THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, APRIL 18, 2021 B3
COLLEGE FOOTBALL | OREGON STATE BEAVERS
Defense steps up in 1st spring scrimmage
BY NICK DASCHEL
The Oregonian
Jonathan Smith is a former
quarterback and a veteran of-
fensive coach, but the Oregon
State coach knows it will take
both sides of the ball for the
Beavers to prosper in 2021.
Following Saturday’s first
extended scrimmage of the
spring, it was noteworthy the
first specific thing to emerge
from Smith’s post-practice
comments was defense.
The Beavers’ defense has
slowly emerged during its
three years under Smith, but
still has some work to do to
become a difference maker. Is
that day coming in Septem-
ber?
“Defensively, they made it
hard. Guys were flying around
and made some plays,” Smith
said. “A lot of them have
been around. We’re bigger
and stronger. They know the
scheme and they’re tackling
physical.”
One defensive emphasis
this spring is improving the
takeaway total, an OSU weak-
ness for years. Smith said cor-
nerback Rejzohn Wright and
linebacker Michael Erhart
had interceptions during the
scrimmage.
Smith said there’s been
progress on the takeaway
front through six spring prac-
tices.
“We’re playing more physi-
cal defensively. I liked watch-
ing them live tackle today.
There’s a lot of physical tack-
les,” he said.
“We’ve made a point of that
(because) that’s how you cre-
ate some turnovers to getting
the ball out just being phys-
ical.”
The position group that
has the most opportunity
and competition is defensive
secondary, where the Bea-
vers look to replace a pair of
starting cornerbacks and cre-
ate depth for the often-used
nickel package.
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Oregon High Desert Storm head coach Keith Evans blows his whistle to
start a drill during practice at the Deschutes County fairgrounds Friday.
Storm
Continued from B1
Leon Neuschwander/For The Oregonian/TNS file
Oregon State defensive back Jaydon Grant (3) comes down with an interception against Washington State
in the 2020 Pac-12 football season opener in Corvallis in November. Grant has been a standout in spring
practice for a defense that is looking to force more turnovers.
Wright, Alex Austin and
terbacks saw plenty of ac-
Kansas transfer Elijah Jones
tion during the 100-plus play
are among the
scrimmage. He
“We’re playing estimated sec-
corners who have
caught Smith’s eye.
fresh-
more physical ond-year
“It’s getting to
man Ben Gul-
the point where we defensively. We’ve branson and
feel like we might
third-year sopho-
made a point of more Chance No-
have three or four
starting corners,
that (because) lan took about 30
and finding the
snaps each with
that’s how you the starting unit.
first two up will be
interesting,” Smith
Each has a year of
create some
said.
training in OSU’s
As for the safety
offense, and Smith
turnovers to
and nickel posi-
said it’s showing.
getting the ball They’re throw-
tions, Smith noted
junior Jaydon
out just being ing the ball well,
Grant is “having a
though Smith said
physical.”
great spring ball,”
given the high
while sophomore
number of receiv-
Kitan Oladapo and — Jonathan Smith, ers the Beavers are
Oregon State
Wynston Russell
running through
football coach
were emerging
drills, it doesn’t al-
playmakers.
ways look crisp.
Smith said the three quar-
Smith singled out true
“The next time I have
an opportunity to step
between those lines I’m
going to make the most
of it and I’m coming with
everything I have.”
NFL Draft
Continued from B1
“I’ve been dreaming about
this moment since I was a lit-
tle kid running around the
house with a helmet, hitting
the couch,” Jackson said after
two dozen scouts watched his
solo act.
“It was a really good turn-
out for one guy,” Jackson said.
“I’m grateful they all showed
up and I got to put on a show
for them.”
Pro days took on added
significance this spring with
the NFL scouting combine
scrapped and team visits pro-
hibited because of the coro-
navirus.
“It definitely would have
been cool to go out to Indy,
get that weeklong experience
of what the combine is like,
just watching that as a kid all
the time,” Sherman said.
The combine allowed teams
to get timely medical reports
and allowed for uniform test-
freshman quarterback Sam
Vidlak for his ability to create
and finish some plays during
the scrimmage.
