Instant Reaction: Oregon Spring Game a success in more ways than one
For those attending the Oregon Ducks Spring Game and wanting to see a lot of offense, they might have been a bit disappointed.
It was the Duck defense, on both sides, that was brighter on this Saturday afternoon inside Autzen Stadium. Whether that's a forecast for the upcoming 2025 regular season remains to be seen, but considering Dan Lanning is the head coach, it shouldn't shock anyone to find out Oregon has a dominating defense.
The offense wasn't running on every cylinder in the exhibition for a variety of reasons. One rule is that touching the quarterback is a sack, and coaches today don't want to open the playbook very much and give opponents even more film than they already have. It was just Chapter 1 of offensive coordinator Will Stein's playbook.
There were a few plays of note, such as freshman Dakorian Moore's one-handed grab on the sideline for 36 yards and linebacker Blake Purchase's scoop-and-score for the Fighting Ducks. Between the five quarterbacks that saw action, it was redshirt freshman Luke Moga who looked the most impressive. He led the Combat Ducks (white team) on a game-winning drive with a long pass to receiver Dillon Gresham with 1:20 remaining.
All in all, it was a fun time at Autzen where the fans got just a taste of what's to come in the fall.
Final Score: Combat Ducks (White) 24, Fighting Ducks (Black) 20
Keys to the Game
Jayden Limar put the Combat Ducks on the board first with a 31-yard run where a huge hole opened up on the right side.
Receiver Dakorien Moore made his presence known early with a nice one-handed catch on the right sideline in what was one of Dante Moore's better throws of the game.
A pair of field goals rounded out the scoring for the first half, but it was Blake Purchase's 38-yard scoop-and-score that got the crowd into it in the second half.
Running back Jay Harris, who fumbled the ball earlier for Purchase to score on, redeemed himself with two second-half touchdowns to keep the Fighting Ducks in the game. The team in black briefly took a 20-17 lead with just over two minutes to go.
But the Combat Ducks, behind Moga, shocked the Fighting Ducks with a long pass and run to Dillon Gresham that went 56 yards for the win.
Players of the Game
Luke Moga: 6-of-13 passing, 112 yards, 1 TD
Dante Moore: 12-of-20 passing, 140 yards
Jayden Limar: 5 carries, 43 yards, 1 TD
Dillon Gresham: 3 catches, 96 yards, 1 TD
Kenyon Sadiq: 7 catches, 102 yards
Key Stats to Know
First Downs: Combat 17, Fighting 12
Time of Possession: Combat 30:09, Fighting 41:09
Third Down Conversions: Combat 3-of-13, Fighting 5-of-12
Sacks: Combat 4-for-32 yards, Fighting: 7-for 49 yards
What's Next?
The spring practices are over and the Ducks will go into summer training and fall camp in preparation for the 2025 season, where Oregon will open up the season at Autzen with Montana State.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Megha Ganne details process of U.S. Women's Amateur victory
Last week saw quite the coronation at Bandon Dunes. Megha Ganne, one of the greatest amateur players the world of golf has ever seen, emerged victorious at the 125th U.S. Women's Amateur. It was some pretty incredible theater. Ganne has made her name known across golf through her career at Stanford, where she helped her team win the national title in 2024, and with frequent appearances at the Augusta National Women's Amateur. Adding this win to her proverbial trophy room further cements her place as one of the all-timers on this level. Megha was kind enough to join me for a conversation about her win, career at large and more in the days following her victory at Bandon Dunes. You can watch it below. It is hard to not come away impressed with Megha's disposition with regards to golf and life in general. She is managing life at one of the most prestigious universities in the world while playing some of the best golf within it at the same time. Part of what Ganne noted was that status quo of life at Stanford helps breed that tenacity. Her team is full of amazing players from top to bottom which is why she hopes to take home another national championship before her days with the Cardinal are over. It is very apparent that Ganne's future is even brighter than her present, which is really saying something, as she looks to be a name that dominates golf courses and events on a regular basis. Life moves fast, especially when you are in school, and before we know it her win at Bandon will feel long in the rearview mirror. When we do look back though it may have been, as Megha put it in our conversation, the proper bow to tie on her life in golf to this point. Match play had been a point of contention for her, but she climbed that mountain (and then some) to get the win in Oregon. That is where the theater comes in. The unconquerable foe was met and dusted with great gusto. Who doesn't love that kind of story? These types of tales will surely be commonplace in the years to come with Megha serving as the main character. This is only the beginning and it is surely going to be one incredible ride.
