Oregon football coach Dan Lanning recaps first spring scrimmage

The Oregon Ducks have been practicing inside Autzen Stadium throughout the spring season due to construction on their practice fields, but when they stepped foot on Rich Brooks Field on Saturday, there was a different vibe.

The Ducks held their first scrimmage of the spring season on Saturday morning, going through more of a game-like feel rather than standard practice drills. It allowed players a chance to show how far they’ve come so far this year, and try to work their way up the depth chart.

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While the scrimmage was closed to the public, Dan Lanning met with media members afterward to talk about what took place, and give some insight into how the team is progressing thus far.

Here are some of the most notable quotes from his press conference:

Opening Statement

Dan Lanning: A beautiful day in Eugene. Man. It was a great day for some football. I thought our guys went out there and had competitive toughness. Really operated fairly clean, certainly some things to clean up, but it’s also good from both sides of the ball. Some explosive plays on offense, some great pursuit from defense. Got to get an opportunity to look at the film and see exactly what we saw, but our guys work today.

Vocal leadership

Question: How did the guys do with leadership, not so much on the field but stepping up vocally?

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DL: Yeah, I saw some of that, so I still want to see more. You know, just pointing out a couple good examples out there on the field today. So continue to always look more for more of that.

Defense answering from the last scrimmage

Q: How did the defense respond from the offense getting the advantage in the last scrimmage?

DL: We had an example of that ball was backed up, probably the four, three-yard line, and had a big play, explosive touchdown, you know, shortly after that. So that’s, that’s what you want to see, you know, in spring ball, some back and forth. And I thought we had some good back and forth today, you know, went both ways at times, you know, the times. You know, offense had success, third down, deep period, defense had success. So just some good, competitive periods today.

Physicality

Q: How do you think physicality showed itself today?

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DL: Yeah, well, we’re tackling right, and I think that’s how you become a great football team. You gotta, you gotta practice it so it doesn’t happen on accident. And I think you saw some really good moments of that again, anxious to watch the film and see what showed up.

Quarterback performance

Q: When you have an opening at quarterback, what do you want to see in these scrimmages?

DL: Yeah, efficiency, right? Like, who can operate keep the ball out of jeopardy, right? Who understands the system? You know, the thing about quarterback is, you got to be able to get everybody lined up. You got to understand the protections. You got to understand the play clock, right, the operation. So there’s a lot that we ask our quarterback to do here. I think that allows them to play fast once they get in a real rhythm of that, of that, but who’s moving the ball down the field right, matriculating the ball down the field, who’s creating, you know, touchdowns right, makes the play of the people around them better, and then it’s able to operate our system.

New offensive linemen

Q: What have you seen from the new offensive linemen such as Emmanuel Pregnon?

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DL: They are physically gifted guys, you know, I think they walk out there with a temperament. There’s very few teams that I’ve been around that have an old line that feels like our old line, right? I think that’s credit to Coach (A’Lique) Terry and the guys that support him in the offensive, you know, in the offensive line room, Coach Cutter (Leftwich), right? They all work extremely hard, and you see that showing up with guys like Pregnon and guys like (Alex) Harkey that you mentioned, but also several other guys in that room, you know. They’re close, connected. Work hard, you know, and there’s a lot of room for growth and opportunities for us to get better there, but those guys are working.

Experience in a real game vs scrimmages vs real game

Q: How do the players get experience in a scrimmage compared to a real game or a spring game?

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DL: Yeah, I mean that that’s you get better football by playing football. So days, days like today, make us better, right? And every one of those situations is different. We want to, wouldn’t want it to be as close to the game day as we can on getting on days like today, but there’s a difference, right? And you’re working against your own team, right? There’s some real competitive periods, but you got to move on to the next play too. So I think we can see all those things in these scrimmages, but we’re going to take advantage every scrimmage, every practice we can, to create that.

Quarterbacks being themselves

Q: How much do you have to remind your quarterback to be themselves and not what Bo (Nix) or what Dillon (Gabriel) did?

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DL: I think that’s everybody in our organization, right, not just exclusively quarterbacks. I think coaches have to be who they are, right? Players have to be who they are. So I everybody understands that, but I also know where’s one on a play progression, right? Where do my eyes need to start? What do I need to be able to do? And there’s a teaching progression, a play progression, to everything that we do, same with quarterback. So I’m more concerned about, are the rise in the right spot to start, right? Are they making the right calls, the right reads, the right checks, and are they putting the ball in jeopardy? Are they protecting the ball? But you have to be you when you’re out there on that field.

Cornerback improvement

Q: What did you see out of the cornerbacks today?

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DL: I mean, some good, some bad, right? Saw some physicality show up today. Some guys have to make tackles in space, which is one of the hardest things to do in football. Saw some guys get beat over the top at times today, too. So that’s going to happen, right? And what we got to do is learn from those mistakes. But I see a group that’s really hungry, eager to learn, taking advantage of their opportunities when they’re on the field, and maximizing those chances.

A’Mauri Washington

Q: How has A,Mauri Washington progressed this spring?

DL: A’Mauri’s got unbelievable ability that we’re really excited about. When you see a guy that’s worked extremely hard since he got here, sometimes it’s hard, you know, early on, to be able to make huge contributions there on the defensive line, but he’s become a guy that we really count on. He has explosive power, he has great strength, and he understands his job when he’s out on the field. So really proud of his progress and the teammate that he is and what he does for our team.

This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon football coach Dan Lanning recaps Ducks first spring scrimmage