As for injury updates, start-
ing center Nathan Eldridge is
probably out for the rest of the
spring because of wrist injury
to his snapping hand. Smith
said it’s possible they might
give Eldridge some action
elsewhere toward the end of
camp. Linebacker Avery Rob-
erts (arm) is involved in light
drills, but isn’t participating in
scrimmages or live tackling.
More than anything, Smith
is happy to see sunshine fol-
lowing a pandemic-riddled
year where things were often
gloomy.
“It was almost 80 degrees
out there. Felt awesome.
Spring is coming,” Smith said.
“Football is getting back to
normalcy.”
Jones was not sure if he
would play another season, but
Evans asked if he had one more
left in him.
“It is one thing to have a
lot of good players, but it is
another thing to bring it all
together and have everyone
working on the same wave-
length and towards the same
goal,” said Jones. “I can of-
fer the experience of going
through camp, letting guys
know that they have to con-
tinue to work hard, and play
with consistency.”
A small handful of play-
ers have played ball together.
But for many of these players,
this is the first time they have
played arena league football or
have been to Oregon. A small
group of players got to expe-
rience a uniquely Oregon ex-
perience within the first day of
being in the state.
While driving with a cou-
ple of players, assistant general
manager Nick Moss stopped
at a gas station to refuel. The
players in the car were caught
off guard, even shocked, a gas
attendant came to the car to
pump the gas, said Moss.
The chance to play profes-
sional football brought Wil-
liam Crest to Central Oregon
from the east coast. Crest is a
Baltimore native and played
his college football at West Vir-
ginia and most of his knowl-
edge of Oregon comes from
from following the University
of Oregon football program.
He never got the chance
to play for the Ducks, but is
“We got 18 practices before
we go to Idaho, and the goal
is to get that win.”
— Keith Evans, Oregon High
Desert Storm head coach
happy to finally make it to the
west coast.
“You always hear about the
Oregon program so much
and I wanted to go there,” said
Crest. “But Oregon is lovely.
I’m grateful to be here and
grateful for the people who in-
vested in me. Now I’m going to
invest into this community and
this state.”
Less than three weeks away
from their first game, the
Storm must narrow down the
roster to 21 active players who
will suit up for games. While
currently on the team for train-
ing camp, there is still no guar-
antee that they will land on the
active roster. But players are ex-
cited for the chance to compete
and continue the game they
have played most of their lives.
“This is an opportunity for
me to get back in the game,”
said Crest. “I want to be an as-
set to this team.”
For Jones, playing his final
season, he wants to end his
arena career the same way he
started it — with a champion-
ship.
“I love the game, I breathe
the game, I miss the game,
been training for months for
this,” said Jones. “I decided to
go out on that limb and try and
win another championship and
go out the right way.”
Reporter: 541-383-0307,
brathbone@bendbulletin.com
— Oregon offensive tackle
Penei Sewell
Andy Nelson/The (Eugene) Register-Guard, file
Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell.
ing and timing of prospects,
who could see how they
stacked up against their peers
in their draft class and even
historically. That wasn’t the
case this year.
Teams had to send scouts,
coaches and general managers
across the country for any of
the 103 college pro days that
Vasha Hunt/AP file
Auburn linebacker K.J. Britt lines up against Alabama State in Au-
burn, Alabama, in 2018.
replaced this year’s combine
in Indianapolis. Teams also
weren’t allowed private film
sessions, workouts, or din-
ners with prospects. That left
Zoom calls and all-star games,
and ratcheted up the pressure
on pro days.
“Not being able to actually
meet or see them in person
until you get here, yeah, it’s
nerve-racking,” Oklahoma
State receiver Tylan Wallace
said at his pro day.
“I would say there was a lit-
tle bit more pressure on us be-
cause this was our only inter-
view for the job,” said Auburn
receiver Anthony Schwartz.
Pro days past often served
as a mulligan for a poor show-
ing at the combine.
“So, with pro day being the
one shot for everything this
year, I feel like it just added a
lot of pressure for everybody,”
said Oklahoma edge rusher
Ronnie Perkins.
Dozens of prospects such as
Colorado State’s Jackson also
had something extra to prove
after opting out of the 2020
season because of COVID-19.
