Canzano: Rapid reaction to the Oregon Ducks spring game
My takeaways, opinions, and thoughts...
The University of Oregon held its spring football game on Saturday. The Green team beat the White squad, 28-23.
My quick takeaways:
Sizing up the Oregon Ducks this spring
• I was eager to see the Oregon quarterbacks, but my first impression was how big, athletic, and physical the Ducks looked.
Oregon is headed to the Big Ten next season. Last year’s Big Ten champion (Michigan) piledrove the Pac-12’s best team (Washington) in the national championship game. The Wolverines outrushed the Huskies 303-46. Not everyone in the Big Ten controls the line of scrimmage like that, but the best teams usually do. It’s why Oregon’s physicality matters.
Former UO defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti worked the Pac-12 Network broadcast as an analyst on Saturday. Aliotti used some livestock terminology.
Aliotti coached defenses over the years that included NFL-bound defensive linemen such as Arik Armstead, Haloti Ngata, Igor Olshansky, and DeForest Buckner.
Said Aliotti: “This is the biggest Oregon football team on the hoof that I’ve ever seen.”
Physicality doesn’t happen by accident
• Before UO’s scrimmage, I tuned into the University of Colorado spring game to take a peek. The Buffaloes drew 47,277 fans for the spring game last year. They sold 22,000 tickets for Saturday’s scrimmage. It’s still a great crowd, but what I noted most was that Colorado wasn’t tackling.
CU used “thud” intensity with the shoulder pads. Basically, a physical game of ‘two-hand’ touch designed to avoid injuries. It was very different than the intensity I saw in some other scrimmages, including the one at Oregon on Saturday.
UO did some things to protect the quarterbacks and players wore Guardian-cap helmets, but the Ducks were turned loose to tackle each other.
I asked Dan Lanning about his spring-game philosophy last week. Not everyone likes to go “live” and tackle. Said Lanning: “I’d love to play those teams, right? Football requires a certain level of effort and physicality and that doesn’t happen by accident. You have to practice it. Are we smart with our players? Yeah, absolutely. But we want to take advantage of every opportunity on the field.”
Quarterback room is intriguing
• Bo Nix is gone. He’s with the Denver Broncos now. The college football season kicks off in 18 weeks. Dillon Gabriel will be the starter for Oregon at quarterback. He was nowhere near as accurate as Nix in the spring game but Gabriel made some encouraging plays. He was poised, calm, and in control.
Gabriel threw a 50-yard completion to transfer receiver Evan Stewart in the final two minutes. The pass came out of Gabriel’s own end zone during the two-minute drill. Gabriel subsequently finished the drive with a TD pass to Jay Harris. Offensive coordinator Will Stein used multiple formations and lots of motion on Saturday. You can tell he’s comfortable with Gabriel.
Back-ups Dante Moore and Austin Novosad are in a battle. They’re very different players. Moore has all the tools and a high ceiling. Novosad made a couple of big-time throws. I’ll be curious to see who ends up as the No. 2 this season. Freshman Luke Moga is also intriguing.
Analyst Yogi Roth wondered from the Pac-12 Network broadcast booth: “Best QB room in America?”
The Ducks have three QBs who are very capable. The position depth is impressive and easily the best in the Dan Lanning era. But I’ll wait to judge the room vs. the rest of the country. Nix is a tough act to follow. We need to see more of Gabriel to know how good the QBs can be.
Some other stuff…
• Transfer corner Jabbar Muhammad (Washington) made a nice play in the first half, breaking up a pass attempt. He’s had a great spring. Oregon has impressive depth in the secondary.
• Singer and songwriter Mat Kearney was at Autzen Stadium, where he was set to perform at a post-scrimmage concert. Kearney joined the Pac-12 Network broadcast and revealed he’d get to call a play during the scrimmage.
What play?
“Some kind of triple flea-flicker option,” he said.
• The Oregon Duck mascot had a lemonade stand in the second half on the sideline. The operation got wiped out on a long pass play down the sideline. Nobody was injured, but the mascot and cups went down like bowling pins.
• Jackson Powers-Johnson showed up for the spring game. He was picked in the second round of the NFL Draft on Friday by the Raiders. I smiled when I heard Powers-Johnson reference “my college playing days” like he was 20 years gone.
Powers-Johnson wore a Raiders cap and said he was eager to get to Las Vegas next week and start learning the playbook.
• The NCAA approved optional coach-to-player helmet communication for next season. Oregon successfully utilized the technology during the spring scrimmage. The communication will be shut off with 15 seconds left on the play clock or the snap of the ball — whichever comes first.
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Well played, John. I thought the Ducks looked pretty darned good for a spring game. The WSU game came on right after and the first impression of the event was "desolate". Coach A said the Ducks had well over a 100 players on the roster already, impressive. All very encouraging, and now we just need to wait for them to stick the tee in the ground and start keeping score - won't be long. Just sayin', Charlie
Agree about Dillon being the starter. Coach A nailed it as far as the size of the players! Looks like they’re changing it up a bit with all the movement, which might challenge some teams. Loved seeing Barner and hearing that he was admitted to the HofF- he was so humble even wearing two of the three championship rings and Dye was fun too. Thanks for your take John and hats off to Serena for the pictures!