When Oregon’s football players left Autzen Stadium after practice on Wednesday, a rainbow-tinted array of smoothies lay waiting for them on a small table. With spring practices officially concluded, and only the annual spring game remaining on the upcoming schedule, perhaps the drinks could be seen as something of a reward.
Yet about five hours later, the final spring game rosters were released — a reminder that the Ducks’ work is far from over, and the most important test for many players still lies ahead on Saturday when they take the field in front of what promises to be a sizable crowd.
“I think they’re excited about getting to play each other in front of a great crowd and officials, the whole nine yards,” head coach Chip Kelly said. “And the fact that they’re competing with each other, and it’s the last time they’ll get a chance to compete from a football standpoint, until we get back for fall camp.”
The Ducks will be split into two squads — the White team, coached by defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti, and the Green team, headed by offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich. Headlining the White team is redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota, who will lead an offense with the likes of De’Anthony Thomas, Josh Huff and redshirt freshman receiver Devon Blackmon. Helfrich’s Green team, meanwhile, features sophomore quarterback Bryan Bennett and running back Kenjon Barner, along with defensive stalwarts Dion Jordan and Kiko Alonso. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=233&SPSID=3378@@ @@http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2012/04/oregon_releases_rosters_for_sa.html@@

It’s only a scrimmage and few, save for the players themselves, remember who wins with each passing year. But it’s still live competition in a game-like atmosphere, which always elevates the stakes.
“We get into it. It’s fun,” senior offensive lineman Carson York@@http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2012/04/bald-faced_truth_with_john_can_257.html@@ said. “My first year here, I think we won by like 30 points, and that was the last time I won. So I’m ready to win again, so you don’t have to deal with the jabs after the game.”
York won’t play on Saturday as he continues to rehab a knee injury suffered during the Rose Bowl, but he still has a slot on the Green team alongside fellow linemen Nick Cody, Ryan Clanton and Karrington Armstrong.@@http://www2.registerguard.com/cms/index.php/duck-football/category/karrington-armstrong/@@
At a glance, York’s Green team fittingly appears to carry more of a “veteran” tag, while the White Squad features a slew of up-and-comers from Mariota and Blackmon to fellow redshirt freshman wideout Tacoi Sumler@@http://www.crimsonandcreammachine.com/2011/7/1/2255325/weve-known-that-the-oregon-ducks-were-cheaters-for-years-now@@ and offensive lineman Jake Fisher. Early enrollee 2012 recruits Arik Armstead and Evan Baylis, however, were placed on the Green team.@@http://oregonduckfootballnews.com/featured/ducks-set-to-open-spring-football-practice-april-3rd/@@
Though York practically guaranteed a Green team victory (“better offense, better defense”), the final score isn’t what concerns Kelly and the coaching staff. Though they’ll be on planes to begin recruiting as soon as the game ends, the spring game film will also be awaiting comprehensive breakdown.
“It’s a tape we spend a lot of time on after the game,” Kelly said. “In the coming weeks I know guys will take it with them — because we got to go right on the road recruiting. I think everybody will get a chance to really take a good, long, hard look at it and make some final evaluations on where we’re going to be as we head into August.
“It is the last real valuable teaching tool we have, and the last real evaluation we have. So it’s pretty big for the coaches as well as the players.”
Still, Kelly is careful not to overemphasize the results of one scrimmage. Whether Bennett, Mariota, Blackmon and the rest shine or falter won’t really sway Kelly and his staff one way or the other. It’s only April, and the 2012 season remains well off in the distance.
“Everywhere I’ve been in the spring game, some kid that no one knows about all of a sudden just goes off, and everybody’s like, ‘he’s the next greatest,’” Kelly said. “But it may just be a situation where because of an injury at that position, or something, he got a lot more reps than he should have been getting, and he capitalized on it.
“I think everybody can benefit from it, I don’t think it’s really going to hurt anybody.”