Football Practice Report: April 14
04/14/18 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The Ducks held a scrimmage inside Autzen Stadium on Saturday, one week before the annual Spring Game on April 21 (2 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
Venue: Autzen Stadium
Format: Scrimmage
It was the second scrimmage of this spring for the Oregon football team, on a cool, dry afternoon in Eugene on Saturday. And a week after the Ducks took the show on the road for the benefit of fans in Portland, this one had a different flavor.
"It has to be different!" strength coach Aaron Feld hollered as the Ducks stretched prior to practice. "We're in Autzen Stadium! This is where we dominate!"
What ensued was dominant at times, particularly when the first-team offense and defense took on backups. Play evened out when it was ones vs. ones, but by then the Ducks had accumulated highlights aplenty – four touchdowns by Justin Herbert, three fumbles forced by the starting defense, two defensive touchdowns and several big plays by tight ends.
"Explosive day," head coach Mario Cristobal said afterward. "A lot of explosive plays on offense, and we caused some really big turnovers that led to points on defense as well."
Herbert opened the scrimmage by driving the No. 1 offense 71 yards on 11 plays, the last a 25-yard Jaylon Redd touchdown reception on which he leaped to catch a pass over the middle, then slipped a tackle near the goal line. Herbert was 7-of-8 for 62 yards on the drive, including the TD pass.
With the No. 2 offense up next against the defensive starters, it took just two plays for Troy Dye to rip the ball out from a running back and fall on it for a turnover. All four turnovers on the day were by the backups on offense, and there only three penalties called – albeit costly ones – in a step forward for the Ducks in terms of discipline.
"In terms of just playing ball, tempo was so much better, execution was so much better, unforced errors were cut down dramatically," Cristobal said in comparing Saturday's scrimmage to the week before in Portland.
After the opening touchdown by the No. 1 offense, the twos had four chances to match it in a row. After Dye's fumble recovery, Adam Stack kicked a field goal to get the No. 2 offense on the board. But the next drive was a three-and-out that ended in a sack by Dye, and after a reset of the scenario, La'Mar Winston Jr. dove on a muffed snap for a fumble recovery in the backfield.
Later on, Mattrell McGraw recovered another muffed exchange and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown, and freshman Verone McKinley III provided more points from the defense with a pick-six of 23 yards.
"Overall I thought we came out with great energy, and played the right things," Dye said. "We've just got to execute a little better overall, but we came out the right way and we're progressing in the right direction."
Once Herbert and the ones got back on the field, the quarterback found tight end Cam McCormick wide open against busted coverage and hit him for a 54-yard touchdown pass. Cristobal kept them on the field for another drive after a three-and-out, and Herbert had a 46-yard completion to Kyle Buckner at the 2-yard line, setting up a TD run by the quarterback on the next play.
Herbert directed two more touchdown drives on the day. One ended in a Taj Griffin scoring run on which he bounced away from first contact and kept his feet moving for a 5-yard TD run. The last was a fourth-down pass to Dillon Mitchell in a red-zone scenario, Herbert's fourth touchdown on the afternoon.
"I was impressed with what we did today," he said. "Some solid things on offense. We moved the ball when we needed to; definitely some stuff to clean up, but overall I thought it was a good day."
Unlike in Portland, the No. 2 offense wasn't shut out Saturday. Braxton Burmeister drew kudos from Cristobal for checking into a different protection to give himself time to hit tight end Hunter Kampmoyer on a 51-yard pass, setting up Stack's early field goal. Later, Tyler Shough bounced back from the McKinley pick-six by completing a short pass on third down to Daewood Davis, who gained separation on the defender and was off to the races for a 71-yard touchdown.
Shough later added a one-yard scoring run, with tight end Matt Mariota making a reception to get the ball down near the goal line, then providing the block that freed up Shough on his touchdown run.
Afterward, Cristobal told the Ducks, "we have moments, but we're not consistent. I think we all know that." They will study film of the scrimmage Monday, then get back to practice Tuesday with an eye toward cleaning up small details before the Spring Game next weekend.
"We've gotta understand that the bits and pieces and nuggets, they're right there in front of us, in a step, in a hat placement, in an angle, in securing the football," Cristobal said. "Our guys understand we still have more in the tank, and we have to empty that tank to be a great football team."
Other highlights: During the few minutes of position drills prior to the scrimmage, Deommodore Lenoir made a one-handed interception of a pass from Herbert in the end zone. … CJ Verdell led the running backs with seven carries for 40 yards, a positive development after he was limited for the Portland scrimmage. … McKinley showed great, aggressive instincts by jumping a short route on his pick-six. But the defense paid for its aggressiveness on the long TD play by Davis; that time the pass got through to the receiver, and there was nobody behind him to make the tackle – or fast enough to catch him. …
The scrimmage ended with the offense needing to get a first down while backed up to its own end zone, and the defense won all three reps. With the ones on the field, Dye had a tackle for loss and then hurried Herbert into an incompletion. On third down, Brady Breeze tackled a tight end well short of the sticks. … With the twos up, Keith Simms continued his breakout spring. He teamed with Gus Cumberlander to stop a running back one yard short on third down, and on the next drive had two tackles on run plays to force a pass on third-and-long, which fell incomplete to end the scrimmage.
Other observations: When the scrimmage began, assistant coaches Jim Mastro, Cort Dennison and Donté Williams all headed up to the press box, along with graduate assistant Ikaika Johnson and analysts Kwame Agyeman, David Gilbertson and Danny Langsdorf. … The Oregon staff is hosting a coaches clinic this weekend, so there were a number of people in the stands watching the scrimmage. …
Saturday's scrimmage included more special teams work than the week before. Tony Brooks-James and Redd were back deep to handle the first kickoff, and Mitchell fielded the first punt. McKinley continues to look like a guy who could be a factor covering kicks and punts as a freshman. … In the three practices left prior to the Spring Game, Cristobal said the Ducks will spent a few minutes a day working on schemes with specific Pac-12 opponents in mind.
Pre-practice interviews:
Head coach Mario Cristobal
Special teams coach Bobby Williams
