More Offensive Upheaval At Oregon St.

Sean Harlow is back in action with the Oregon St. offensive line, and today, he lined up at right tackle, the forth different position Harlow has worked at in the last 2 weeks as the Beavers prepare tor the season opener against Portland St. on Aug.30.

The reason Harlow has now been in the mix at every position except center were another couple of injuries to the line. Dustin Stanton turned his right ankle in today's practice, and had to have it wrapped. This came after learning that Will Hopkins, who had his left hand taped, will require surgery, and is expected to be out about 4 weeks, which will extend to Oregon St.'s first bye week, making his return likely to come against San Diego St. at the earliest.

Tomorrow the Beavers hope that center Isaac Seumalo will be cleared to resume practicing, after a pair of off-season surgeries on his left foot, which was injured against Boise St. in the Hawaii Bowl. How long it takes Seumalo to work back into game shape is anybody's guess.

As a result, any attempt to establish a depth chart for the offensive line has been a waste of paper. And its compounded the problems with establishing a set rotation for the receiving corp as well, already an issue due to player health there too.

Today's good news was the Victor Bolden, who was unable to go in Saturday's scrimmage, was back after a couple additional days of rest.

But it was tempered by the absence of both Richard Mullaney and Hunter Jarmon. Mullaney was back in full gear, after being on crutches at the end of Friday's practice, but he was held out of contact drills.

Fullback Tyler Anderson again missed practice as well. It's been a week since he injured his left leg & knee.

The defense was again without LB DJ Alexander, who has found finding his way back from a hamstring injury, but both Malcolm Marable and Dashon Hunt were back in full gear, though Hunt is still being held out of contact.

There is a new concern, as safety Ryan Murphy was in shorts today, after tweaking an ankle Saturday, though his absence is not expected to be lengthy at this point.

Following a performance that provided separation on Saturday (Brent Vander Veen completed 10 of 18 passes, for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns, whereas Luck Del Rio went 2 of 8, with 2 interceptions, and gave up 2 defensive scores, against only 5 net passing yards)  Vander Veen took the reps at quarterback with the 2s, but Coach Riley still termed the two ti be "Even-Steven" in the competition to back-up Sean Mannion.

Oregon St. also decided to postponed a second scrimmage, originally scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, at 11 AM until Wednesday, also at 11. The public is welcomed to attend, as they are for all practices.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com