Oregon football held its first scrimmage of fall camp today at Autzen Stadium, and like any first attempt, it had rough moments.
“The scrimmage was very inconsistent,” head coach Mark Helfrich told reporters after practice. “We held out a bunch of skill guys…[so] there was an opportunity for backup skill guys to make plays. Unfortunately they didn’t make a lot of those. They had a lot of assignment busts.”
Royce Freeman and Charles Nelson were held out, among others, but only as a precautionary measure.
Helfrich proceeded to list drops, fumbles, and interceptions as problems with the offense. He described the fumbles and interceptions as unforced errors with one of the interceptions coming in a two-minute, crunch-time drill.
With the Oregon offense breaking in a new quarterback and the defense an entire scheme, timing and situational issues occurred as well.
“It was probably your typical first scrimmage,” Helfrich said. “Both sides had some fireworks, and both sides had a ton of stuff to repair.”
Transfer quarterback Dakota Prukop has separated himself as the front runner for the starting job. Helfrich described a slight edge toward Prukop, stating that he has been the most consistent contender.
“I’ve spent the time in the film room, and things have started to click,” Prukop said. “Now that I understand the offensive line protections, I’m picking up everything and it really, really helps… It’s little things like that that make a big difference.”
Redshirt freshman Jake Hanson will be starting at center for the Ducks, and his development with the other offensive lineman and quarterback will determine whether this offense runs smooth this season.
“I think we have great chemistry,” Prukop said. “Jake has not had one bad snap the entire fall camp; and I always like to joke with him, ‘Hey, on that day that you do have one, I’m going to save it.’”
Given the nature of the scrimmage, any positive play for the offense can be turned into a negative for the defense, and vice versa.
The Oregon defensive coaching staff emphasized form tackling all fall, and Helfrich described it as “O” in today’s scrimmage. However, a missed tackle from a defender may occur because of a quality move by the running back which makes the coaches job difficult.
“Stalemates are good,” Helfrich said. “If it is physical and fast, that is a good thing. We are not to that point yet, but it is about watching the film and figuring out what did happen and what should happen.”
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917