For what was a picturesque day in Eugene, it wasn’t all that perfect for both the Oregon Ducks’ green and yellow team offenses. While both had flashy plays and ran up the score a bit — Green Team beat Yellow 23-20 — the defenses certainly made their presence known, starting from the first drive.

The Daily Emerald’s Aaron Heisen covered the offensive takeaways, so here’s what we learned about Oregon’s defense from the spring game: 

With quarterback Ty Thompson leading the yellow team on the first offensive possession, hopes were through the roof to finally see something to cement his hype. We wouldn’t see that – at least for the first possession. 
On the first play of the drive, veteran linebacker Mase Funa fought off a blocker and simultaneously disrupted a swing pass headed in running back Bucky Irvings’ direction — a play reminiscent of the pick-six Funa had against Washington State. 

Next, a two-yard run from Irving who was hounded by green defensive linemen. Surely a welcome site based on how much of a weak point the team’s run-stuffing ability was last year. 

Additional edge pressure and a second batted ball from Funa would end the yellow drive early. Pass rush would be a common theme in this matchup, as both quarterbacks had to flee the pocket prematurely to extend the play and avoid defensive linemen. Although it may not look like the defensive line played extremely well on the stat sheet since sacking the quarterback wasn’t allowed, they still did their job and then some, never letting either quarterback feel consistently safe in the pocket. 

There were multiple occurrences where, in a full-speed game, either Bo Nix, Thompson or Austin Novosad would end up getting hit or even sacked if it weren’t a scrimmage. 

Not only did the defensive line show up when rushing the passer, but when stopping the run as well. The green defense, going against a backfield led by incumbent starter Irving, only let up 42 rushing yards on a sub-par 3.1 yards per carry average. 
The yellow run defense played just a notch or two below green, but still held the green rushing attack led by Dante Dowdell and Noah Whittington to under 100 rushing yards. 
While both defensive lines held up primarily, it was another story for both groups of defensive backs. The green defense had a particularly tough time covering Thompson’s no. one target, Kris Hutson as he shined going 143 yards, including a 70-yard catch and run and a 17 yard touchdown. 
On the other hand, the yellow defense struggled to cover both Traeshon Holden and Troy Franklin consistently, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the diminished depth at defensive back.

There were times when the corners and safeties played lockdown defense, sticking to their assignments, but there were other instances of those defenders taking poor angles that led to missed tackles. 

Defensive stat leaders for the game included yellow team’s Jeffrey Bassa and Devon Jackson with five tackles each. Mase Funa added a team-high three pass breakups plus the only forced fumble which came from Connor Soelle. 

Overall, Ducks’ fans should feel more comfortable with the run-stopping and pass rush from the defensive line, but questions about defensive back depth remain. 

We won’t know how the defense will perform in a real game scenario yet, but we’ll find out when the Ducks host Portland State for their season debut, on Sept. 2 in Autzen Stadium.