With Oregon’s fall training camp now completed, head coach Willie Taggart wants to see his team begin to consistently string together “better” practices. Much of fall camp was dedicated to evaluating which players would start and which still needed work. Now that that’s decided, and now that Oregon’s season officially begins in three days, Taggart wants to see his team consistently practice like he knows they can.
This week was a good start.
“I thought yesterday was one of our better practices,” Taggart said. “I was really impressed with our energy, our communication, and then our execution of the plays. It should be that way. We’ve had a week to run these plays and not it’s just trying to be sharper with them.”
As Oregon switches its routine from the training camp schedule to game week preparation, players seem to be responding well. Taggart said he liked what he’s seen from his players since they began preparing for Southern Utah.
“I think here lately, once we’ve kind of locked into our opponent, you’ve been seeing those consistent practices that we’ve been wanting,” Taggart said. “Right now, going into the season, I like where our guys are and the way they’ve been practicing.”
Defense ready to prove itself
Oregon’s tune-up versus Southern Utah on Saturday will give some insight into what Oregon’s defense will look like this season. Defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt has worked on implementing his new 3-4 scheme since the spring. We’ll not only get our first look at that on Saturday but also a handful of new faces as well. Six true freshmen appear on Oregon’s two deep depth chart that was released Monday, including two — nose guard Jordon Scott and corner Thomas Grahan Jr. — who will be starting.
While Southern Utah is essentially getting paid $500,000 to get beaten by the Ducks, Leavitt won’t overlook any opponent.
“They do a lot of things well,” he said. “They do a lot of formations, a lot of motions. They’ve got two quarterbacks who can throw the ball very well. Got a real good running back. Got an offensive center that’s tremendous with the rest of the line; you’ve got a junior college transfer at right tackle; they’ve got good tight ends; very good receivers; they’re a pretty good football team.”
Leavitt may just be being courteous here — ESPN lists an Oregon victory at over 98 percent — but that doesn’t mean Oregon will do anything different. Whatever approach Oregon deploys on Saturday, expect that to remain similar throughout the season.
“We’re not trying to fool anybody or anything,” Leavitt said. “Most people kind of have an idea about what we’re going to try and do. We’ve just got to work hard at doing it.”
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Practice Report: Taggart says practice becoming more consistent, defense ready to prove itself
Gus Morris
August 29, 2017
With Oregon’s fall training camp now completed, head coach Willie Taggart wants to see his team begin to consistently string together “better” practices. Much of fall camp was dedicated to evaluating which players would start and which still needed work. Now that that’s decided, and now that Oregon’s season officially …
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