The Ducks were in shells for the first time this preseason, and a highly competitive practice was the result.

Venue: Outdoor practice fields

Format: Shells

After two days of practices controlled by the defense, Willie Taggart predicted things might even out Thursday. The Ducks had been in helmets only the first three days of this preseason camp, which the first-year UO coach said favors the defense.

On Thursday, the Ducks added shoulder pads. "It should be a little different," Taggart said beforehand.

Boy, was he right. Play between the two sides evened out, and the atmosphere was electric on the practice fields Thursday. The offense found its mojo, touchdowns were more frequent, and that only served to raise the level of competition – and the jawing between the two sides.

"I don't know about y'all," Taggart said afterward, "but that was a fun practice."

Taggart set the tone for the day early, putting the Ducks through an Oklahoma drill after the 11-on-11 tempo drill that typically leads off the schedule. The highlight of that might have been battles between emerging defensive line standout Austin Faoliu and senior guard Evan Voeller ; Faoliu tossed aside the blocker to make a tackle on one rep, but the next time they met, Voeller helped open a hole for a Darrian Felix "touchdown."





The energy hit the next level midway through practice in the first 11-on-11 drill. Thomas Graham Jr. arrived just after the ball to thud up Darrian McNeal (above) on a screen pass. The collision got both sides fired up, and the action was heated the rest of the morning.

The next 11-on-11 period ended with a Royce Freeman touchdown run. The defensive backs then had several nice plays to highlight a 7-on-7 drill held in the red zone. The last 11-on-11 period began with Faoliu stopping Freeman in the backfield, but ended with Braxton Burmeister throwing a strike to Jacob Breeland for a touchdown.

Overall, it was thoroughly entertaining. Both sides brought "the juice," and both sides made plays, though seemingly not due to massive breakdowns that exposed a weakness on the other side.

"We're out here, we've gotta work – why not have fun?" Taggart said to the team. "That's what I saw today. Guys having fun, on both sides of the ball."

Highlights: In the Oklahoma drill, CJ Verdell (below) slipped through the grasp of Troy Dye for a touchdown run, and Cyrus Habibi-Likio cut past one defender before eluding the grasp of another. Tony Brooks-James added a touchdown behind the blocks of Logan Bathke , Taylor Stinson and Johnny Johnson III – yes, fellow roster nerds, No. 20 scored behind blocks from No. 40, No. 60 and No. 80. … Defensively, Blake Rugraff and Graham combined to make a stop of Kani Benoit , and Kaulana Apelu and Fotu T. Leiato II teamed up to stymy Habibi-Likio. …





The 7-on-7 period was very entertaining. The defense was holding its own to start, but the offense broke through when Daewood Davis hauled in a Burmeister pass in the back of the end zone and got his feet down inbounds. It looked like another TD completion followed that, on a beautiful back corner thrown by Justin Herbert to Johnson, but Ty Griffin reached up and slapped it out of Johnson's hands before the receiver landed inbounds. A similar throw by Herbert had better results moments later, when Malik Lovette held on despite Graham's coverage. Herbert added another TD pass to a leaping Brenden Schooler , but the defense had the last laugh when Griffin slapped away another potential Herbert-to-Johnson completion.

Other observations: After taking just a couple reps at receiver Wednesday, Schooler wore a white No. 26 jersey and practiced full-time at that position Thursday. Numbers are down there due to graduation, transfers and some early nagging injuries, so Schooler stepped up to help fill a need. … Faoliu spent some time with the No. 1 defense at end, with Jordon Scott and Henry Mondeaux . … Taggart lauded Tyree Robinson for his on-field communication in the post-practice huddle. Robinson is really making an effort to be a vocal leader as a senior; in one team meeting, I watched him speak up to remind a young player that he needed to remove his hat, per team policy. …





Thursday's practice was originally scheduled for the afternoon, but Taggart moved it up to the morning due to record-setting temperatures in Eugene this week. The forecast was as high as 108 degrees. A walk-through later in the afternoon was scheduled for indoors, in the Moshofsky Center. … In case you missed it, the preseason coaches' poll was released Thursday. The Ducks were among those teams outside the top 25 but also receiving votes. …

Maybe my favorite play of the day came in the first 11-on-11 period, when QB Demetri Burch tucked the ball to run, and weaved through the defense for a touchdown. The offense came through in two different ways Taggart had been stressing earlier in the week. For one, the TD run followed a rep on which the ball slipped out of Burch's hands; instead of being discouraged, Burch and the offense fought back from the adversity and responded with a touchdown. Also, the offense swarmed Burch in the end zone at the end of the play; typically the defense has been bringing more juice, and Taggart has been encouraging the offense to act in kind. Of course, the big play – and big celebration – didn't sit well with the defense. "That's your first time in the end zone all week," Dye said from the sideline. "Congratulations." It was another early rep that set the tone for Thursday's hyper-competitive practice.

Pre-practice Interviews:

Head coach Willie Taggart