- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 447,419
- Reaction score
- 44
It was a fun afternoon in Eugene, as Oregon Duck fans gathered in Autzen Stadium as the sun broke through the crowds and watched as Dan Lanning's new-look roster took the field for the annual spring game. While a program record number of players were being selected in the 2025 NFL draft, the guys in Eugene showcased what they had been working on all offseason.
It was a fun day for the Ducks, with the defense largely dominating the scrimmage, except for a handful of shot plays from the offense. The final scoreboard will read 24-20, Fighting Ducks, but the most important number to note was the 11 sacks from the combined defenses, along with a defensive touchdown.
There were expected performances from guys like Kenyon Sadiq, Dante Moore, and Kyler Kasper, but a handful of young guys broke out as well, including WR Dillon Gresham, QB Luke Moga, LB Jerry Mixon, and K Gage Hurych.
Here are some of the biggest things that stood out to us throughout the game:
The story of the day was the defense, to be clear. While the offenses had their moments and a few chunk plays throughout the day, it was the defense that dominated from start to finish, wracking up a total of 11 sacks, intercepting one pass, and forcing a fumble that was taken the length of the field for a touchdown from Blake Purchase.
Safety Aaron Flowers led the team with eight total tackles, while LB Jerry Mixon added 7 of his own. In all, 11 different players had at least 0.5 sacks on the day, and the two teams combined for 16 tackles for loss. The secondary got in on the action as well, with nine total pass break-ups.
Of course, a defense is usually going to win in an Oregon spring game where the offensive line is thrown together and made up of starters and backups. When you combine that with the fact that the Ducks' defensive line is arguably the strong suit of the roster, you get a dominant performance like we did on Saturday.
I went into Saturday's scrimmage with the idea that Dante Moore was the leader in the quarterback competition, followed relatively closely by Austin Novosad and then Luke Moga as the QB3. I did not see anything during the spring game to sway that notion.
All three quarterbacks look pretty good in the scrimmage, with Moga honestly having the most impressive day. The redshirt freshman completed 6-of-13 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown while also adding a couple of rushes for 11 yards on the ground. Moore was the next most productive QB, completing 12-of-20 passes for 140 yards and no touchdowns. Novosad went 5-for-9 for 58 yards and no touchdowns.
Each player had their moments — Novosad's was on the first drive of the game with a 36-yard completion to Dakorien Moore down the sideline; Moore hit Kenyon Sadiq seven times for 102 of his 140 yards; Moga connected with Dillon Gresham on a slant over the middle that went 56 yards for a touchdown — but nobody really stood out and completely stole the show, asserting themselves as the clear-cut QB1.
As such, I am left thinking that this is still Moore's job to lose, and it's going to take an impressive fall camp from any of the other passers in the room to unseat him from the top of the depth chart.
Back in March, Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein told us that he was going to try and get Kenyon Sadiq the ball more this year. We saw what that looked like on Saturday in the spring game, and it was spectacular. Sadiq led the team with seven catches for 102 yards and hurdled another defender in the third quarter just for giggles.
While this was a joy for fans to see, it was nothing new for Dan Lanning and the players.
“I have seen it every day that he’s been here," Lanning said after the game. "He’s a guy that has constantly improved, worked really hard, and embraced whatever role he’s wearing for the team. He has been able to help us since the day he got here. I think you saw some of Kenyon that we get to see every day in practice.”
There are a lot of offensive weapons for Stein to scheme for, but Sadiq has proven every time he's gotten the ball in his hands that he's among the most explosive options that the Ducks have. If Stein keeps his word, it could be quite an entertaining season.
It didn't take long for 5-star freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore to announce his presence. Fans were excited to see the No. 1 WR in the 2025 class finally get some run in the spring game, and it only took a few plays for his number to be called. On Austin Novosad's first pass completion of the game, he found Moore streaking down the right sideline for a 36-yard gain.
