4/18 Scrimmage: Offense scores 5 TD's

[gofightingducks]

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From goducks.com

Oregon quarterbacks Jeremiah Masoli and Justin Roper combined to complete 15 of 26 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns as the Ducks’ offense enjoyed a productive, yet inconsistent, afternoon Saturday as first-year head coach Chip Kelly sent his squad through its first major scrimmage of the spring in Autzen Stadium.

Masoli, last year’s starting signal caller, opened the scrimmage that lasted close to 90 minutes by leading the first-team offense on a 70-yard scoring drive against the first-team defenders, capped by a 10-yard touchdown toss to Aaron Pflugrad. Keying the drive was a 51-yard run by Masoli, who finished the day completing eight of 13 passes for 103 yards and three scores through the air.

The junior-to-be also ran for 58 yards on six carries.

But Kelly was quick to pass praise onto Roper, who matched Masoli’s scoring drive with a 70-TD march of his own on the next series, finishing with a 32-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Jamere Holland.

Holland led all receivers with five catches for 60 yards and the one score, with Pflugrad making the most of his two receptions by adding a 35-yard touchdown catch from Masoli later in the scrimmage.

Roper came back later to complete a three-play, 50-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown run of his own, aided by a 25-yard catch from newcomer Blake Cantu. Roper also was productive on the ground, finishing the day with 33 yards on six carries to complement his seven completions in 13 tries for 95 yards through the air. However he was victimized by the day’s only interception when Tigard redshirt freshman Scott Grady picked off an errant pass and returned it for close to 60 yards before falling to the turf.

Next to Masoli, LeGarrett Blount led all rushers with 10 carries for 38 yards. Still rounding into shape after missing all off-season workouts due to a suspension, Blount gained 23 of his yards on the his final four carries of the day. Andre Crenshaw added 30 yards on nine totes.

The defense was led by defensive end Mike DiVincenzo, who posted two tackles for loss among his team-high five stops, while five other players each posted four tackles. Junior college transfers Terrance Montgomery and Bryson Littlejohn each left their mark as Montgomery led all defenders with three tackles for loss from his defensive tackle post, while Littlejohn recorded the game’s only quarterback sack.

The placement portion of the Ducks' kicking game appeared to be ahead of the remaining phases of the team's special teams as four kickers were perfect on five PATs and seven field goals. Justin Dougherty converted field goals of 46, 27 and 33 yards while Morgan Flint was successful on a 33-yard three-point try as well as a trio of points after touchdowns.

Oregon will resume its spring workouts Monday morning, with off-season practices concluding with the Spring Game on Saturday, May 2, in Autzen Stadium.

[duckgrad99]

Holland just might have that breakout year we have been waiting for. I've always thought that Roper was a pretty good passer. Now it's time for the defense to come through.

[ducksin2010]

I was at the scrimmage and was it made me really nervous. Watching our OL made me wonder how good we can actually be this year. For anyone else there, how do you feel about the OL today?

[stewbertwilloughby]

I thought the defense played well. I know in scrimmages if the defense plays well then the offense played poorly, but I do not think that was the case today. The D really played with fire that you don't see in scrimmages. They flew around and absolutely swarmed to the ball carrier. I've said it before, but I'm really excited for these linebackers. There is so much talent and depth, this group could be very special over the next 3-4 years. D-line was one of my concerns coming into the spring, but now I'm excited for them. Divencenzo (spelling?), Montgomery, Rowe and Tukuafu played really hard and plugged lanes. Of coarse the offense did run the same plays 2-3 times in a row, so take it for what it's worth.

I was not happy with our snapping. I think it was Jordan Holmes that was the more consistent one, snaps all together were inconsistent, to say the least. There were snaps high, low, to the right, to the left, and worst of all, slow and lofted. Every time the snap was slow, it completely threw off the timing of the play, resulting in a loss every time.

[duckamania]

You have to remember that our two most experienced lineman, CE Kaiser and Bo Thran, were sitting out which had a great influence on the play of the O-line. Also Jordan Holmes seemed pretty good with snaps playing with the first team as it was the 2nd and 3rd string centers who were very sporadic with their snaps. I am not as worried about the O-line as others seem to be. What I cant understand is Chip's impression that Roper had the better day at qb. Masoli was super impressive to me as you could tell he feels much more comfortable in the pocket and in waiting for the play to develop. It was a perfect day for football on Saturday and I cant wait for the spring game in two weeks.

[BisonDucks]

The O-line is going to take it's lumps with its two most veteran players on the sidelines. You gotta like the sound of Montgomery being in the backfield.

[duck58]

From the comments above, it doesn't seem like Chip said Roper had a better day; just that he was quick to give praise to Roper as well. The difference between the two was rushing yards; Roper = 6 for 33yds = 5.6avg(not bad), Masoli 6 for 58 yds = 9.7avg(very good). Exciting that both are doing well. Roper will be a very good backup. Now, if Costa's knee can hold up we will have two capable backups and I expect both will see action in some blowout games. Hopefully we can save another year for DT with a RS.

[desertfan]

Punting the ball could be painful to watch this year...

Hopefully we are just so dominant on offense that we never have to punt it

[Destroyer77]

Punting the ball could be painful to watch this year...

Hopefully we are just so dominant on offense that we never have to punt it

Don't we have a high school All-American punter coming in this year? I'm excited to see him, sounds like he wants to get his hands dirty on kickoffs

Yes we have 2 big time kickers coming in out of high school.

[stewbertwilloughby]

Punting the ball could be painful to watch this year...

Hopefully we are just so dominant on offense that we never have to punt it

Don't we have a high school All-American punter coming in this year? I'm excited to see him, sounds like he wants to get his hands dirty on kickoffs

Yes we have 2 big time kickers coming in out of high school.

I'm excited to see Jackson Rice, especially as it seems we need him. But our place kicking was awesome in the scrimmage. We made every kick, but I'd say depth chart right now would be Daniel Padilla, Morgan Flint, Justin Doughrtery. And the only reason Morgan Flint is second is because he has more experience. But this is based on one day, so what do I know.