Corvallis Gazette-Times

CORVALLIS — Four practices into spring football and the Oregon State quarterback derby is still going strong.

Sophomores Sean Canfield and Lyle Moevao have struggled and excelled during the first week against the veteran defensive players.

Improvements were made leading up to a standout day by both of them Saturday morning in the indoor center. They were zipping the ball around to all areas of the field and impressed the large gathering of fans and, more importantly, the coaches.

“We got a good competition going on,” quarterbacks coach Danny Langsdorf said. “Both of them had their ups and downs. Sean has been throwing the ball well and has pretty good command of the offense. Lyle has been doing a nice job with the limited time he has had in the offense.”

So is there a leader in the clubhouse?

“It’s too early to tell,” Langsdorf said. “They are both doing good things and have things to improve on.”

One of them will be the starter in the fall. Canfield has the advantage of being in the program longer and has the prototypical quarterback body and big-time arm.

Moevao is the mobile passer with several intangibles that have carried him this far.

“I think Sean is much more comfortable with the offense, and he should be,” coach Mike Riley said. “This is his third spring practice and Lyle’s first. But I thought Lyle did some nice touch throws today. There are so many balls a quarterback has to throw that are not 90 mph fastballs. You have to put some touch on it. And he’s starting to get a feel for those throws in our offense.”

The base offense was installed last week, so Langsdorf plans to fine-tune the quarterbacks during the next 10 practices and spring game.

Injury update

Add seniors outside linebacker Derrick Doggett and offensive guard Roy Schuening to those sitting out spring practice until further notice. They have joined Jeff Van Orsow (foot), Jeremy Perry (knee), Matt Sieverson (shoulder) and Casey Kjos (back) on the sidelines.

Doggett has back spasms and Schuening a pulled hamstring. Both injuries occurred during training sessions before the spring. Doggett was hurt lifting and Schuening running.

“As long as (Doggett) has any feeling in that back, I said no,” Riley said of him practicing this spring. “He’s a senior. He’s made a lot of tackles and he’ll make a lot of them in the fall. There’s no sense in putting him in any risk. There’s no sense in him going out there if he feels any pain at all.”

Doggett had an MRI done Wednesday, and Riley said nothing bad came back. Schuening is resting an injury that could linger if aggravated.

“Roy’s hamstring was pretty significant,” Riley said. “There’s no need to put him out here until he feels really good. He’s another senior we don’t need to put at risk.”

A good start

Riley enjoys building a new team each year, and it begins in the spring. He has a good feeling about this group, and that’s not always the case.

“The enthusiasm in practice has been great,” Riley said. “The working together is very good. I like the way they are shaking together, and I like the identity so far.”