Defense Shines in Short Football Scrimmage
April 13, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- The defense had its day in the sun Tuesday at Prothro Field as Oregon State ran through a controlled 55 play, down and distance type of scrimmage.
"I thought our defense got after pretty good today," said Beaver head coach Dennis Erickson. "The hitting was good and the tackling was very crisp."
Oregon State completed its fifth day of spring drills, and second day in full pads, Tuesday and has finished one third of its allotted 15 days of practice. It was the second scrimmage in as many practice as the Beavers ran through a 67-play scrimmage at Hillsboro last Saturday.
"We are making far too many mental mistakes on offense at the present time," said Erickson. "Our decision making at quarterback was not good today and we need to take a look at that on video and improve. We have thrown a lot of new stuff at them and we need a lot of work right now."
Erickson was very impressed with some players on defense, especially linebacker Micah Moore who picked off two interceptions during the afternoon.
"Micah is playing very well right now, and so is DeLawrence Grant at defensive end," said Erickson.
OSU ran the football 17 times for a net 57 yards and passed the ball 38 times, completing 15 for 183 yards in the situational scrimmage.
From a running standpoint, junior college transfer David Swopes picked up 23 yards on 4 carries, while Ken Simonton, OSU's 1,000-yard rusher from the 1998 season, followed with 14 yards on 5 attempts.
All four quarterbacks took turns at the controls Tuesday and none of the four posted outstanding numbers.
Jonathan Smith completed 4 of 12 attempts for 58 yards with one pass intercepted. Terrance Bryant connected on 5 of 12 attempts for 44 yards. Sophomore Nick Stremick completed 3 of 8 attempts for 51 yards and was intercepted one time. Redshirt freshman Tyler Thomas connected on 3 of 6 attempts for 30 yards.
Several of the Beaver receivers were making some outstanding catches. Redshirt freshmen Junior Adams and Shawn Kintner made some spectacular catches, while junior Robert Prescott and junior college transfer T.J. Houshmandzadeh, made some very tough catches.
Adams had 6 catches for 68 yards, while Prescott had 4 for 55 yards. Houshmandzadeh caught 2 passes for 23 yards and Kintner made a sensational catch for 20 yards. T.J. had 8 catches for 84 yards in last Saturday's practice at Hillsboro.
Oregon State's next practice will be Thursday afternoon (4 o'clock) at Prothro Field and will be in limited pads.
The Beavers will hold its first major scrimmage of the spring this Saturday at Roseburg High School's Finlay Field, starting at 12 noon. OSU also has scrimmages set for Prothro Field on Saturday, April 24, and will conclude spring drills with a spring game at Hare Field in Hillsboro. The scrimmage on the 24th starts at 1:30 p.m. and the final spring game will start at 12 noon.