It wasn't just a run-in-the-mill pitch and catch, but a perfectly placed ball that Moore battled cornerback Theran Johnson for while staying inbounds.
There are a number of mouths to feed in Oregon's offense, from Sadiq to Evan Stewart, to Makhi Hughes, to Kyler Kasper. It's pretty clear, though, that Moore is going to have a role to play, and he could be among the top targets for whoever wins the starting job.
We go into every spring game knowing that a young player is going to announce their presence and turn some heads. In the past years, guys like Troy Franklin, Tez Johnson, and Jay Harris have all had big performances that signaled what might be to come. On Saturday, that young player was redshirt freshman WR Dillon Gresham.
He finished the day with three catches for 96 yards and the only WR touchdown of the day. 56 of his yards came on his slant pass taken to the house from Luke Moga, but he also had an impressive diving catch down the left sideline in the first half as well.
“I would say that Dylan is probably one of our most improved players from this past season to what he’s done now," Lanning said after the He continues to make big plays on the field and has done a really good job for us. He showed up today and I think we all saw what he’s capable of.”
It will be tough for Greshman to get a large portion of the target share in Eugene this year with so many talented players, but he at the very least showed on Saturday that he belongs in the mix, and has a bright future at Oregon.
There hasn't been much talk about the kicker position this offseason for the Ducks, simply because the assumption was that Atticus Sappington would keep the job after being the starter in 2024. However, he might have some competition after Saturday's scrimmage. Freshman kicker Gage Hurych announced his presence, and he did so loudly. Hurych handled both kicking and punting duties, nailing a pair of deep field goals, one from 47 yards and one from 54 yards. Both kicks sailed through the uprights with room to spare.
Hurych also punted twice for 69 yards, one of which was downed inside the 20.
It's a spring game, so it's hard to tell how a freshman kicker like Hurych would perform under the pressure of a real game situation, but he is, at the very least, a name to know in the suddenly open kicker competition.
There weren't a ton of injuries or absences for the Ducks that we could see during warmups, but the team was missing a few potential starters.
Both LB Devon Jackson and DL Aydin Breland were held out of the game with apparent injuries. Breland was in a walking boot, while Jackson had no discernable injury but was still in street clothes. Starting wide receiver Evan Stewart also did not play in the game despite being in full pads.
There was also CB Jahlil Florence, who was the only player in a red, non-contact jersey for the game. Lanning said after the game that Florence was dealing with a hand injury, and the plan was to keep him limited. Despite that, Florence played a lot of the game, and was in on some tackles throughout the action.
There have been a lot of questions about the linebacker position for the Ducks, in part because of the injury to Devon Jackson and the relative thinness of the room's depth. After the game, when asked about that depth and the potential of adding a transfer, Lanning was very blunt with his answer.
“We won’t pursue anybody in the portal for a linebacker. I feel really good about our linebacker group, I like the guys we have."
He should have liked what he saw on Saturday, particularly from Jerry Mixon, who had seven tackles, one sack, and 2.5 tackles for loss. Guys like Brayden Platt, Dylan Williams, and Kamar Mothudie also played very well. Veteran linebacker Bryce Boettcher also played very little in this game, so the young LBs were able to stand out and show what they're capable of.
Similar to the kicker position, there were very few questions about the punter spot at Oregon, with Ross James putting up some of the best punting stats in the nation over the past two years. However, he looked nothing like the 2024 version of himself on Saturday, punting three times for 94 yards for an average of just about 31 yards. One of his punts was a complete shank, traveling just 12 yards before going out of bounds.
It was a poor performance, and it led Lanning to joke about potentially addressing the position in the transfer portal. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but it's clear that Lanning was not happy with the punting performance on Saturday.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Football: Major takeaways from Ducks' successful sprig game
Continue reading...
It was a fun day for the Ducks, with the defense largely dominating the scrimmage, except for a handful of shot plays from the offense. The final scoreboard will read 24-20, Fighting Ducks, but the most important number to note was the 11 sacks from the combined defenses, along with a defensive touchdown.
