Football Practice Recap: Aug. 12
08/12/23 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The Oregon football team held the first scrimmage of this preseason camp on Saturday.
The Oregon football team wrapped up its first complete week of preseason camp Saturday with a scrimmage inside Autzen Stadium.
The Ducks will now have a day off Sunday before returning to work Monday. Up next is another week of practices scheduled for the afternoon, during what's forecast to be a week of hot temperatures around Eugene.
After Saturday's scrimmage, head coach Dan Lanning met with local reporters to offer his first impressions. Video of the press conference is embedded below.
General thoughts on the scrimmage: "A lot of back and forth today. I think the offense came out early and really had a lot of success early … We did some live tackling, some stuff to the ground. I think that's a shocker to people at first, and our guys were running really hard early and had some early scores. I'd saying the second half of the scrimmage, the defense really came back situationally and performed a lot better in-2 minute and third down, red area. So it was a little bit back and forth"
On whether the offense created explosive plays: "They did early on. Like I said, they scored pretty much with ease. We didn't punt early on in the scrimmage; we were trying to actually have some punts and we didn't punt because we didn't stop them. But then on the back end, like I said, the defense kind of came back."
On whether the defense forced any turnovers: "There were some takeaways today. I think there were three interceptions overall; (also) had a fumble down in the red area that was critical. So we've got to do a better job taking care of the ball on offense. Certainly attacked it at times on defense."
On the physicality of the scrimmage: "It needs to be better at times. Again, we started slow. We operated like we were going to be in thud mode today. … Now, it came on and some physicality showed up throughout practice. But we have to continue to take that to another level."
On areas for improvement that stood out: "I have to watch the film probably before I can tell you what we need to improve on. We've gotta take care of the ball better; that's an easy one to come away with. We've gotta tackle better; that's an easy one for defense. Gotta communicate and just operate more efficiently. But beyond that, I need to go watch the film to be able to tell you what you guys want to hear."
