OSUSupporter says:
Apr 4, 2012
I feel less concerned about the DL only because the OL is so short staffed. Freshmen linemen dont normally contribute because the transition from blocking slow 200 lb HS players to engaging 300 lb speedy hulks every play is enormous. I have high hopes Seumalo will step up but we are THIN and can’t afford any injuries.
Fans are feeling ripped off that we don’t get a spring game when we look south and those other guys get 40K+ to theirspring game and it’s on ESPN. What can we do to elevate our program? Even WSU is more excited about their team with their new dynamic coach. We really have to do something!
OS_Beaver says:
Apr 4, 2012
State of Beaver Nation- The Good, the Bad, and how not to be Ugly
http://beaverbyte.com
OS_Beaver says:
Apr 4, 2012
At the link above check out the new mockup of what Reser will look very similar to this fall based off the plans an OSU insider saw and described. Checkered endzones should be used for 2012 rather than a stale repeat. You could still have text within them if you want.
oneoldbeav says:
Apr 4, 2012
Cliff, I saw this suggestion elsewhere and wonder if you can chime in. What would be involved in having open tryouts to bring in a few walk-on linemen (O and D)? These guys could have their chance at D1 ball and if they didn’t work out could be dropped later. Meanwhile there would be some, albeit minimal, benefit to the practice time of the current roster, might beat practicing against “air”.
Cliff Kirkpatrick says:
Apr 4, 2012
OSU typically does an annual school tryout, and sometimes gets someone.
However, that’s pretty rare.
The team is so thin, I might just ask Riley that at the next practice.
Beavrob says:
Apr 4, 2012
OSU always takes walk-ons, and they have been living off of walk-on O-linemen the last few years. 3 of the 8 healthy O-lineman are walk-ons. While I appreciate the efforts of those walk-ons past and present, the failure to recruit sufficient numbers of high-caliber O-linemen has really cost the Beavs, and IMO is one of the biggest reasons for their downturn the last couple of years. The coaching staff appears to have learned this lesson, thus the influx of 7 new O-linemen and a Top 5 recruiting ranking in this category.
oneoldbeav says:
Apr 4, 2012
Beavrob, I wasn’t pushing for walk-ons who would make the team unless they are exceptionally talented. Rather, I am thinking there are two or three students in the 230+lb range who have some HS experience and think they are pretty tough. The appeal would be more to get them to “help” the team rather than “make the squad”. I’d expect 90% of these guys to just gain braggin’ rights on campus for their participation.
Agreed, the Beavs have certainly had some disappointments with walk-ons and it is hard to understand why recruiting hasn’t been better.
dunerat says:
Apr 4, 2012
Hey, Its OK take your shot. I’m just being realistic, I don’t know what flavor of Kool-Aid some of you been drinking. I’ve been one of the few, telling most of you for a long time that we are stuck with Riley so get over it. I don’t know what team you guys have been following and watching for the last 4 or 5 years, but I’ve been watching OS closely. I think with all the praise you have had for this programs Coaching and Recruiting as of late, you have also been watching OSU. I figured it must be Oklahoma State University. Remember this team was a 2-10 team last year if Keith Price of Washington plays the whole game. Misguided opinion Cliff? Really? tell me how you really feel.
Tagup says:
Apr 5, 2012
I think most fans understand and agree that problems exist and need to be fixed. Pi$$ing and moaning about issues that have beed discussed over and over does nothing to improve or change the situation. I for one, am hopeful for the future with a pretty good bunch of recruits. This is a new and different team from previous years with a different mix of players… give them a chance to be successful!…….By the way,your Keith Price example doesn’t hold water…there are hundreds of things that “could have” happened that may have changed results both ways…that’s not being realistic, that’s just making up a scenerio to match your point of view! The fact is OSU won the game..