Bellotti disappointed with Oregon's `sluggish' performance in scrimmage.

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

The reverse was a popular call by the UO offense, and successful, too, unless the ball was being fumbled out of bounds.

Kellen Clemens hooked up with Kellen Taylor for a nice lob down the left sideline for a touchdown, though two other attempts at a similar connection were incomplete.

A few things went right on offense in Oregon's first major scrimmage of spring drills in Autzen Stadium on Saturday afternoon, though the defense threw a wrench into some things as well.

"Whenever they get something and it goes for a big play, we get upset," senior free safety Keith Lewis said. "If it worked over and over again, you'd get worried."

Very little worked over and over again during the hour-long scrimmage to close practice, which was troublesome to UO coach Mike Bellotti.

"We were a little sluggish," he said. "I was disappointed with the intensity and the enthusiasm. For the first full-go in full pads, I didn't see the stuff I wanted to see."

Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata seemed to show some intensity midway through the scrimmage, when he got into a shoving match with offensive lineman Shawn Perkins. Of course, Ngata had to spend the rest of practice running stairs as punishment.

Otherwise, the Ducks seemed in agreement with their coach regarding the enthusiasm of the workout.

"There wasn't enough hitting out there today," Lewis said. "I thought it was pretty soft on both ends."

The offensive highlights were two drives that ended in touchdowns and two others that culminated in field-goal attempts, though Jared Siegel was wide left from 45 yards on his first kick.

Defensively, middle linebacker Jerry Matson drew raves for his clothesline tackle of Terrence Whitehead early in the day, and Quinn Dorsey had two of the defense's five sacks.

Bellotti was upset with breakdowns in pass protection on the sacks, but Dorsey did look sharp in his first major scrimmage since missing last season with a knee injury.

"I feel real comfortable," Dorsey said. "Since I've had this time off, my body feels great. I feel darn near like I did when I was a freshman."

Jason Fife opened the scrimmage at quarterback and drove the offense into position for the missed field-goal attempt on its second drive. In came Clemens, who hit Eddie Whitaker for a 23-yard gain, then three plays later found Taylor for a 44-yard touchdown reception. Taylor caught five passes for 78 yards on the afternoon.

True freshman Johnny DuRocher came in for two possessions following two drives under Clemens. All told, each quarterback directed three drives before the team took a halftime break, with no other scoring plays.

Clemens started the first two possessions after the break, and Fife came back in to direct the longest drive of the afternoon on the third possession. Fife was 4-of-7 for 43 yards on that drive, and Taylor managed 20 yards on a reverse, but on second-and-goal from the 5 he fumbled another reverse out of bounds at the 15, and Fife threw incomplete on third down.

Still, the offense scored when Siegel drilled a 32-yard field goal. On the next possession, under walk-on quarterback Adam Hazel, tailback Chris Vincent ran 21 yards on the first play, and three plays later he plunged in from 1 yard out for the final scoring play of the day.

Vincent finished with 41 yards on eight carries to lead the Ducks in rushing for the day.

CAPTION(S):

Running back Ryan Shaw is taken down by several defenders during Saturday's UO football scrimmage at Autzen Stadium.