Unless they played in the Se-
nior Bowl, their pro days
marked their only chance to
knock off the rust from their
long layoffs, show off their
re-sculpted bodies from their
pre-draft training — some of
which was started last fall —
and prove they are still pas-
sionate about football.
“The next time I have an
opportunity to step between
those lines,” said Oregon of-
fensive tackle and opt out Pe-
nei Sewell, “I’m going to make
the most of it and I’m coming
with everything I have.”
What everyone seemed to
miss from the combine were
the head-to-head compari-
sons during position drills and
the uniform 40-yard dash at
Lucas Oil Stadium.
“I do not know how I ran
today,” Georgia Tech defensive
back Jaytlin Askew said. “No-
body told me anything.”
“I don’t have any numbers, I
apologize,” said Northwestern
linebacker Paddy Fisher. “I
was trying to find some after
we finished our position drills
but all the scouts had left.”
Arkansas cornerback Jerry
Jacobs swore he ran a 4.38.
“Everybody got a different
time, though,” he said. “Some
scouts got 4.4. Some scouts
had me at 4.5. … But honestly,
I know my speed and I know
what I can do.”
Do NFL teams, though?
There was even some un-
certainty in the weight room.
“I wish I had somebody
counting for me,” Auburn
linebacker K.J. Britt said af-
ter getting 24 reps on the
225-pound bench press.
Wisconsin O-lineman Cole
Van Lanen didn’t mind the
combine cancellation — “I got
an extra two weeks of train-
ing” — nor was he bothered
by the Badgers’ pro day re-
strictions.
“I would have loved to be
here with my family and my
agents, the people who sup-
port me, and experience this
with them,” Van Lanen said.
“But you’ve got to make the
most of it. It’s just like a game.
You don’t realize the crowd
that’s there. You’re there to
perform. You block every-
thing out and you perform,
and that’s kind of what this
was, too.”
Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Timber Joey hoists a slab after the Timbers go up 5-0 on C.D. Marathón
in a CONCACAF Champions League match in Portland Tuesday night.
Timbers
Continued from B1
“We know the venue, we
know the challenges there, but
now the opposition is differ-
ent,” Timbers coach Giovanni
Savarese said. “It’s a team also
that’s trying to adapt to a new
situation. I’m sure that, know-
ing Marc, he’ll prepare the
team well for what they’re go-
ing to encounter there for this
season.”
The Timbers should be well
prepared for MLS play, having
already played two matches in
the CONCACAF Champions
League tournament in the past
two weeks. Portland is com-
ing off a dominant 5-0 victory
against C.D. Marathón of Hon-
duras that moved the Timbers
into the quarterfinals of the
tournament.
“You already are tested,”
Savarese said. “You already
are in two games that there’s
something that you need to get
out of these two games, and
it becomes very competitive,
especially in this CCL format-
ting which you have to play at
home and away and you have
to go through. So there’s a lot at
stake in these games. So I think
this is a positive thing for us to
have gone through prior to our
start of the season.”
Portland will take on Van-
couver still missing some key
players. Forward Jeremy Ebo-
bisse remains out with a ham-
string injury, midfielder Se-
Next up
Portland vs.
Vancouver
When: 7 p.m.
Sunday
TV: Root/ESPN+
bastian Blanco is not ready to
return from a torn ACL and
midfielder Andy Polo is not yet
back with the team because of
green card issues.
But the absences haven’t
slowed the Timbers thus far.
Yimmi Chara turned in a hat
trick against Marathón on
Tuesday, and Portland has
put up seven goals across two
matches.
The Timbers have a new-
look defense that includes left
back Claudio Bravo and right
back Josecarlos Van Rankin.
Vancouver’s key newcomers
include midfielder Caio Al-
exandre and forward Déiber
Caicedo, but the biggest threat
in the Whitecaps’ attack is for-
ward Lucas Cavallini.
Midfielder Diego Valeri
said the Champions League
matches gave the Timbers ex-
perience playing at intensity
and allowed them a chance to
fix things going into MLS play.
But the advantage goes only so
far, he said.
“At the end, soccer is how
you perform during those 90
minutes,” Valeri said, “and now
we have the opener and it’s go-
ing to be a completely different
game.”