Darrell Catchings was the breakout star in the first scrimmage of spring practice for the Oregon State football team.

The junior wide receiver was open throughout the 100-play Friday afternoon workout in Reser Stadium, and the offense dominated the defense.

He caught six passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Long passes were the norm as the offense scored eight passing touchdowns and one rushing.

"It was a good day," Catchings said. "We opened up some more stuff in our game plan. Today was our best day as a team in spring for the offense."

While the offense excelled, concern over the pass defense rose. An all-new secondary was overmatched.

First-string quarterback Sean Canfield threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns, while backups Ryan Katz and Justin Engstrom threw for two TDs each.

"I don't know what to think, yet," coach Mike Riley said. "I want to look at the film. It's hard for me to say exactly. The one thing that is good is we made some throws, some long throws."

The defensive line was active and could have helped the pass defense. There was no contact allowed on the quarterback, so there could have been sacks registered on some of the long pass plays.

Catchings' theory: his familiarity with the defense helped him. The defense, however, knows him just as well.

"We go against them every day and we learn how they play, so it wasn't that difficult," Catchings said. "It's still kind of early, but we want them to get better. Going against them every day will help a lot."

Catchings coming to the forefront should help the Beavers. They lost both big-play receiver Sammie Stroughter and possession receiver Shane Morales.

Catchings is playing split end, Stroughter's old position and the primary receiver in OSU's offense. Whoever is in that spot must be able to stretch the field.

"With Sammie gone, a lot of the pressure is on me to step up," Catchings said. "That's what spring ball is all about, just coming up and make plays."

Canfield said he has a strong connection with Catchings, but wasn't pinpointing him. He went through his reads and Catchings was just open most of the time.

The Beavers expect this kind of success out of Catchings. He has been groomed for it the last two years.

"I'm proud of him for the approach in the offseason and the approach to spring ball," Riley said. "He has matured. He's smart enough and talented enough to know he has to step up. That's what has to be for a good football team in the natural order of events. Somebody had to step in."

Catchings wasn't the only receiver to have a good day. Redshirt freshmen Jordan Bishop and Kevan Walker got open against the defensive reserves.

Walker caught eight passes for 70 yards and two TDs. Bishop had five catches for 148 yards and two TDs.

"I'm not going to worry too much, yet," Riley said of the secondary. "This was good to play in a competitive situation for our receivers and defensive backs, and the quarterbacks. I think all that mixed together will elevate everybody. I'm not going to get carried away with any of it. But there were some plays that happened that will be a good alert for some people, and be encouraging for our team for what we can do."