By Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

Photo: Andy McNamara

Venue: Autzen Stadium

Format: Scrimmage

If you had walked out of Oregon's scrimmage Friday after the first series, you really would have left with the wrong impression.

With the Ducks in full pads in Autzen Stadium for 90 minutes of live drills, Dakota Prukop and the offense hit the ground running. Prukop scrambled away from pressure on the second play to move the chains, and three plays later he connected with Charles Nelson on a 42-yard touchdown pass, against what looked like broken coverage.

A nice start, right? Little did anybody know at that point, what followed were eight straight possessions without a first down. The offense didn't reach the end zone again until late in the day, on two drives that began in the red zone.

“Hats off to the defense; they did great today,” Prukop said. “Offense started fast, and then we kind of got a little sloppy. And that's on the quarterback. The quarterback's gotta manage at all times.”

Friday was the best chance yet for the defense to display the increased aggression and pressure it intends to bring under new coordinator Brady Hoke. They backed up their talk, recording myriad hurries and sacks – quick whistles to protect the QB made it hard to quantify just how many of each. The defense allowed just 5-of-19 third-down conversions prior to the red-zone stuff at the end.

“I think we did a good job with our intensity,” said junior end Henry Mondeaux, probably the Ducks' most consistent, formidable presence defensively now that DeForest Buckner has graduated. “The offense made a couple mistakes that we capitalized on. We were playing fast. We still obviously have a ton to work on, and we were making mistakes too, but I like the overall effort.”

The second-team defense answered Nelson's touchdown with a stop to get momentum going the other way; Darrian Franklin had a sack of Travis Jonsen on fourth down. With Prukop and the ones back on the field, another fourth-down play was blown dead in the backfield, this time with Mondeaux and Jalen Jelks providing the pressure.

The offense finally managed to move the chains again on a Terry Wilson completion to tight end Ryan Bay , following eight straight third-down stops by the defense. But that drive stalled a few plays later, and the defense followed with the first turnover, an interception of Prukop by safety Jhet Janis, who doubles as a javelin thrower for the track and field team.

Janis had the only other turnover too, an interception of a Wilson pass that was tipped by a receiver. Janis made a one-handed catch of the deflection and got his feet in at the sideline to record his second interception of the scrimmage.

“I just had 'compete, compete, compete' in my head,” said Janis, a scout-team receiver last season. “That's what I tried to do.”

After Janis' first interception, Jonsen finally got the offense on the scoreboard again, driving them to a field goal. Early in the drive a snap got past him, but Jonsen fielded it and coolly avoided the rush before throwing on the run and completing a pass to Darren Carrington for a first down. Jonsen led the third and final scoring drive of the day prior to red-zone work, too, another field goal.

Mostly, though, the defense limited extended drives thanks to its pressure. Offensive lineman Shane Lemieux, who practiced with the ones all week, had good perspective on what's new from the defense after working on the scout team last season.

“They're doing a lot of crazy stuff, with the linebackers especially,” Lemieux said. “Every single play they're doing something crazy, not just staying in one spot. We really have to attack more.”

Other highlights: The offense put a couple touchdowns on the board during red-zone drills. Taj Griffin juked his way up the middle for a TD on the first possession, and on the next one Lane Roseberry bowled over a linebacker at the goal line for another rushing touchdown. … On the play before Griffin's touchdown, linebacker Kaulana Apelu burst into the backfield and missed a tackle, but he jumped to his feet and got back in the play, making a tackle from behind after the ballcarrier got hung up at the line of scrimmage. …

On another red-zone possession, Prukop hit Dillon Mitchell for a touchdown from about eight yards out. But the play was negated due to an illegal formation, the sort of sloppiness Prukop referred to earlier. “I've gotta see that,” he said. “I've gotta call that out, make sure we're set up. But that's what's great about a scrimmage. It was good to see some guys make some plays, break some tackles, and we did that; but we've got a lot of film to watch and get better from. I'm excited for Monday's practice.” …

The punt return and punt teams occupied the special teams periods, and generally were underwhelming. Casey Eugenio returned one for a touchdown on behalf of the scout team against the first-string punt team, and later the scouts blocked a punt before jumping on it in the end zone for another touchdown. The coverage team also was flagged twice for kick catch interference. Kirk Merritt did return the first rep of the day for a touchdown with the first-string return group.

Other observations: A group of veterans from Central Oregon visited with the team after practice, something that's become a tradition for the group the last three years or so. … The crew of officials on hand threw about a dozen penalty flags, which didn't feel like a big number over the course of the scrimmage. … With no drill work to participate in, quarterbacks Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie donned white jerseys to help fill out the rotation at receiver. … Among the alumni on hand were Buckner, Marcus Mariota, Hroniss Grasu, Vernon Adams Jr. and Mark Asper.