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The Oregon Ducks began spring practice today in Eugene with one of the best quarterback rotations the program has ever seen.
Between Dante Moore and transfer Dylan Raiola, the pair have combined for 40 career starts, 10,043 passing yards and 72 touchdowns.
They’re both former five-star recruits. The best college football programs in the country wanted them.
The Ducks are in a good place.
I was reminded of that on Wednesday — not just while previewing Oregon’s 15 spring practices, but when I saw former Oregon wide receiver Bralon Addison announce his retirement.
Most Oregon fans remember Addison as a game-breaker as a pass catcher and punt returner — a trait he took with him to the Canadian Football League, where in 2019 he earned All-Star honors with 95 receptions, 1,236 yards and seven touchdowns.
I’ll remember him for that 2015 throw against Colorado, though.
Oregon’s season was already off course by then. Vernon Adams Jr. was injured and the Ducks came into Boulder with two losses and Jeff Lockie at starting quarterback. Lockie struggled early and Taylor Alie wasn’t much better in relief. But the Ducks managed to win that game, largely built on the momentum of Addison’s 39-yard touchdown pass off a reverse in the second quarter.
Addison hit Charles Nelson in stride.
It was Oregon’s best spiral of the game.
And it led to, in hindsight, a fun story by me at the end of the season.
With Adams leaving, the Ducks would be reshuffling at quarterback again in 2016. They were bringing in Montana State transfer Dakota Prukop, but, heck, why go outside when you have a 5-foot-10, 190-pounder who can spin it already in-house?
“I know I’m smart enough,” Addison told me. “I know football, the ins and outs. I know the playbook pretty well. My thing is just being able to throw around and over guys like (DeForest Buckner’s) size — that might be a problem. That’s the only thing I’d worry about.”
Even though then-Oregon quarterbacks coach Nate Costa told me he believed Addison could do it, the Houston native ultimately decided to enter the 2016 NFL Draft.
The Ducks went with Prukop at quarterback.
And when that didn’t work, they handed the controls over to some 6-foot-6, 230-pound kid from Eugene who now throws the ball pretty well for the Los Angeles Chargers.
It worked out in the end for all parties – and I hope Oregon’s quarterback room never gets back to a point when I’m writing about the prospects of current receiver Dakorien Moore under center.
One and done
If the Tall Firs fall and nobody is there to see it, is the season really over?
It’s a question that doesn’t need answering: Lookout was there for Oregon’s 70-60 loss in the first round of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament.
In a season with few ups and many downs, Oregon’s first half was a crater. The Ducks scored 12 points, made just three baskets and were out of the game from the start in front of a mostly empty United Center in Chicago.
“Mentally, we weren’t prepared. We didn’t have any fire. We didn’t have any bounce,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said in an empty press conference room. “That’s on me as much as it is them. It’s my job to get them ready to play, and we weren’t ready to play.”
The loss put a painful men’s season to bed. But the Ducks have more questions than answers heading into the longest offseason of Altman’s Oregon career.
Softball sets on defending Big Ten crown
Maybe the Wolf Pack thought they had a chance when they chased Oregon ace Lyndsey Grein from the circle in the top of the seventh inning in Sunday’s game in Eugene.
Unfortunately for Nevada, the Ducks brought in freshman Maddie Milhorn to finish the job in Oregon’s 7-3 win.
“She absolutely has a cannon attached to her body and just throws straight gas,” Grein said. “I think she’s just revealing who she is. She took a couple of games to settle in, which everyone does, and now she’s gotten comfortable and been able to show what she can do.”
Strong performances from old (Grein) and young (Milhorn) led Oregon to wins in four of their five games over the weekend in the Jane Sanders Classic — and has the Ducks in great position as they begin Big Ten play this week against Penn State.
Off to the races
Sometimes things go smoothly for college athletes. And sometimes they don’t.
In the latter category: The Oregon Ducks men’s track and field distance medley relay set a school record of 9:14.88 Feb. 22 at a meet at Boston University.
It took two tries.
Our Sarah Lorge Butler has the details on how it went down.
Duck of the Week: Burke-Lee Mabeus, Oregon baseball
The Oregon baseball team finished off a two-game sweep of Xavier on Wednesday with a 6-3 win at PK Park.
But the win was in question until Burke-Lee Mabeus stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning and broke a scoreless tie with a home run to right field.
“I didn’t think it was gone off the bat,” Mabeus told reporters. “I had been sitting down for a little bit, and I was thinking, like, hopefully my legs are ready to leg out a double. And then it got over the wall, and I was relieved that I could slow down a little bit.”
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I know we missed shots, but we gave into it. And bad teams give into it.”
— Oregon men’s basketball coach Dana Altman
UPCOMING GAMES
- Track and Field at NCAA Indoor Championships • Fri-Sat.
- Softball vs. Penn State • Fri-Sun.
- Baseball vs. Indiana • Fri-Sun.
- Lacrosse vs. Maryland • 12 p.m • Saturday
STORIES I’m WORKING ON
We have spring football, Selection Sunday and a profile of Oregon women’s golf coach Derek Radley coming in the next week.
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Rest up. It’s the last week until the Madness begins.
Tyson