NBC Sports
an hour ago
- NBC Sports
A way-too early guess at who will make the College Football Playoff this season
It is a well-versed group of athletic directors, former coaches and players along with a sports writer, who will be armed with statistics, analytics, charts and graphs and enough highlights to start their own college football network as they settle into their work on the College Football Playoff selection committee. In the end, though, the sport's method of determining a champion – or at least deciding who gets the right to play for the championship – comes down to a matter of opinion. Now in its second year with an expanded bracket, 12 teams will make the playoff to close out the 2025-26 season. Five of those slots will go to conference champions. The rest will be at-large bids to be handed out by the 13-person committee. Here's a far-too-early prediction at where they will end up, and what the toughest choices will be before the bracket comes out on Dec. 8. Conference champions There's no debate over this: The five conference champions with the best ranking from the committee will make the playoff. But in a change from last year, the top four won't be guaranteed first-round byes. Best guess here says these champions will be: Southeastern: Texas, with Arch Manning, is the favorite. But Georgia wins a rematch of a Nov. 15 showdown with the Longhorns in the SEC title game that won't have all that much riding on it, CFP-wise, since, after all, these both look like top-four teams. Big Ten: Penn State coach James Franklin is 1-10 against Ohio State. Buckeyes have two Heisman Trophy hopefuls in Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin. Game is at the Horseshoe and Ohio State is the reigning national champion. Another Michigan upset could factor in all this, of course, but Ohio State wins the conference. Atlantic Coast: Miami is a dark horse. Clemson has the goods and quarterback Cade Klubnik. Big 12: Let's assume, just because they're a Power Four conference, that this league will produce one of the four best-ranked conference champions. But not by much. Kansas State has QB Avery Johnson returning, which could be enough to win a conference in which at least six teams, including defending champ Arizona State, have a chance. Group of Five: If Boise State, sans Ashton Jeanty, wins at Notre Dame on Oct. 4, the Broncos are in. If not (more likely), then let's assume Tulane takes care of business at home against both Duke and Northwestern and makes the playoff. At-large and in charge Texas: Longhorns split against Bulldogs with another matchup potentially in store? Alabama: Hard to imagine the Tide losing four games again this season (or the committee overlooking any ugly number in the 'L' column if they do, regardless of their strong schedule.) Oregon: QB Dante Moore chose Oregon, then UCLA, then Oregon again, and if he lives up to expectations, the Ducks could go far. Penn State: CFP semifinalists last season, the Nittany Lions try to, once again, take advantage of the second chance the playoff offers. Miami: QB Carson Beck came over from Georgia, but this defense will need to improve. Notre Dame: The Irish game against better-than-expected USC on Oct. 18 will be the equivalent of a playoff play-in. Mississippi: If only to save us from another Lane Kiffin social media barrage. But seriously, this program had one of the best transfer-portal hauls in the country. The Rebels are also getting used to winning 10 games a year and you can't ignore that forever. And the matchups are ... The bye teams: No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Clemson. The first-round matchups, on campus: No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Alabama: This will be the conspiracy theory game. Tulane, probably ranked about 16th, will take the spot that could've gone to yet another SEC team. (Did you know Tulane was once in the SEC?) Meanwhile, Alabama might be good enough to be ranked fourth but the committee wanted to assert its independence by not handing byes to three SEC teams. No. 11 Kansas State at No. 6 Oregon: The fifth, final and probably most decisive of the Big 12 vs. Big Ten matchups in 2025. No. 10 Mississippi at No. 7 Penn State: They met in the Peach Bowl in 2023. Now, Ole Miss gets a cold welcome to the big time. No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Miami: They play a regular-season game Aug. 31. You can't ever get enough of a good thing.
