Dan Lanning explains what he wants to see during Oregon's second scrimmage

Oregon is about halfway through spring football practice, having gotten in its first scrimmage and awaiting a second. Coach Dan Lanning has some specific plans in mind for the second scrimmage.

The second-year Oregon coach broke down what he’s hoping to get out of the second time out.

“We’ll just incorporate a couple more situations,” Lanning said. “Try to create the game before the game, talking about scenarios about when it’s right to go down as a runner in bounds as opposed to out of bounds, situational football like that.”

Lanning’s squad put together a very successful first season under his direction, winning 10 games and the Holiday Bowl.

There’s plenty to be excited about, with quarterback Bo Nix back after a tremendous 2022 campaign. Last season, Nix went 294-of-409 passing for 3,593 yards with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also added 510 yards rushing and 14 scores on the ground.

He could be a potential Heisman Trophy winner.

But as good as Oregon is expected to be this fall, you almost always see a few games come down to the wire. That’s where the situational work Lanning hopes to get in during the second scrimmage comes in.

The first scrimmage was more about the basics.

“Scrimmage one, it was good to get get the guys out there see them compete,” Lanning said. “It was the first time that we’ve been live this spring, tackle to the ground. Guys did a great job handling that and did also good job protecting their teammates. Thought we ran the ball with some physicality. But all together, good day, good competitive day. Won’t be able to answer a ton of questions on performances until I go back and watch the film but just good to see our guys get out there compete and play physical.”

The Ducks will go as far as their coach and quarterback can guide them, but there are still a lot of questions left to figure out. There are key support roles and even some starting roles that need to have players step up before the season begins. Some of those questions will get sorted out in the second scrimmage.

Luckily, there’s plenty of time still.

“You got to figure out, OK, who are the guys that we make sure we get on the field and get involved? Who are the guys that are close that we can get in there if we coach the technique properly?” Lanning said. “Then, where’s the want to? What’s that look like? Where are the team players, what kind of body language do the guys play with when things go well, when things don’t go well? A lot of opportunities, a lot of things to coach. And then schematically, what do we need to change to make sure that we’re prepared for certain situations?”