There were expected performances from guys like Kenyon Sadiq, Dante Moore, and Kyler Kasper, but a handful of young guys broke out as well, including WR Dillon Gresham, QB Luke Moga, LB Jerry Mixon, and K Gage Hurych.
Here are some of the biggest things that stood out to us throughout the game:
A Nasty Defensive Line
You must be registered for see images attach
The story of the day was the defense, to be clear. While the offenses had their moments and a few chunk plays throughout the day, it was the defense that dominated from start to finish, wracking up a total of 11 sacks, intercepting one pass, and forcing a fumble that was taken the length of the field for a touchdown from Blake Purchase.
Safety Aaron Flowers led the team with eight total tackles, while LB Jerry Mixon added 7 of his own. In all, 11 different players had at least 0.5 sacks on the day, and the two teams combined for 16 tackles for loss. The secondary got in on the action as well, with nine total pass break-ups.
Of course, a defense is usually going to win in an Oregon spring game where the offensive line is thrown together and made up of starters and backups. When you combine that with the fact that the Ducks' defensive line is arguably the strong suit of the roster, you get a dominant performance like we did on Saturday.
The Quarterback Competition
You must be registered for see images attach
I went into Saturday's scrimmage with the idea that Dante Moore was the leader in the quarterback competition, followed relatively closely by Austin Novosad and then Luke Moga as the QB3. I did not see anything during the spring game to sway that notion.
All three quarterbacks look pretty good in the scrimmage, with Moga honestly having the most impressive day. The redshirt freshman completed 6-of-13 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown while also adding a couple of rushes for 11 yards on the ground. Moore was the next most productive QB, completing 12-of-20 passes for 140 yards and no touchdowns. Novosad went 5-for-9 for 58 yards and no touchdowns.
Each player had their moments — Novosad's was on the first drive of the game with a 36-yard completion to Dakorien Moore down the sideline; Moore hit Kenyon Sadiq seven times for 102 of his 140 yards; Moga connected with Dillon Gresham on a slant over the middle that went 56 yards for a touchdown — but nobody really stood out and completely stole the show, asserting themselves as the clear-cut QB1.
As such, I am left thinking that this is still Moore's job to lose, and it's going to take an impressive fall camp from any of the other passers in the room to unseat him from the top of the depth chart.
Kenyon Sadiq Season
You must be registered for see images attach
Back in March, Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein told us that he was going to try and get Kenyon Sadiq the ball more this year. We saw what that looked like on Saturday in the spring game, and it was spectacular. Sadiq led the team with seven catches for 102 yards and hurdled another defender in the third quarter just for giggles.
While this was a joy for fans to see, it was nothing new for Dan Lanning and the players.
“I have seen it every day that he’s been here," Lanning said after the game. "He’s a guy that has constantly improved, worked really hard, and embraced whatever role he’s wearing for the team. He has been able to help us since the day he got here. I think you saw some of Kenyon that we get to see every day in practice.”
There are a lot of offensive weapons for Stein to scheme for, but Sadiq has proven every time he's gotten the ball in his hands that he's among the most explosive options that the Ducks have. If Stein keeps his word, it could be quite an entertaining season.
Dakorien Moore Will Have a Role
You must be registered for see images
It didn't take long for 5-star freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore to announce his presence. Fans were excited to see the No. 1 WR in the 2025 class finally get some run in the spring game, and it only took a few plays for his number to be called. On Austin Novosad's first pass completion of the game, he found Moore streaking down the right sideline for a 36-yard gain.
It wasn't just a run-in-the-mill pitch and catch, but a perfectly placed ball that Moore battled cornerback Theran Johnson for while staying inbounds.
There are a number of mouths to feed in Oregon's offense, from Sadiq to Evan Stewart, to Makhi Hughes, to Kyler Kasper. It's pretty clear, though, that Moore is going to have a role to play, and he could be among the top targets for whoever wins the starting job.
