Cliff Kirkpatrick

The tight end as an offensive weapon could make the difference in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The Oregon State football team uses sophomore Joe Halahuni and BYU has senior Dennis Pitta.

Halahuni has come on this season as a reliable receiving option for QB Sean Canfield. He caught 34 passes for 474 yards and three touchdowns, and is fourth on the team in receiving.

“Whenever you have a tight end who is effective, that enhances a lot what you do,” coach Mike Riley said. “That’s a key to balancing our offense.”

Pitta leads BYU in receiving with 57 catches for 784 yards and seven touchdowns. The Cougars often split him out as a wide receiver to create a mismatch with a linebacker out of position.

“He’s going to be the best tight end we’ll see all year,” LB Keaton Kristick said. “It’s going to be a challenge.”

BYU has the advantage in the tight end area because of Pitta and how he’s used. Pitta is the team’s all-time tight end leader in career receiving yards (2,856) and receptions (216).

SI.com, CBSSports.com, Sporting News and Rivals.com named him a first-team all-American this season.

“He’s among the best tight ends to play at BYU,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “And that says a lot with the tradition of that position at BYU.”

Check out my story in Thursday’s GT here. It’s the QB comparison between OSU’s Canfield and BYU’s Max Hall. And the Beavers spread some Christmas cheer here.

Tweet This Post 

DT Brennan Olander (ACL sprain) and TE Brady Camp (shoulder sprain) didn’t practice Monday with the Oregon State football team, but coach Mike Riley said they’ll be ready by the Dec. 3 Civil War.

“Good news on both,” Riley said. “I wouldn’t say they are 100 percent, but it’s above the doubtful stage. I think by the weekend we’ll have a good picture of those guys being able to play in the game.”

TE Joe Halahuni (thumb sprain) was out, but he expects to be ready after Thanksgiving when the team gets back from the break.

“He said it will be all right by Saturday when we come back to practice,” Riley said. “He said it’s a lot better than yesterday.”

Overall, it was a spirited practice. The first-team offense and defense went against each other early in the practice. Then Oregon prep started.

“I liked it,” Riley said. “I was really impressed. It was business-like, but they were jumping around pretty good. If we can have a couple days like this and then get on to the weekend when they get back, and continue with this, that will be good.”

The Beavers may have used the most orange jerseys for the scout team ever with 12 for 10 positions, six on offense and four on defense. A player wearing orange means they are a specific player the team is worried about.

“It might be,” Riley said of if it’s a record. “With what they are doing, it might be.”

Tweet This Post 

The emergence of Joe Halahuni for the Oregon State football only highlights the development of the tight ends. He’s getting most the catches and the attention, but a good group of players are in the TE/H-back roles.

Halahuni has 28 receptions for 418 yards and two TDs. The other TEs, Brady Camp and Howard Croom, have combined for five receptions for 34 yards.

“Joe is becoming a real threat, a real weapon,” TE coach Robin Ross said. “And he’s getting even better.”

Camp is technically the starter due to his run and pass blocking ability. That comes first for the Beavers.

However, you’ll remember him for catching the TD pass from RB Jacquizz Rodgers out the Wild Beaver formation. Camp caught another floating pass from QB Sean Canfield earlier in the year.

“Brady has continued to improve as the season has gone on,” Ross said. “He has made some big plays.”

Croom was the starter the last two years, but a concussion in training camp allowed Camp to establish himself. However, Croom is still getting plenty of playing time.

The Beavers use one, two and three TEs on various plays. Croom is blocking more than going out on a passing route now.

“Howard has done a nice job in his role, and the tight end is a role position,” Ross said. “We try to utilize what they do best. Howard gets as many reps as Joe gets. All three play significantly and do a great job for us. They add to the offense in running and throwing the ball.”

The tight ends have to get along to share the playing time. That’s been the case with the Beavers.

“Brady and I were talking recently that we have the tightest position on the team, for sure,” Croom said. “We are all good friends.”

As for the future, the Beavers have set it up that there will be at least one player at every grade level next season.

Senior John Reese redshirted this season. There wasn’t going to be enough playing time for four TEs, and he wanted another year of education.

“It was a win-win for everybody,” Ross said. “John gets more eduction and refines his skills on the scout team. There’s nothing like that. That will help develop him and get real competition in the spring.”

Reese will be an experienced senior next season. He can block, but is more of a receiver. Camp will be a senior and Halahuni a junior.

Colby Prince is being developed. He’ll be a third-year sophomore. The Beavers also have a commitment from TE Tyler Perry from Ventura, Calif.

TV blackout
Since there will be no TV coverage for Saturday’s game, be sure to check out my blog throughout the day of the game. I’ll be updating before, during and after. And you can follow along at twitter.com/cliffgt. You’ll be able to keep up with me dealing with the elements, and more.

Roster update
Backup RB Ryan McCants (sick) is on the trip to Washington State. The Beavers hope he feels better so he can play by Saturday. He figures to play a lot against the Cougars. UPDATE: I just got a call, and McCants is not on the trip. My source was mistaken earlier. So, expect Jovan Stevenson to get a lot work.

LB Kevin Unga (groin) is out. He’s being replaced on the travel roster by S Anthony Watkins, who just recovered from a shoulder injury.

Tweet This Post