Oregon football quarterbacks impress during first team scrimmage of 2024 spring season

Oregon coach Dan Lanning has said he wants his team ready to play in any and all types of weather conditions.

Saturday the Ducks got a chance to prep for the cold and rain when they went inside Autzen Stadium for the first scrimmage of the spring practice season.

The scrimmage was closed to the media and public but Lanning said the offense looked good early, the defense was better late, and yes, periodic bouts of heavy rain were challenging to play through.

“It certainly made things harder,” Lanning said. “We did a decent job protecting the ball but it certainly made things harder later in the scrimmage to be able to throw the ball effectively. That’s when your running game has to show up, that’s why you want to be a balanced team.”

The scrimmage came two weeks before the Ducks conclude their spring with the annual spring game.

“Overall a good operation and plenty of stuff for us to go attack and clean up,” he said. “I gotta watch the film to see where we’re at but I thought our guys played with some good energy.”

Oregon’s quarterbacks have good day

The scrimmage provided the first opportunity for Oregon’s quarterbacks to get some live reps as the competition to replace Heisman Trophy finalist Bo Nix as the starter under center continues.

Though a spring depth chart hasn’t been released, the presumptive QB1 and and QB2 are sixth-year senior Dillon Gabriel and former five-star sophomore Dante Moore, respectively. 

Lanning had praise for both first-year transfers.

“The speed of play shows up even more and more on scrimmage days because it’s just a little bit faster pace and I thought both of those guys handled it well,” Lanning said. “Both of those guys were able to move around with their feet a little bit … which was a positive to see from them. I thought overall we made some pretty good decisions.”

Lanning wasn’t just pleased with the two veterans, however, as he also mentioned the play of freshmen Austin Novosad and Luke Moga.

“I saw some positives from all of our quarterbacks and I thought that some of our young guys really stuck out,” Lanning said. “(Moga and Novosad) did a really good job, had some real positives there.”

Ducks have a balanced scrimmage

Lanning said the offense was able to convert on a few big pass plays and an unnamed kicker converted on a 50-yard attempt as the defense struggled to keep up early.

“I’d say in the first half of the scrimmage they got their butts whooped some times,” Lanning said. “We had some sustained drives and were able to create some success and have some early scores.”

It eventually evened out as the Ducks wrapped up their eighth practice of the spring. 

“Always going to be some highs and lows,” Lanning said. “The offense was able to move the ball early, the defense kind of buckled down in the second half of the scrimmage. … It was very balanced scrimmage from my point of view.”

Follow Chris Hansen on X @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.