Defense shines at spring game as Oregon football shows off new roster
EUGENE. Ore. (KOIN) -- Oregon played its annual spring football game on Saturday at Autzen Stadium, allowing a glimpse into the new roster after the departure of several big players to the NFL draft.
The spring football game marks the 14th and final spring practice for the Ducks football team until the fall.
They were split into two teams, the Combat Ducks and Fighting Ducks, led by former coaches Rich Brooks and Nick Aliotti and assisted by former two Ducks who are now in the NFL, Christian Gonzalez (New England Patriots) and Bucky Irving (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
"Awesome day to be a Duck. Our crowd was unbelievable," Head Coach Dan Lanning said after the spring game. "But we have a lot to clean up and improve, that's why they call it a spring game."
The highlight had to be the defense with both sides combining for 10 sacks. Every quarterback that played was sacked at least once.
Dan Lanning appeared pleased with the defensive presence and all the new faces on the squad. "A completely different group. It's not going to be same as last season. We'll adapt to fit our personality, but we want to see communication. We need to play relentless defense and attack the ball. They need to play for the guy next to them."
But one big question heading into the 2025-26 season is who will be the new leader and quarterback of the team after the departure of Dillon Gabriel who was drafted Friday night by the NFL's Cleveland Browns.
On the Combat Ducks side, the starting QB was redshirt sophomore Dante Moore who was backed up by Brock Thomas (redshirt sophomore) and true freshman Akili Smith Jr. For the Fighting Ducks, Austin Novosad (redshirt sophomore) took the lead first and was later replaced by Luke Moga (redshirt freshman).
The game opened up with a drive led by Novosad, making a deep connection to true-freshman receiver Dakorien Moore. A few plays later, junior running back Jayden Limar took a handoff up the middle for a 31-yard touchdown to put the Fighting Ducks up 7-0.
The Combat Ducks answered back with a 25-yard pass from QB Dante Moore to junior tight end Kenyon Sadiq. However, they settled for a 47-yard field goal by freshman Gage Huryich, cutting the lead to 7-3.
Moga took over as the Fighting Ducks' quarterback in the second quarter and got the team into the red zone. Redshirt senior Andrew Boyle made a field goal to increase the lead to 10-3. After that, it became a battle of the defenses for the rest of the first half.
Early in the third quarter, the Fighting Ducks made a crucial defensive play when freshman CB Ify Obidegwu forced junior RB Jay Harris to fumble the ball. Sophomore linebacker Blake Purchase picked it up and ran it back for a defensive touchdown. The Fighting Ducks led 17-3 as a result.
Late in the third, Jay Harris got his redemption with a short touchdown run to get the Combat team in the end zone and trimming the lead to 17-10.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Combat Ducks rallied to score 10 points and taking the lead 20-17, but the Fighting Ducks held them off with the help of a touchdown from Moga to freshman receiver Dillon Gresham in the last few minutes, making the final score 24-20.
Among the standouts was West Linn native Gage Hurych, who made field goals of 54 and 47 yards. On the QB side, Luke Moga went 6-of-13 passing for 112 yards and Dante Moore went 12-of-20 passing on 140 yards. Junior tight end Kenyon Sadiq lived up to the hype with 7 catches for 102 yards.
A player that Dan Lanning pointed out as one of his most improved players this year was redshirt freshman wide receiver Dillon Gresham who had 3 catches on 96 yards and 1 TD.
After the game, Moore said, "Overall today it was good to have fun, and yes, there were negatives and positives. We have a lot of playmakers and talent everywhere, the chemistry will keep growing, we made lot of mistakes which I'm glad we did because we get to grow and learn and build from it."
Oregon opens their season Saturday, Aug 30 against Montana State in Eugene.