Usually, Oregon linebacker Jerry Matson said, when an offense makes spectacular plays during spring football, it was because of blown coverage or missed strategy on behalf of the defense.
So when exactly did that happen Saturday at Autzen Stadium? When did the offense exploit the defense?
According to the score, not enough times. The Ducks’ defense outplayed its counterpart, winning the first scrimmage of the spring, 48-37.
“Just some great enthusiasm, running around and rallying,” Matson said. “A lot of young guys got unleashed today. They did a great job.”
The defense won the scrimmage by pressuring five Oregon quarterbacks for three sacks. They held the offense to 13 of 24 passing for one touchdown.
The defense also recovered two fumbles, both created by Dennis Dixon’s inability to cleanly handle snaps.
All of that led to the defense’s victory, which was scored based on individual plays as well as scoring plays.
“I though the defense did a good job of making the big plays in fourth-down situations and red zone situations,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “(They) got some turnovers, got some crucial stops. The defense so far in practice had not been showing that, but they played with more emotion today.”
Matt Toeaina, Robby Valenzuela and Nate LiaBraaten, who split time on offense and defense, were all credited with sacks. Matson led the team with five tackles, including two for losses, while Sam Hughes had two breakups.
LiaBraaten equaled his defensive output on offense. The junior emerged as the team’s leading receiver with three receptions for 11 yards — all the while switching between white and green jersey tops.
“Nasty Nate LiaBraaten, we got him in a green jersey and all of a sudden he’s sacking quarterbacks,” Matson said. “We might have to steal him. We’ll welcome him with open arms.”
Offensively, the Ducks looked relatively rusty. They were without starting running back Terrence Whitehead, his immediate backup Kenny Washington and starting wide receiver Demetrius Williams, who was held out of the workout because of a concussion he suffered on Tuesday.
“I think overall we were not that good,” quarterback Johnny DuRocher said. “We really didn’t have any big plays. We had some big runs, but we didn’t really make any big plays passing. It was just all right. We kind of had some penalties and turned the ball over a little bit.”
Chris Vincent, for one, took advantage of Whitehead and Washington’s absences. He ran for 51 yards on eight carries. Ryan Shaw, effectively the backup for the scrimmage, ran five times for 29 yards. But it was his last run of the afternoon that was Shaw’s most impressive.
Getting the hand-off from DuRocher, Shaw looked as though he would be tangled up and brought down behind the line of scrimmage. However, he bounced off three defenders and ran around the left side of the line where he went untouched for a 17-yard touchdown.
Kellen Clemens saw little action behind center, completing two passes for 26 yards. DuRocher, who shared time with Clemens running the No. 1 offense, threw for 39 yards on 5 of 8 passing, including a touchdown strike to Dan Kause.
Dixon finished 2 of 4 for 17 yards and ran for 13 on three attempts. Brady Leaf and Adam Hazel completed Oregon’s day behind center by going 1 of 4 and 3 for 3, respectively.
“Johnny is a lot more confident with the offense and operates it very well,” Bellotti said. “Certainly Dennis Dixon has some (good) moments of things, but he also had a couple of fumbles. It’s going to be an interesting competition between those quarterbacks.”