EUGENE -- Under sunny skies and in the middle of Autzen Stadium, Friday’s spring practice may have felt a little like fall for the Oregon football team.

With one caveat – it was apparently a little slow.

For the first time this spring, the Ducks took the field inside of Autzen, with the team partaking in a scrimmage. Redshirt sophomore tight end Evan Baylis said the change of scenery certainly brought a different flavor to Friday’s practice, and a change of speed.

“The first scrimmage is always a little rusty,” Baylis said. “It takes some warming up and we start getting into the groove of things.”

Tight end and special teams coach Tom Osborne said getting the younger guys into the stadium is crucial early on. While there aren’t 56,000 fans roaring, getting an early acquaintance to Oregon’s home field can help with the adjustment come fall.

“It’s more game like. The juices get flowing for the players a bit when they get to go into the stadium,” he said. “We didn’t really move around as fast as we would have liked today. First time live. First time in the big stadium. That’s the point of going in there. It has that atmosphere. That presence.”

-- Tyson Alger | @tysonalger