Cliff Kirkpatrick

The Oregon State football team wrapped up the week of practice for No. 4 Southern California on Thursday. The offensive workout looked a little sluggish, but coach Mike Riley felt it went well.

“It was good work today,” he said. “There was a lot of enthusiasum. We got a good week of practice. That’s all we can say about it. Now we have to go play.”

The weekly tradition of pumping crowd noise in on the last workout of the week continued, but it was a little louder than usual. The L.A. Memorial Coliseum will have more than 93,000 inside.

Injury news
Backup split end Geno Munoz has a hip-flexor injury and he may not make the trip to Southern California, Riley said.  Aaron Nichols, who’s the No. 3 slot back, will back up Damola Adeniji at split end.

Reserve offensive guard Colin Lyons went down with a knee injury this week. He had an MRI, and the severity isn’t known, yet.

Freshman receiver Micah Hatfield will be on crutches for six week from his broken leg suffered last week. His rehab will be long-term, Riley said.

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It easily topped 100 degrees in Corvallis on Tuesday, and you could feel every degree as it climbed throughout the day. So, while running errands around town I noticed it was the time in the afternoon when the Oregon State football players work out on their own.

With it being late in the summer and so blistering hot, I decided to swing by and see who the hardcore guys were. And there were a few.

Seven offensive linemen were doing their striking drills, led by C Alex Linnenkohl and OG Ryan Pohl. Young guys I recognized were Colin Kelly, Colin Lyons and Michael Philipp.

A group of six defensive players, who were influenced by DT Stephen Paea and his first love, were playing rugby. I noticed DT Latu Moala, CB Brandon Hardin and S Suaesi Tuimaunei. Former player Al Afalava was involved, too.

Players usually do this practice session after working out with the strength and conditioning coach earlier in the afternoon. So they deserve a shout out for their efforts as everything wilted around them.

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