Oregon State’s offense highlights Thursday’s workout with officials

A late change in the practice schedule turned into a made-for-TV scrimmage.

The Oregon State football team put together a set of offensive highlights in the first and only true scrimmage with officials of training camp Thursday afternoon.

Coach Mike Riley decided to move Saturday’s scrimmage to Thursday so the final full con-tact of the preseason would be two weeks away from the season opener, Aug. 28 at Stanford, giving his banged up players more time to recover from a rough camp.

“It was good to do it, and I’m glad we did it today,” Riley said. “Now we have two full weeks to go back and put things together and start honing in on what we’ll head into the season with.”

The offense was able to move the chains up the field on slow drives and big plays, scoring four passing touchdowns and two on the ground.

It didn’t matter if it was the first-team offense against the first-team defense or the second teams facing each other, the offense had the better day.

“It was good to see, and we’ll take it and learn from it and go on,” Riley said. “It was nice to see big plays. I don’t know if it was missed tackles or we weren’t in good position, we have to look at the film and help them learn from it.”

The Rodgers brothers were the stars of the day. Jacquizz ran for 93 yards on eight carries and had a 64-yard TD on a draw. James, a wide receiver, took a fly sweep 70 yards for a score.

Jacquizz, a true freshman, appears ready to make an impact at the Division I level. His speed, shifty moves and compact size make him difficult to tackle.

“I’m excited we have him,” Riley said. “I don’t want to go overboard. He made two great plays, one the screen play where he made a lot of good cuts, and the run. It’s exciting to see. Now the coaching staff can formulate more ideas of who we can be and what we need to do.”

Jacquizz took advantage of two large holes the offensive line opened on his draw, while James just outran everyone around the end.

Starting running back Ryan McCants was steady with 50 yards on 10 carries. Jeremy Francis, the third running back, missed his third practice due to a sore leg from a hit he took early in camp on a knee that required surgery in the spring.

“This was a little taste of it today of the potential we have, but we still have a lot of work to do,” quarterback Lyle Moevao said. “We got some good work in today. Jacquizz and James did a great job. The offensive line did a great job. It’s not just putting it all together, and then finish it up.”

The running back position appears secure. The only concern is depth with Francis hurt, and the overall pass blocking, which Riley holds in high importance.

“As of right now I’m comfortable in the offense,” Jacquizz Rodgers said. “I just have to learn the different pass protections. Once I get that down, I’m going to be pretty well off.”

Moevao went 4-for-13 with 102 yards and a 70-yard touchdown pass to Chris Johnson. Backup quarterback Justin Engstrom — while Sean Canfield continues to heal from shoulder surgery — was 11 of 22 for 203 yards and three TDs.

Engstrom hit Jacquizz Rodgers on a swing pass, which turned into a 69-yard score. He also threw TD passes to Damola Adeniji of 15 and 8 yards.

There were some solid plays by the defense. Drives were stopped on downs, and safety Lance Mitchell intercepted an Engstrom pass and returned it 40 yards for a TD.

Cornerback Brandon Hughes was disappointed with the defensive performance. It may have been the heat, but he felt there was no energy.

“We haven’t watched the film, yet, so it’s hard to say what happened,” Hughes said. “But at the end of the day we just have to come out and get better and execute our assignments. You can’t play football, especially defense, with a lack of energy. We didn’t have the energy. That’s no way to play. Somebody is going to get hurt, and we are not going to execute our assignments.”

In roster news, the Beavers reached their limit of 105 players in the preseason with 2007 Corvallis High alum John Roy. He’s the 20th walk-on.

Roy went to Arizona Western College last year and will play center for the Beavers.

“He was going to join us after the first game, but we are going to bring him into camp now because we are thin at center,” Riley said.

Projected starter Marcus Henderson missed much of this week’s practice due to a nagging illness. Alex Linnenkohl moved from backup guard to first-string center. Walk-on Grant Johnson is the second-string center.