5 storylines to watch during the Oregon football 2024 spring game
After 13 practices and two scrimmages over the last seven weeks, the Oregon football team has reached the end of the spring season.
In other words — it’s game time.
The Ducks will hold their annual spring game at 1 p.m. Saturday, an intra-squad exhibition inside Autzen Stadium that is open to the public.
The goal, said coach Dan Lanning as he approached his third spring game at Oregon, is “creating that game day environment like we’ve talked about. We’re not going to go out and show off everything we’ve done this spring from a scheme standpoint. We’re gonna let our guys go out there and play fast, see them execute and see who can play football.”
Oregon’s spring game comes on the same weekend as the NFL draft, which serves as the perfect reminder of some of what the Ducks lost from last season’s 12-2 team that won the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1.
Among those needing to be replaced are starting quarterback Bo Nix, record-setting wide receiver Troy Franklin, top running back, defensive lineman and cornerback in Bucky Irving, Brandon Dorlus and Khyree Jackson, respectively, as well as Rimington Trophy winning center Jackson Powers-Johnson.
“We want to get better at football,” Lanning said. “We want to go practice what football looks like and do a good job of seeing who can play, and it’s different when you play in a game-day environment so we want to create that.”
Here are five storylines to keep an eye on Saturday.
New Oregon quarterbacks will go head-to-head
Oregon fans will get their first live look at how the Ducks have positioned themselves for the post-Nix era.
Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel — who has thrown for 14,865 yards and 125 touchdowns in his career — and former five-star recruit Dante Moore — who started five games as a freshman at UCLA last season — will no doubt get plenty of time to show what they can do on Saturday.
Also keep an eye out for redshirt freshman Austin Novosad, a former four-star recruit who offensive coordinator Will Stein said is showing a total command of the offense in his second spring.
“Austin Novosad has had a terrific spring,” Stein said. “We've got really good depth in that room, competition, and then great camaraderie, and that’s really showing on the field.”
DBs vs. WRs
The Ducks’ defensive backfield underwent an overhaul in the offseason with the addition of transfers Jabbar Muhammad (Washington), Kobe Savage (Kansas State) and Kam Alexander (UTSA) to a veteran position group that already included Tysheem Johnson, Jahlil Florence, Dontae Manning and Nikko Reed.
It will be intriguing to watch that group go up against Oregon’s receivers, which is arguably the deepest position on the team with highly touted transfer Evan Stewart (Texas A&M) joining record-setter Tez Johnson, returning starters Gary Bryant Jr. and Traeshon Holden, and emerging sophomore Jurrion Dickey.
Watching these units get after each other should be a fun show within the show.
Oregon's rebuilt defensive line debuts
Seniors Jordan Burch and Keyon Ware-Hudson are the rare veterans among the down lineman on Oregon’s defense, a unit that includes 11 sophomores, redshirt freshmen or true freshmen.
Measured by volume of plays, the Ducks lost their top four defensive linemen from 2023, according to defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi.
“So a major vacancy there but excited about the future and the continuing development of these guys,” Lupoi said.
Oregon did add senior transfer Jamaree Caldwell from Houston and sophomores Matayo Uiagalelei and A’Mauri Washington have the potential to be stars.
Saturday will be an opportunity to start getting familiar with several new names and numbers.
Kicker competition gets public viewing
The Ducks need a new kicker, and special teams coach Joe Lorig said earlier this month, “it’s been a good competition” during the Ducks’ closed practices and scrimmages this spring.
Saturday the competition goes public.
Realistically, the job is Oregon State transfer Atticus Sappington’s to lose. He led the Pac-12 last season and ranked fifth nationally in field-goal percentage at 92.86%, converting on 13-of-14 attempts.
However, sophomore Grant Meadors was rated by Chris Sailer Kicking as the No. 1 kicker recruit nationally in the class of 2023.
Freshmen to watch
The 2024 recruiting class signed by Lanning and Co. was rated by 247sports as the fourth-best in the nation. Twenty-two members of that freshmen class enrolled at Oregon early to take part in spring practices.
Among them are five-star outside linebacker Elijah Rushing, as well as a slew of four-star recruits on the defensive line (Aydin Breland, Jericho Johnson and Xadavien Sims), and at wide receiver (Jeremiah McClellan, Dillon Gresham and Ryan Pellum) and defensive back (Aaron Flowers, Dakoda Fields and Kingston Lopa).
Follow Chris Hansen on X @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon football spring game at Autzen Stadium: What to know
