Following a surprise break from the field on Friday, Duck football returned to practice this afternoon to hammer out end-of-game situations and, with the season just two weeks away, playing with a sense of urgency.
“I’ve been very happy with our sense of urgency during the walkthrough. We got a ton done,” Helfrich said of the team this afternoon, before fielding a question about how the end of practice looked. “This afternoon we kind of split the team up. One team was trying to kill the clock the other was trying to get the ball back. And if they got it back then we went into two-minute mode. We put in ton of work on, really, as many situations possible as you can get.”
An interesting story to this upcoming season is figuring out who will fill the void left by backup quarterback Bryan Bennett. Bennett played admirably in limited time behind Darron Thomas and Marcus Mariota for two seasons, before transferring to Southeastern Lousiana last January. Now the position is up for grabs between redshirt freshmen Jake Rodrigues and Jeff Lockie.
“It makes it harder on us when we’re just getting great play from both of them, great consistent play from both of them,” Helfrich said. “If it comes to that point where they’re both playing really well and consistent, that’s a great problem.”
However, coach Helfrich says he’s in no rush to choose.
“I know there’s been a couple days here and there where one guy’s had the upper hand. At this point there’s no significant separation,” Helfrich said.
Another question was raised about how the Ducks look toward replacing defense standouts Michael Clay and Kiko Alonso, who both departed for the NFL after last season. Helfrich again stayed optimistic that, with a bevvy of talent and athleticism, their mantra of “next man up” should stay true.
“That’s another place where there’s just another ton of competition,” Helfrich said. “You talk about the backup quarterback spot, it’s a different guy every day,” Helfrich told the reporters. “There’s not a lot of proven, season-tested veterans but a bunch of guys that are running fast and playing hard.”
Though, one season-tested veteran on defense remains. Helfrich was very complimentary of defensive back Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, who, along with Mariota and De’Anthony Thomas, was named to ESPN’s Preseason All-America team on Friday.
“He’s a stud, and he’s a great practice player. He does a great job of putting his face on the ball, being really physical on the ball, and when any guy is just a little bit incorrect fundamentally with how he’s carrying the ball, Ifo gets it out. He’s a physical guy,” Helfrich said.
With all those defensive positions still taking shape, Helfrich said Ekpre-Olomu and others were a good foundation.
“Any time you can build your team around a couple really good corners and a great core D-line that’s a really good start,” Helfrich said.
Yesterday’s break came after some tough practices all week that have left some players a little battered and worse for wear, and it was starting to show by the end of the week. The coaching staff decided it would be for the best to take the day off Friday, then put in a hard day’s work Saturday. When asked if the break paid-off for the practice today, Helfrich seemed content.
“[We] didn’t have a great walk through on Thursday, and just challenged those guys to operate just a little more urgently and they definitely did that this morning. And then, got some quality work this afternoon, got some guys back 100 percent and everything, and so that helped out. Tomorrow will be another recovery day and some team building and then back on Monday.”