Oregon Spring Game (April 27 Sat 1 PM)

[OregonFan4Life]

I personally wasn’t worried about the OLine, most of the pressure was just someone winning their 1v1 battle against a lineman most likely to get backup snaps, and the run blocking overall looked pretty good which I thought was a slight weakness last year.

For me the only concern was the QB play. In fact I think you could make an argument for Moga being the most impressive QB especially with that speed! Gabriel did not look good at all and his deep ball is very underwhelming. I hope the biggest issue is lack of time with the team and some things can get fixed by fall.

I thought the WR’s were also underwhelming outside of Tez Johnson who is in a class of his own. RB’s looks very good, James and Whittington will be a solid 1-2 punch and Lamar seems to have grown quite a bit this offseason.

I do think the defense will carry this team though, the front 7 looks dominant and to say the coverage/secondary looks better than last year is a massive understatement. The ball pursuit was incredible, LB’s were always in position, pass rush is elite, and I still continue to be amazed by Burch, he is such a physical specimen, I could see him being a top 10 pick in the draft next season.

If the ducks land Harmon I do think they have a chance at winning the B1G, but overall I’m not sure the roster is quite there yet. Need to see more from the QB’s.

[pezsez1]

I thought Gabriel looked solid, especially later in the game. Love that they put him in on the last drive to run the 2-min offense. Some things were a little sloppy but this looked pretty good for a spring game. Defense is going to be awesome.

Also hope to get some updates on Savage and Manning. Thankfully the start of the season is still months away.

[DmoneyDuck]

It's a glorified scrimmage (split squad to boot) with a roster that includes quite a bit of turnover at key positions. Some of these players have only been on campus for a few weeks. Give them the summer and fall to mesh and I think we'll be fine. The defense will absolutely be the backbone of the team but the offense will find its way. No need to overreact here imo. Ducks are still the favorites (with tOSU coming to Autzen) to win the B1G.

[OregonFan4Life]

I did miss the 4th quarter, was that when Gabriel looked his best?

[webfoots2001]

For me the only concern was the QB play. In fact I think you could make an argument for Moga being the most impressive QB especially with that speed! Gabriel did not look good at all and his deep ball is very underwhelming. I hope the biggest issue is lack of time with the team and some things can get fixed.

A running QB looking good against a defense that isn’t allowed to touch him. This is very Robby Ashford spring 2.0

[bdkipe]

Does everyone remember how last year after the Spring Game we were ready to fire Tosh and bemoaned the fact our defense wasn’t going to be able to stop a HS Team? Our D was fast, physical and elite in a lot of ways last year, save for 1/2 of game1 against UW and 75% of game 2 agsimst UW.

Mix and matched defensive lines have HUGE advantages over mix and matched Olines because Oline play is chemistry, communication & trust amidst absolute chaos vs Dline which is execute your assignment and go win it if it’s a 1-1.

I think the coaching goal was for both sides to execute the basic concepts of what we want to do and put it on tape for the coaches to break down and teach off of it.

Oh, and when Gabriel was told to run a 2 minute-drill to go 97 yards he did just that with a dime of a rainbow to Kasper that would have been called a TD after review.

TLDR version:

- this was a mix/match spring game, the sky isn’t falling
- Gabriel is fine & his backups are very competent
- let’s not induct our entire Dline room into Canton yet
- the season starts in 18 weeks. We don’t have a game next Saturday. Injured players will have time to heal.

[pezsez1]

Code: Select all

I did miss the 4th quarter, was that when Gabriel looked his best?

He pretty much moved the ball at will during the second half. The fact he played so little tells me all I need to know about how the coaches feel about him.

I was actually most underwhelmed with Dante Moore. But he's also young and it is a spring game.

[GrandpaDuck]

I enjoyed the game. Oregon won, Go Ducks.

Didn't learn much but the new kickers gave me hope. Gabriel once unleashed will be effective and I expect a lot like Nix 's first year here. Moga, WR-7, TE-18 flashed impressive athleticism.

The best thing about the Oregon Spring game is they play a game of football, you can pick a side and enjoy it. So many of these Spring "games" other schools play are made boring as heck by the format and there is a reason they draw more seagulls in the stands than fans.

[buckmarkduck]

Gabriel has 5 years of starting tape to prove that some of you don’t know what you’re talking about. His OL, consisted of 3 guys who won’t play much, got beat over and over again by Washington. So DG didn’t have much time. I swear Washington got into the backfield so fast some plays that he actually sacked Novasad as he handed it off to James for a TD. It just was missed by the refs.

[Phalanx]

Are we sure Novosad is 3rd string? It seems like he would be the better backup.

[pezsez1]

- the season starts in 18 weeks. We don’t have a game next Saturday. Injured players will have time to heal.

Lanning didn't give any specific injury updates in his postgame statements, but he also seemed confident that guys would have time to get healthy by the start of the season. Hopefully that's the case.

[greenyellow]

I feel good enough about what I saw from the team today that I'm not worried too much about any one position. The QBs played decently given the OL protection and vanilla plays being called. The RBs ran tough behind inconsistent blocking and an aggressive front seven. The WR/TE vs DB matchups were pretty even as I don't think one position completely dominated the other. The OL play was hard to gauge with starters being mixed with backups and walk-ons and Oregon's DL being that good.

Oregon's front 7 might be the strongest part of the defense. The edges/DEs were getting pressure all day long and actually displayed some decent coverage skills when asked. I thought the DTs/NTs did a good job at clogging the middle and making plays, especially on the goal line stands that each team had. The LBs were consistently flowing fast into the holes in the run game and the coverage looked good, especially against the RBs and TEs. The CBs have a good mix of size, speed, length, and experience. I thought the safety play looked so much better than last year as there's more speed, better instincts, and more depth.

[greenyellow]

[Everythingsducky]

Totally off topic here. If so many players in practice, and in this game, wear additionally safe head protection, why can’t schools/NFL completely incorporate that in ANY game. Paint them in their colors and get on with it.

[droop10]

Totally off topic here. If so many players in practice, and in this game, wear additionally safe head protection, why can’t schools/NFL completely incorporate that in ANY game. Paint them in their colors and get on with it.

The NFL just passed a rule that starting this year, players have the option to wear the guardian cap over their helmet.