Pflugrad, Roper Shine in Ducks' Spring Game
EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon quarterback Justin Roper completed 22-of-34 passes with three touchdowns, including a game-winning toss to sophomore transfer wide receiver Lavasier Tuinei with less than two minutes remaining in the contest, to lead the Green Team to a 21-14 win over the White Team in the 2009 Oregon Football Spring Game.
The Green Team (made up of the second-team offense and first-team defense) racked up 444 yards on the day with Roper passing for 301 and rushing for 47. Redshirt-freshman running back Kenjon Barner led all ball-carriers with 54 yards on the ground.
Tuinei caught five passes, including his game-winning touchdown grab, for 59 yards but it was true freshman Blake Cantu who paced the Green Team with five catches for 111 yards and a 60-yard touchdown catch to open the third quarter. Sophomore wide reciever Chris Harper also scored for the Green Team, with a 19-yard touchdown catch to get his squad on the board in the second quarter. Sophomore Daniel Padilla converted all three of the Green Team's extra points.
Junior Jeremiah Masoli also played well, leading the White Team with 215 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns on 15-of-22 passing. His favorite target was junior Aaron Pflugrad, who caught both of Masoli's touchdown passes and grabbed six balls for 107 yards overall.
“Pflugrad has been playing that well in all practices this year and he just
proved today that he is a great player," said head coach Chip Kelly. "Last year we had a few senior
wide receivers ahead of him and this season he’s just taking advantage
of the fact that J-Will (Jaison Williams) and a few other guys
graduated.”
Masoli was the White Team's leading rusher with 17 yards while senior running back LeGarrette Blount carried the ball nine times for 14 yards. Blount also had one catch out of the backfield for 23 yards.
The White Team tight end, senior Ed Dickson, was also a reliable target for Masoli, catching four passes for 95 yards, including a 36-yard catch and run over the middle. Also catching passes from Masoli were junior Jeff Maehl (two for 19 yards) and junior Jamere Holland (three for eight yards).
On the defensive side of the ball, junior rover Chad Peppars led all players with 10 total tackles (nine solo) and made two blocks on field goal attempts. Peppars' White Team teammate, junior transfer linebacker Bryson Littlejohn, made seven stops and sophomore linebacker Josh Kaddu had six tackles.
On the Green Team, junior defensive end Kenny Rowe led all players with two sacks and three tackles for loss. Junior transfer defensive lineman Zac Clark also had a sack for the Green Team, while the White Team had quarterback sacks from sophomore linebacker Brandon Hanna and sophomore defensive lineman Matt Sims.
“Overall, I am pleased with our progress this spring," Kelly said. "We did all we
planned on doing. I was nervous about coaching this spring, but it’s
been a great experience. Mike Bellotti has been extremely gracious
helping me the whole time. We have a great staff that works with our
team and thanks to them I just set the tone of how we are going to
practice.”
