That was Oregon St. coach Mike Riley's initial reaction after Thursday's scrum, the first full pad, scrimmage-like practice of fall camp.
"There were certainly some good things, and some good hitting on defense. There's a lot of stuff we will look at."
The Beavers were consistent with prior practices in that the passing game got the majority of the work, with over 2/3 of the plays. And all of the scores came on passes.
Jacquizz Rodgers was held out of the scrimmage, not because he's hurt, but rather to save wear and tear. And Jovan Stevenson still hasn't returned to action, so the depth at running back wasn't great. So rushing statistics are skewed as a result.
However, Stephen Paea also watched, and that skews all kinds of things defensively. So evaluating things has to be more about video study of individuals than overall performances.Jordan Jenkins had 95 total yards of offense, and continues to look like he will be an important piece in the backfield, especially if Stevenson can't get up to full speed soon.
Cody Vaz wound up with almost twice the action, and stats production, as Ryan Katz, though he also lofted an interceptions. That's another indication that while getting Katz ready is top priority this fall, redshirt freshman Vaz has to be ready as well, and no small amount of Riley's and offensive coordinator/QB coach Danny Langsdorf's attention is devoted there.
OSU fans were reassured again that James Rodgers is ready to go, and that the receiving corps is the deepest it has ever been. 15 players had catches for gains, and that's with Marcus Wheaton and Darrell Catchings both also kept out of harms way!
Mitch Singler and Obum Gwatchum continue to show flashes, and would play a lot for some teams. How well Oregon St. can leverage their deepest position without disrupting rhythm and chemistry will be interesting to watch.
Jordan Poyer is everywhere, and added to his various defensive activities with a deflected field goal attempt by Justin Kahut, who was named to the Lou Groza award watch list yesterday as well.
Osubeavers.com has a run down on the scrimmage, and the full statistical summary.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com