While former Ducks Reuben Droughns and Peter Sirmon experienced the joy of being selected in the NFL Draft, the current Oregon squad participated in its first major spring scrimmage of the season.
Droughns was the first to go in the seven-round, two-day draft. He was reportedly at a friend’s house and not following the draft when his name was called by the Detroit Lions as the 19th pick in the third round.
Sirmon had to wait until Sunday morning to hear he was selected as the 34th pick in the fourth round by the defending AFC Champion Tennessee Titans.
The former Ducks not drafted — Michael Fletcher, Dietrich Moore, Tony Hartley and Nathan Villegas — will likely have an opportunity to try out for a team as free agents.
Saturday’s scrimmage gave plenty of current Oregon players an opportunity to show head coach Mike Bellotti what they can do.
The offensive players clearly dominated the defense in the 90-minute, controlled scrimmage at Autzen Stadium.
Joey Harrington ignited the quartet of quarterbacks, completing all five of his passes for 97 yards, while engineering two touchdowns in two drives.
All in all, the four quarterbacks connected on a total of 18 of 28 passes for 385 yards. A.J. Feeley, however, was just 2 of 7 for 12 yards.
“Offensively, our quarterbacks and receivers hooked up and did a pretty good job,” Bellotti said.
The surprise in the receiving corps was former Oregon prep standout Cy Aleman, who caught four passes for 191 yards. He was the recipient of fourth-string quarterback Orlando Evans’ 95-yard touchdown bomb.
“Cy is playing with a renewed attitude about football,” Bellotti said. “He has gotten stronger and has been healthy and looks to be ready to contribute.”
Starting tailback Jermaine Hanspard, who had to stay in town for the scrimmage instead of competing with the men’s track team at the prestigious Mount San Antonio College Relays, ran for two yards on six carries.
The absences of secondary members Gary Barker and Rashad Bauman, who were nursing minor injuries, hurt the defense.
The defense could only muster two forced turnovers, compared with the three touchdowns and two field goals for the offense.
Oregon will scrimmage again next weekend, before culminating its month of workouts with the annual Spring Game on April 29 at Autzen Stadium.