The Hurricanes held their first fall scrimmage under the lights at Hard Rock Stadium Aug. 11, with player performances expected to have an immediate impact on the depth chart.

The news coming out of the scrimmage?

Well, coach Mark Richt called it a "very long, probably the longest scrimmage I’ve ever been involved in,” pointing to the increased third team depth as allowing for more plays.

“I’d say every group averaged around 40 to 45 plays apiece,” he said, adding the team did situational work including no-huddle eight-play designed drives "no matter what", third downs and red zone.

Richt said he didn’t want to give out statistics or too much information because “I don’t want to give anyone (opponents) a clue.”

But there was some news.

Ahmmon Richards “had about four or five catches,” Richt said, and Lawrence Cager had a pair of touchdowns.

The QB play?

Starter Malik Rosier had a good day, throwing a couple of touchdowns with no interceptions.

"First drive of the day was beautiful, drove down the field, threw a touchdown," Richt said.

Richt stressed that “the other quarterbacks are getting there” and said the first team offense won the battle going against the No. 2 defense and that the No. 1 defense won the battle against the No. 2 offense.

The real battle at QB, of course, is for the backup job.

“A lot of times it’s hard to grade the No. 2 quarterback when he’s with the No. 2 (offense because they’re going against the No. 1 defense),” Richt said. “I think N’Kosi (Perry) is coming along well. Jarren (Williams) still kind of sometimes gets his head on a swivel to find somebody, zings it to them, doesn’t always know where he’s going and why. But he’s got ability.”

Richt also said that Cade Weldon has “had a great camp.”

“He really only had one day where he was off, the first five in a row he was on fire,” Richt said. "He had probably the highest passing percentage of all the QBs (in the first week of practice). He didn’t get on track that much tonight.”

Richt said running backs Deejay Dallas and Travis Homer had some physical runs “but nothing broke out on the defense” other than a couple of QB scrambles.

“We have to get our rush lanes a little bit better,” Richt said.

On defense an interception came from Sheldrick Redwine, and Richt said that Shaq Quarterman “had about six tackles. There were some sacks without a doubt, but most of them really were in the third and long category which you don’t want to get into. Our No. 1 unit protected very well. … I feel good about the 1 unit.”

He said Hayden Mahoney “has had a really good camp” and singled out Navaughn Donaldson for praise as well.

“I feel good about him at right tackle,” Richt said.

He also said that “Right at this second I’d say (Delone) Scaife is the sixth guy at a few (offensive line) positions.”

The bottom line?

“Overall I’m proud of them,” Richt said. “We have one more scrimmage a week from now, other than that pretty close to getting ready for LSU.

“After watching this tape we’ll be closer to figuring out who can play, who can’t.”

* Asked about the performances of younger players, Richt said “Kids dropped the ball that normally don’t drop the ball - plays are so close to being a great play and you don’t hang onto the ball. There were more dropped passes this day than any in camp. Guys just couldn’t hang onto the ball.

“Overall some really nice plays made on offense, and as a whole the defense, No. 1 unit, dominated against the No. 2 offense. The No. 1 offense, if you had to say who won between the 1 offense and 2 defense, I’d say the 1 offense. Got the best of them, but it was a closer battle than the 1 defense vs. 2 offense. ... Guys were playing hard."

* Richt said freshmen TE’s Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory had issues getting lined up at times but “looked great.”

“They have the toughest position to learn besides offensive line play and quarterback play,” Richt said. “Brevin has so much to process as an on-the-line run blocker, on the line pass blocker, off the line pass blocker, route runner ... has to split out, catching bubbles, blocking for bubbles. He has a lot on his plate. Mallory has a good bit too, but not as much as Brevin’s got.”

* Freshman PK Bubba Baxa had a 57-yard attempt “that had the juice, just missed,” Richt said.

“Bubba’s eyes got big, too,” Richt said. “Kicking in a half a billion dollar stadium got to him a little bit, he struggled. In other practices he’s done very well.

“He’s got a big, strong leg.”

* Mike Pinckney played coming off an injury that cost him the last practice.

* Richt said with the third team groupings "it was a little bit of a comedy of errors, a lot of babysitting going on."

* Richt said most of the playbook is installed, and now it’s about players perfecting it.

* Of Nesta Silvera, Richt said, “Nesta’s doing good. He’s young, will flash real good, then can't get lined up right. He’s tough, physical. He’s going to play, I can tell you that.”

* Richt said there were no injuries that he’s concerned about.

“We had guys nursing a hammy, thought they were ready, weren’t quite ready,” he said. “A couple of guys like that.”