Dillon Gresham's Breakout
You must be registered for see images attach
We go into every spring game knowing that a young player is going to announce their presence and turn some heads. In the past years, guys like Troy Franklin, Tez Johnson, and Jay Harris have all had big performances that signaled what might be to come. On Saturday, that young player was redshirt freshman WR Dillon Gresham.
He finished the day with three catches for 96 yards and the only WR touchdown of the day. 56 of his yards came on his slant pass taken to the house from Luke Moga, but he also had an impressive diving catch down the left sideline in the first half as well.
Dillon Gresham catches dart from Moga. pic.twitter.com/m2EcFnCqUl
—LegalizeQuack
“I would say that Dylan is probably one of our most improved players from this past season to what he’s done now," Lanning said after the He continues to make big plays on the field and has done a really good job for us. He showed up today and I think we all saw what he’s capable of.”
It will be tough for Greshman to get a large portion of the target share in Eugene this year with so many talented players, but he at the very least showed on Saturday that he belongs in the mix, and has a bright future at Oregon.
Hello, Gage Hurych
You must be registered for see images
There hasn't been much talk about the kicker position this offseason for the Ducks, simply because the assumption was that Atticus Sappington would keep the job after being the starter in 2024. However, he might have some competition after Saturday's scrimmage. Freshman kicker Gage Hurych announced his presence, and he did so loudly. Hurych handled both kicking and punting duties, nailing a pair of deep field goals, one from 47 yards and one from 54 yards. Both kicks sailed through the uprights with room to spare.
Hurych also punted twice for 69 yards, one of which was downed inside the 20.
It's a spring game, so it's hard to tell how a freshman kicker like Hurych would perform under the pressure of a real game situation, but he is, at the very least, a name to know in the suddenly open kicker competition.
Notable Injuries, Absences
You must be registered for see images attach
There weren't a ton of injuries or absences for the Ducks that we could see during warmups, but the team was missing a few potential starters.
Both LB Devon Jackson and DL Aydin Breland were held out of the game with apparent injuries. Breland was in a walking boot, while Jackson had no discernable injury but was still in street clothes. Starting wide receiver Evan Stewart also did not play in the game despite being in full pads.
There was also CB Jahlil Florence, who was the only player in a red, non-contact jersey for the game. Lanning said after the game that Florence was dealing with a hand injury, and the plan was to keep him limited. Despite that, Florence played a lot of the game, and was in on some tackles throughout the action.
Jerry Mixon and the Linebackers
You must be registered for see images attach
There have been a lot of questions about the linebacker position for the Ducks, in part because of the injury to Devon Jackson and the relative thinness of the room's depth. After the game, when asked about that depth and the potential of adding a transfer, Lanning was very blunt with his answer.
“We won’t pursue anybody in the portal for a linebacker. I feel really good about our linebacker group, I like the guys we have."
He should have liked what he saw on Saturday, particularly from Jerry Mixon, who had seven tackles, one sack, and 2.5 tackles for loss. Guys like Brayden Platt, Dylan Williams, and Kamar Mothudie also played very well. Veteran linebacker Bryce Boettcher also played very little in this game, so the young LBs were able to stand out and show what they're capable of.
The Punting Problem
You must be registered for see images
Similar to the kicker position, there were very few questions about the punter spot at Oregon, with Ross James putting up some of the best punting stats in the nation over the past two years. However, he looked nothing like the 2024 version of himself on Saturday, punting three times for 94 yards for an average of just about 31 yards. One of his punts was a complete shank, traveling just 12 yards before going out of bounds.
It was a poor performance, and it led Lanning to joke about potentially addressing the position in the transfer portal. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but it's clear that Lanning was not happy with the punting performance on Saturday.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Football: Major takeaways from Ducks' successful sprig game
Continue reading...
