Football Practice Report: April 15

Venue: Autzen Stadium
Format: Scrimmage

The Oregon football team passed the halfway point of this year's spring practice schedule on Saturday, and marked the occasion by holding the first scrimmage of this spring.

Over about two hours Saturday morning, the Ducks began with position drills, progressed into larger groups and then held the first live-tackling drills of this spring with 11-on-11 scrimmage periods. And they did so in the friendly confines of Autzen Stadium.

"It's just fun to practice where you play, and just create as much of a game environment as possible for our guys," head coach Dan Lanning said. "It's one of the best stadiums and venues in the nation. Any time we get to go in there and compete, it's fun for us."

The scrimmage saw the defense start fast, with the opening series ending on a forced fumble by Tysheem Johnson that was recovered by fellow defensive back Evan Williams. The offense responded by driving to a Camden Lewis field goal, and a few minutes later Ty Thompson found receiver Traeshon Holden free in the secondary.

Thompson delivered a pass that Holden took to the house for a touchdown.

Popo Aumavae and Matayo Uiagalelei had sacks over the course of the scrimmage, and defensive back Khamari Terrell broke up three passes.

During red-zone drills, both Kris Hutson and Noah Whittington added to the offense's touchdown total.

"It was really good to cut it loose," offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson said. "We're going to have a lot of rust, looking at the film. But I think what everyone's really excited about is getting better from it."

The Ducks continue to practice spilt up into "Yellow" and "Green" units, which faced off Saturday as opposed to first-string, second-string, etc. With the 2023 season still several months off, there remains a focus on fostering depth and building chemistry throughout the roster.

"A lot of moving parts there," Lanning said. "I don't have clear indications necessarily right now for (a depth chart). There's gonna be more than 11 guys that can play for us on offense; there's gonna be more than 11 guys that can play for us on defense. The goal is, how many can we have? As many as we can, that's how many we want to be able to use."

Notable: Tight end Terrance Ferguson will be sidelined for the remainder of spring drills, Lanning confirmed after the scrimmage. … There was a full officiating crew on hand for the scrimmage, but they threw relatively few penalty flags on a day the Ducks were pretty clean all around from penalties to ball security to center-quarterback exchanges. … Families that participate in the Kidsports youth sports program locally were on hand to watch the scrimmage.

Quotable:
Head coach Dan Lanning on how coaches will evaluate film from the scrimmage
"You've got to figure out, OK, who are the guys that we gotta make sure we get on the field and get involved? Who are the guys that are close, that we can get them there if we coach the technique properly? Then, where's the want-to? What's that look like? What are the team players, what kind of body language do the guys play with when things go well, when things don't go well? A lot of opportunities, a lot of things to coach. And then schematically, what do we need to change to make sure that we're prepared for certain situations?"

Head coach Dan Lanning on having Marcus Mariota and Jevon Holland as coaches for the spring game
"They're good ambassadors because they're obviously phenomenal players, but also phenomenal people. And any time you have guys that were just tremendous Ducks that care so much about our program and make an effort to give back, it's always great to recreate that. That's special for our players, but it's just as special for our fans. They're loved and adored by every Duck out there, so, love having them back for us."