Oregon St. started the second week of spring practice, but not for a couple of players, as injuries have begun to further erode the Beavers' manpower.
WR Micah Hatfield missed practice today after suffering a concussion after a hit in Saturday's practice, and will be out at least tomorrow as well, and probably longer.
Incoming freshman TE Caleb Smith also sat out today with a hamstring problem.
Oregon St. coach Mike Riley has caused some optimistic stir among on-lookers, having taken over play-calling from offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf. However, Riley explained it is only for spring, and because Riley wants to work on specific things, both offensively and defensively, rather than running plays in a game mode.
"For right now, it's for spring only," Riley explained. "I know what the defenses is doing on every play. I want the offense to handle it. I might call something that is tougher, or I want the quarterback to see something in there. It's a way to orchestrate the big picture look."
Riley felt in the past there has been too much trying to just blow up plays, and the offense trying to outdo the defense.
"A lot of times in spring ball, you are competing against each other," Riley said. "You think about winning the play. The fact of the matter is you have to do this (work on specific play situations) to win games in the fall. That's why I'm trying to orchestrate most everywhere in practice. Calling plays in spring is easy. It's not a big deal."
Riley also spoke to the decision to not have a spring game, or even a full scrimmage, indicating he still intends to do some scrimmaging.
"We are going to have a spring 'game'," Riley said. "We've never had a total spring game (since Riley has been coach). It's just hard to have a game with eight offensive linemen. We are going to have a good show with a scrimmage, and all the parts. It's a very good event. But it's just not going to be 120 plays of scrimmage like in the past."
Practice continues Tuesday afternoon, and then on Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning. The weekday afternoon sessions begins at apprx. 2:45 PM, and Saturday sessions start at 11 AM. All practices are open to the public.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com