Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to watch the University of Oregon’s football practice?
Well, look no further than the 2025 Spring Game.
For those not familiar with the concept, each college football program has to trot out their entire team and showcase what everyone has been working on during the offseason as well as showcase the newcomers and how they fit in. It is done through what would, in normal context, be called a team scrimmage.
The two teams are split in half and go against each other as if it were a normal game during the fall.
Spoiler alert: it isn’t.
The concept of spring games has bugged me for quite some time. I simply cannot find any other reason they would be forced on schools other than to raise money for the programs — Big Ten Network bought the rights for Oregon’s game — and allow students an opportunity to run through the tailgating motions while football isn’t actually going on.
Nobody gains anything from this aside from the media members covering the Ducks, as each practice so far this spring has been closed off to those outlets. That isn’t a normal thing either, as many major programs leave certain spring practices open to the media.
Which is why it’s surprising that Oregon even does this in the first place; it’s anti-Dan Lanning at its core to show what’s been going on behind closed doors to the media and now the general public as well.
Also, teams such as the University of Colorado Buffaloes and the Syracuse University Orange tried to petition the NCAA to do a joint practice, which is effectively a scrimmage between two different rosters.
The NCAA denied this motion, however.
According to ESPN, 19 power four programs cancelled their 2025 spring game for reasons ranging from stadium construction in the University of Missouri’s case to just the need for a break for the University of Texas Longhorns.
University of Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule mentioned how certain players that performed well at its spring game immediately received offers to transfer to programs offering more money.
Arizona State University, coached by former Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, will hold a fanfest and a practice open to the media.
That’s what these games have become anyways: just public practices.
There’s no need to market this team to the city of Eugene as the Ducks are coming off winning the Big Ten Championship, and the team actively goes against Lanning’s desire to go to great lengths to keep information about his team close to his chest.
For Oregon, their bench players are now promoted to starters, but these players saw ample playing time in the Ducks’ various blowouts during the 2024 season. Simply put, there aren’t many players that fans will be seeing for the first time.
These players also risk injury — albeit from what would be a freak accident.
All things considered, Oregon doesn’t need a spring game. It adds no benefit to the sustained success the Ducks have had under Coach Lanning, especially considering how much Oregon has benefited from keeping information from getting to the general public.
The game has a noted positive impact on recruiting as it gives recruits the opportunity to experience a low-pressure, gameday atmosphere, but that’s about it.
Well, that and Matt Kearny is playing — I wonder if he’ll play that one song? — so it can’t all be bad.
