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It’s only day two of Oregon State’s fall football camp (Tuesday) and the media has already focused its attention on the passing game in the early going and despite the repeated answers of head coach Mike Riley and postseason awards candidate quarterback Sean “The Machine” Mannion that sophomore flanker Victor Bolden was a big part of that answer the questions keep coming. Today Bolden, who is a candidate for the Paul Hornung Award, showed that the potential is there to provide big plays for the Beavers. We all knew Bolden was fast, but Tuesday that speed was once again on display. During the teams’ brief 7-on-7 period, Bolden lined up against Nagurski Trophy candidate Steven Nelson and got behind the senior corner to grab a bomb from Mannion with Nelson draped all over him. Bolden was also a focus in the short passing game throughout the practice period. In truth – and as Mannion has said time and again – no single player needs to replace 2013 Biletnikoff Award winner Brandin Cooks, but rather the production needs to be replaced. The tight end position is one that will likely pick up some of that production as well. Starters Connor Hamlett and Caleb Smith both battled injuries in 2013 but are poised for a big season. In addition, a collection of less experienced receivers are battling to establish a role for playing time including Kendall Hill, Jordan Villamin, Hunter Jarmon, Malik Gilmore, Blair Cavanaugh, Rahmel Dockery, Datrin Guyton, Tanner Sanders, Xavier Hawkins, Drew Kell and Gabe Ovgard.
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Monday’s first University of Oregon football practice of preseason camp was quite clearly, in small but obvious ways, a first practice of preseason camp. Conversely, Tuesday’s second practice could easily have been one from late August, or mid-October, or December – from the sidelines, it seemed that intense. No doubt coaches are reviewing film of the practice and finding much to critique, from the standpoint of execution. “We’ve got a bunch of young, talented guys that don’t really know what they’re doing yet, but there’s a lot of stuff we can polish up and in the long term will be really good,” Mark Helfrich said afterward. That said, to an amateur watching on the sideline, it was an intense, fast, physical practice, just two days into camp. The Ducks won’t put shoulder pads on for the first time until Wednesday, but the intensity at the line of scrimmage was still very much there during team drills this afternoon. And while Helfrich noted one period for the defense that he thought was substandard, overall the guys on that side of the ball were very stout over the course of practice.