Top Takeaways From Oregon’s Spring Football Game

Spring ball is winding down in Eugene after the Oregon Ducks held their annual spring football game on Saturday. The Green team defeated the White team 28-17 in what was a defensive battle early on, but featured some explosive scoring plays.

It’s hard to make too much of a spring game when projected starters are mixed between teams, but Saturday’s action did give us a peak of what’s in store for the Ducks in 2024.

Here are my top takeaways.

1. Defensive line shows plenty of promise

One of Oregon’s top priorities this offseason has been finding players to replace a handful of starters on the interior of the defensive line.

On Saturday, players like Ben Roberts, My’Keil Gardner and Teitum Tuioti all showed flashes and made it into the backfield against the opposing offensive line. Tuioti already played a big role as a true freshman, but Roberts and Gardner continue to flash as they look to take the next step in their developments.

The quarterbacks were under relatively consistent pressure throughout the day and there weren’t too many explosive runs from either squad.

2. Injury bug bites the Ducks

Every team hopes to escape the spring game without injuries and unfortunately for Oregon the team had a couple of players banged up.

Kansas State safety transfer Kobe Savage exited the game after tackling Jordan James. He would not return. Veteran cornerback Dontae Manning also got shaken up and was seen sporting a sling after the spring game. Savage will be the most significant injury for fans to follow as the Ducks have little proven depth at safety after losing Evan Williams, Steve Stephens IV and Bryan Addison from a year ago.

Wide receivers Traeshon Holden and Jurrion Dickey suffered injuries of some sort as well. Head coach Dan Lanning didn’t have any updates readily available during his press conference and said he needs to meet with the team’s medical staff.

3. Young defensive backs show up in a big way

Oregon signed a number of impressive defensive backs in the 2024 class, but two of the headliners had great spring games.

Adidas All-Americans Dakoda Fields and Aaron Flowers were flying all over the field Saturday. Fields had the lone interception of the day, picking off a deep Austin Novosad pass that was thrown into double coverage. He returned the pass deep into opposing territory to set up a touchdown for the green team.

Flowers nearly grabbed an interception of his own but wasn’t able to haul in a diving grab. Aside from the near interception he was consistently in the right place at the right time and even had a touchdown saving tackle on a Jay Harris run. The arrow continues to point up for Flowers.

4. Tough day for Terrance Ferguson

Oregon’s top tight end had an uncharacteristic day. Ferguson dropped at least two passes during the spring game and was struggling to settle in. To his credit one of the passes was broken up by Devon Jackson, but it wasn’t a consistent day for one of Oregon’s more proven offensive weapons and it was a surprise to see him struggle. He finished the day with three catches for 38 yards.

Fortunately for the Ducks Kenyon Sadiq had an encouraging performance. He only caught one pass but ran the ball twice for 28 total yards on the ground. Expect Will Stein to find more creative ways to get Sadiq the ball as he enters his second year and competes for a larger role, likely against Patrick Herbert.

5. Is Justius Lowe ready for a breakout?

The sophomore wide receiver has largely flown under the radar and been buried on the depth chart during his two seasons in Eugene.

To his credit, he’s taken advantage of spring practice each year and Saturday was no different. He didn’t stuff the stat sheet, but he hauled in three passes for 47 yards and a touchdown for the Green team.

Two of his grabs he showcased great body control and he was one of the more explosive players we got to see today. With such a deep wide receiver room that also features Evan Stewart, Tez Johnson, Traeshon Holden and Jurrion Dickey, maybe this is just what Lowe needed to solidify himself in the competition exiting spring practice.

He’s had impressive springs before. Will this prove to be any different?

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