CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State football team participated in its first scrimmage of the fall on Thursday, and the Beavers provided those in attendance at Reser Stadium with a plethora of highlights.
Head coach Mike Riley was happy with the team’s performance but also indicated that the team has things to improve, which is not altogether surprising considering it was the first scrimmage.
“There were some good plays,” Riley said. “Sometimes, things like this just make you go back and really see what you have to work on most.”
Running back Malcolm Agnew began the scrimmage’s scoring on a 25-yard run early on, capping off an afternoon that saw him carry the ball eight times for 65 yards. That led all running backs during the 76-play scrimmage.
Riley was asked after the scrimmage about Agnew.
“Everybody saw some really good runs by Malcolm today,” Riley said. “That’s the good thing about scrimmages for backs because now you can really find out the balance with contact. He really stayed on his feet; he was hit sometimes, stayed on his feet and made some yardage after the hit. That was impressive.”
All told, the team finished with three scoring drives during the controlled scrimmage, which included two through the air. Sean Mannion, who completed 7-of-14 passes for 57 yards, found Connor Hamlett on a 10-yard touchdown pass, while later, Jack Lomax found Kellen Clute on a 40-yard touchdown strike.
Mitch Singler led all receivers with five receptions for 95 yards, and he connected with Lomax on two passes of 20 or more yards – a 30-yarder to start and a 22-yard reception later.
Lomax completed all five pass of his attempts for 106 yards. That trailed only Ryan Katz, who was 10-of-17 for 125 yards.
Katz found Markus Wheaton on a 51-yard reception early in the scrimmage as the wide receiver caught a lofted pass between two defenders. That reception went down as the longest play of the afternoon.
Defensively, the Beavers also made strong plays. Devon Kell was credited with two sacks, forcing a fumble on one. Dylan Wynn picked up the Beavers’ third on the day.
Tony Wilson posted two pass breakups on consecutive plays while Michael Doctor also batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage.
Tyrequek Zimmerman, who moved to safety in the last week, forced a fumble that was later recovered by Ryan Murphy.
Media in attendance Saturday included Paul Buker and John Hunt from The Oregonian, Cliff Kirkpatrick from the Corvallis Gazette-Times, Chris Hansen from the Register-Guard, Brandon Sprague from Comcast Sports NW, Mike Parker and Jon Warren from 1240 JOE RADIO and Bryan Salmond with KEZI-TV, Dirk Weishaar from KVAL-TV and Alex Drude from KMTR-TV.
In a release by Oregon State University on Thursday, it was computer scientists in the field of artificial intelligence have made an important advance that blends computer vision, machine learning and automated planning, and created a new system that may improve everything from factory efficiency to airport operation or nursing care.
And it’s based on watching the Beavers play football. Prior to the scrimmage, during lunch, Mike Ortiz from video operations and offensive guard Michael Lamb were interviewed by KVAL to talk about the project.
To learn more about it, visit the oregonstate.edu Web site.
Also on Thursday, Jeff Bedbury, a wide receiver from Marist High School in Eugene, returned to practice and took the fall camp roster spot of defensive end Blake Harrah.
Practice resumes for the Beavers Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. PT at the Tommy Prothro Football Complex. Oregon State is also scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. workout inside Reser Stadium.
Single game tickets, both home and away, are available now through the OSU Ticket Office by calling 1-800-GO-BEAVS, online at osubeavers.com and in person at the ticket office in Gill Coliseum.
OREGON STATE SCRIMMAGE STATISTICS
PASSING
Player-Comp.-Att.-Yds.-TD
Ryan Katz: 10-17-125-0
Jack Lomax: 5-5-106-1
Richie Harrington: 4-6-58-1
Sean Mannion: 7-14-57-1
RUSHING
Player-Rush-Yds.-TD
Malcolm Agnew: 8-65, 1 TD
Storm Woods: 8-28
Terron Ward: 6-24
Ryan McCants: 4-18
Jovan Stevenson: 2-11
Malcolm Marable: 5-6
Richie Harrington: 1-2
RECEIVING
Player-Catches-Yds.-TD
Mitch Singler: 5-95, 1 TD
Markus Wheaton: 5-80
Kellen Clute: 1-40, TD
Geno Munoz: 2-32
Obum Gwacham: 2-19
Tyler Perry: 2-19
Darrell Catchings: 1-13
Kevin Cummings: 1-11
Connor Hamlett: 1-10, 1 TD
Danny Evans: 1-10
Jordan Bishop: 1-9
Storm Woods: 3-6
Terron Ward: 1-2
FIELD GOALS
Trevor Romaine: 1-2 (Good 39, Missed 36)