The Ducks held a scrimmage Saturday afternoon inside Autzen Stadium.

Early in Saturday's scrimmage for the Oregon football team, Kris Hutson found open field and got to the end zone for the first touchdown of the day. A couple of hours later, Daymon David intercepted a pass to wrap things up in Autzen Stadium.

Those two moments in time were a microcosm of how things played out for the Ducks in their first scrimmage of this preseason camp under head coach Dan Lanning.

Which side of the ball, Lanning was asked afterward, got the better of things?

"I would have definitely said offense early," Lanning said. "They were definitely moving the ball and having some success early. I think defense, late. It's good to see the yin and yang."

So far that's been something of a theme for the Ducks this preseason, with Saturday's scrimmage marking the eighth practice of this camp. During competition periods, each side of the ball notches some wins. When one unit wins a two-minute drill on a particular day, the other unit has tended to win the next day.

The scrimmage captured a similar theme. In a red-zone drill, the offense got on the scoreboard a couple of times, including touchdowns by Chase Cota and Moliki Matavao. The scrimmage then transitioned into a two-minute drill, and the defense won two scenarios to finish the scrimmage strong.

Lanning appreciated seeing players digest coaching points from meetings earlier in the day, and put them to use on the field. Saturday morning in a meeting, the Ducks watched film of a late-game situation from a recent matchup between Rice and UAB, in which a potential game-clinching interception instead resulted in another turnover when the defender tried to return the ball, and was stripped for a fumble.

A few hours later in Autzen Stadium, the offense needed to make something happen on fourth down in the two-minute drill. Senior defensive back Bennett Williams picked off the pass, and had the sense to get down to the turf and end the drill, rather than return it and risk another turnover.

What was discussed in the meeting room played out directly as coaches would hope on the field.

"It's fun to see moments like that," Lanning said.

Special teams is a constant emphasis for the Ducks under Lanning, with periods every day focusing in various techniques in the kicking game. Saturday brought a chance to put it all together, with some live drills in the kicking and punting games.

"I think our snap operation and kick operation, all that stuff, is really clean," Lanning said. "But schematically, being right, we have some more work to do."

Overall, the head coach said, "the 'compete' was high." Earlier in the week, co-defensive coordinator Matt Powledge used a stoplight metaphor to describe how he wants to see his guys play – not tentative, in the yellow zone, but playing "green."

So did Lanning see the Ducks "play green" on Saturday?

"I definitely want more green," he said. "Now, we weren't way behind the curve. Guys were going (hard) today. But I'm always looking for a little bit more."

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