EUGENE -- Preseason football camp can be misery. For three weeks of hot, summer practices, players chase the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel: the moment preparations begin in earnest to hit someone else. At Oregon, that will take place by week's end.



Truth be told, though, the Ducks began preparing for their opponents a while ago.



"Unbeknownst to them," Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said Tuesday, of UO's players, "we incorporate periods (in practice) that have stuff in there as it relates to our first opponent. So they've got a significant amount of work, not only in our first three opponents, but our conference opponents, as well.



"Ten, 12, 15 plays of you name it -- teams that run the spread-option stuff, we'll defend it. Teams that run four-down cross-blitzes, we'll run plays against it."



Before Oregon can install a full-fledged game plan for the Sept. 1 season opener at Autzen Stadium against Bowling Green, however, it must first tidy up several points of order before ending camp following Wednesday's practice. The Ducks believe they're much farther ahead than last season because of staff continuity, but that doesn't mean they're a finished product.



"I still don't think we're quite there yet," quarterback Justin Herbert said. "Still kind of fixing the small things, and thankful we have two more weeks of practice."





UO's second scrimmage this month, held Saturday inside a closed Autzen Stadium, earned generally positive reviews, with Cristobal and numerous players most pleased that the Ducks -- the country's most-penalized team in 2017 -- drew fewer flags.



"It's good that we got guys playing hard, but we got to get them to play right," linebacker Kaulana Apelu said. "I think that comes from leaders, coaches, just basically doing the right thing. There's no real easy answer but focusing on details."



Cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. called the defense's pass rush and run defense improved from the first scrimmage.



"During scrimmage one they didn't have explosive runs but they had some nice little bursts of runs," Graham Jr. said. "This past scrummage they weren't able to get that."



But not all takeaways were positive. Cristobal "wasn't happy with the way we started" and took issue with the energy and urgency UO displayed at times.



"I think sometimes, when you start a certain part of your practices, when the ones go against the twos there might be a little bit of a mental gap and you can't have that," he said. "Because those twos are fighting for jobs, as well, and that kind of mentality will get you beat, and it gets you beat every single Saturday in college football."



Graham Jr. called out his own position group, the defensive backs, for miscommunications that "gave up too many passing touchdowns."



"I feel like we needed to do better," Graham Jr. said. "Things we did good in the first scrimmage we didn't do in the second as a corners group. But I feel like we in the corners group are in position to make plays now, compared with the beginning of spring and fall camp."



Oregon's 17th practice of camp Wednesday will take place in Autzen and though it will close with scrimmage-like elements featuring largely competition between the second- and third-team offenses and defenses, the majority of the workout will be focused on specific situations. Still, even if not a full third scrimmage, it will be another data point for coaches in their evaluations. Their depth chart is housed on a magnetic board in the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex -- the better for shifting players up and down quickly.



"There are several positions where you go, 'Man, this is a co-starter situation where some guy has got to prove just a little bit more than the other to take the first snap of the game,'" Cristobal said. "I think several guys have proven that they can play and that they will play, but we still have some positions that will require a little bit more to determine who starts."





Right guard and right tackle are among the starting jobs that remain competitive, Cristobal said. When the first-team offense took the field Tuesday during a 20-minute viewing period for media, Alabama transfer Dallas Warmack was at right guard and Calvin Throckmorton at right tackle. At left tackle, freshman Penei Sewell has earned rave reviews from teammates, with outside linebacker La'Mar Winston Jr. calling him "special."



"(Sewell) has got a big future and right now he's in the mix," Cristobal said. "Him and Brady (Aiello) and (Jacob) Capra and Dallas Warmack and George Moore, those guys are all battling out for a starting spot. It's fun to watch."



Though defensive linemen Jalen Jelks, Jordon Scott and Austin Faoliu remain the strong favorites to retain their starting jobs from last season, Cristobal said Drayton Carlberg and Gary Baker have impressed as reserves pushing for more playing time. At linebacker, Keith Simms has impressed Cristobal at both the inside and outside positions and joins a crowded competition inside with "Jack" linebacker Troy Dye the only no-doubt starter.

In the defensive backfield true freshman safety Jevon Holland has left teammates gushing praise despite the presence of returning starters Nick Pickett and Ugo Amadi.



By Friday, Cristobal said, coaches expect to have a "pretty good idea" of which freshmen deserve to play and which will become part of scout teams. Numerous Ducks included Holland as one of many newcomers expected to contribute heavily on the field when preparations for the season-opening kickoff intensify in the coming days.



"He's going to be able to make a really big impact as a freshman," Graham Jr. said. "Mark my words, you can write this down, he will be a freshman All-American and he will be the best safety in this class. I truly believe that."



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif