Three Observations From Second Scrimmage

EUGENE, Ore. – Just one week from the annual spring game, the Ducks took the field inside Autzen Stadium for the first time this spring, for the team's second scrimmage Saturday.

GoDucks.com editor-in-chief Rob Moseley provides a full breakdown of the scrimmage, while below are three takeaways from the day heading into the final week of spring ball.

1. Tight Ends Will Be A Factor
Whether it was in the run game or in the short, intermediate and deep passing game, Oregon's tight ends were all over the field making plays on Saturday.

"All those guys are so athletic and so versatile, we can do a lot of things with misplaced personnel," head coach Mario Cristobal said following the scrimmage, in which all five tight ends caught two or more balls.

Making the transition from defensive lineman to tight end this spring, sophomore Hunter Kampmoyer got the attention of the crowd last weekend in Portland when he turned what looked like a short catch into a 12-yard first down while breaking an attempted-tackle by all-Pac-12 inside linebacker Troy Dye. This week, Kampmoyer broke open over the deep middle against the No. 1 defense, hauling in a well-thrown ball from quarterback Braxton Burmeister for a 51-yard gain on the third drive of the day.

Kampmoyer's 51-yard grab turned out to be the second-longest play of the day for the tight end group, as sophomore Cam McCormick broke free on a blown coverage three possessions later for a 54-yard touchdown from Justin Herbert. McCormick, who has looked very comfortable in the passing game this spring, finished the day with two catches for 73 yards, running primarily with the No. 1 offense.

Juniors Ryan Bay and Matt Mariota were both effective in the short passing game and both showcased their blocking ability. Bay led the tight ends with four catches for 26 yards, all coming from Herbert. Bay opened the No. 1 offense's fourth drive with a 12-yard catch – his second of the day – and then on the next play threw a key block on a quick pass to Johnny Johnson III. Mariota showed his versatility in a similar fashion during red-zone work, taking a pass from freshman Tyler Shough down to the 2-yard line and two plays later sealing the edge with a key block to allow Shough to score the rushing TD.

After being limited the first three weeks of spring practice, junior Jacob Breeland has worked his way back into the rotation over the last six practices. The Pac-12 leader in TD catches (five) by a tight end in 2017, Breeland hauled in two catches for 15 yards in his first scrimmage of the spring, including a 12-yard catch from Herbert in his first run with the No. 1 offense when red-zone work started.

2. Defense Showcases Some Solid Situational Football
A large part of spring practices is spent on installation and situational football. On Saturday, there were several occasions in which the defense showcased its ability to know the situation, and go out and make a play.

Dye's instincts for finding the football were on full display, and on the second play of the day for the No. 1 defense he took advantage of the running back being stood up in the hole on a short run. With the initial stop made, Dye quickly went into takeaway mode and stripped the ball while the running back was fighting for extra yards and was able to quickly recover for what would have been the Ducks' ball inside the 35-yard line.

In the first extended drive of the spring featuring the No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense, there were a pair of third-and-one situations and a separate fourth-and-one. The fourth-and-one was made possible thanks to some sure tackling by sophomore Thomas Graham Jr. With the defense facing a third-and-five, Graham showed great awareness of the first-down marker, coming up to make a tackle on the shifty Jaylon Redd for a four-yard gain to force fourth down.

At the end of the scrimmage with the No. 1 offense starting out at its own 3-yard line, the No. 1 defense came up with a three-and-out on a great read and tackle by sophomore safety Brady Breeze. Herbert and the offense had good success with quick-strike passing to the tight ends all day, but this time Breeze read the play perfectly on third down and came up to make the tackle after just a short 1-yard gain that would have forced a punt from deep in the end zone.

3. Penalties Cut Down, But Still Critical
Prior to practice when meeting with the media, head coach Mario Cristobal said the number of penalties in last Saturday's scrimmage in Portland were cut in half in comparison to the first scrimmage of last spring, but the team still had plenty of work to do in an area where it ranked last in the Pac-12 a year ago.

This Saturday, the number of penalties went down again, but the ones that did pop up came in critical spots.

"Night and day in the amount, but the ones that were thrown were painful ones," said Cristobal. "They might as well have had 'dagger' written on them."

Going for it on fourth-and-three from the No. 1 defense's 40-yard line, the No. 2 offense was backed up five yards thanks to a false start by a wide receiver. Still going for it on now fourth-and-eight, the defense returned the favor on the next play with a face mask on a slant route that extended the drive.

Later in the scrimmage, redshirt freshman running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio showed good patience, vision and burst during a 74-yard touchdown run on the first play of a drive, but the long run was called back thanks to a hold at the line of scrimmage. Cristobal said the hold came on the back-side of the play, so didn't factor into Habibi-Likio's run -- except in taking the six points off the board.