Washington Post
6 hours ago
- Washington Post
A way-too early guess at who will make the College Football Playoff this season
It is a well-versed group of athletic directors, former coaches and players along with a sports writer, who will be armed with statistics, analytics, charts and graphs and enough highlights to start their own college football network as the settle into their work on the College Football Playoff selection committee. In the end, though, the sport's method of determining a champion – or at least deciding who gets the right to play for the championship – comes down to a matter of opinion. Now in its second year with an expanded bracket, 12 teams will make the playoff to close out the 2025-26 season. Five of those slots will go to conference champions. The rest will be at-large bids to be handed out by the 13-person committee. Here's a far-too-early prediction at where they will end up, and what the toughest choices will be before the bracket comes out on Dec. 8. There's no debate over this: The five conference champions with the best ranking from the committee will make the playoff. But in a change from last year , the top four won't be guaranteed first-round byes. Best guess here says these champions will be: Southeastern: Texas, with Arch Manning, is the favorite. But Georgia wins a rematch of a Nov. 15 showdown with the Longhorns in the SEC title game that won't have all that much riding on it, CFP-wise, since, after all, these both look like top-four teams. Big Ten: Penn State coach James Franklin is 1-10 against Ohio State. Buckeyes have two Heisman Trophy hopefuls in Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin. Game is at the Horseshoe and Ohio State is the reigning national champion . Another Michigan upset could factor in all this, of course, but Ohio State wins the conference. Atlantic Coast: Miami is a dark horse. Clemson has the goods and quarterback Cade Klubnik. Big 12: Let's assume, just because they're a Power Four conference, that this league will produce one of the four best-ranked conference champions. But not by much. Kansas State has QB Avery Johnson returning, which could be enough to win a conference in which at least six teams, including defending champ Arizona State, have a chance. Group of Five: If Boise State, sans Ashton Jeanty, wins at Notre Dame on Oct. 4, the Broncos are in. If not (more likely), then let's assume Tulane takes care of business at home against both Duke and Northwestern and makes the playoff. Texas: Longhorns split against Bulldogs with another matchup potentially in store? Alabama: Hard to imagine the Tide losing four games again this season (or the committee overlooking any ugly number in the 'L' column if they do, regardless of their strong schedule.) Oregon: QB Dante Moore chose Oregon, then UCLA, then Oregon again, and if he lives up to expectations, the Ducks could go far. Penn State: CFP semifinalists last season, the Nittany Lions try to, once again, take advantage of the second chance the playoff offers. Miami: QB Carson Beck came over from Georgia , but this defense will need to improve. Notre Dame: The Irish game against better-than-expected USC on Oct. 18 will be the equivalent of a playoff play-in. Mississippi: If only to save us from another Lane Kiffin social media barrage. But seriously, this program had one of the best transfer-portal hauls in the country. The Rebels are also getting used to winning 10 games a year and you can't ignore that forever. The bye teams: No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Clemson. The first-round matchups, on campus: No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Alabama: This will be the conspiracy theory game. Tulane, probably ranked about 16th, will take the spot that could've gone to yet another SEC team. (Did you know Tulane was once in the SEC?) Meanwhile, Alabama might be good enough to be ranked fourth but the committee wanted to assert its independence by not handing byes to three SEC teams. No. 11 Kansas State at No. 6 Oregon: The fifth, final and probably most decisive of the Big 12 vs. Big Ten matchups in 2025. No. 10 Mississippi at No. 7 Penn State: They met in the Peach Bowl in 2023. Now, Ole Miss gets a cold welcome to the big time. No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Miami: They play a regular-season game Aug. 31. You can't ever get enough of a good thing. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: and
