Duck Feed: Offense Clicks in Second Scrimmage
Offense Clicks in Second Scrimmage
Wednesday, April 21, 4:00 p.m. PDT
In the second and final scrimmage for the Ducks prior to the Spring Game, the offense bounced back from a disappointing performance a week ago, turning the ESPN2-televised event on May 1 into a rubber match of sorts.
The first-string offense, quarterbacked by Darron Thomas, set the tone on the opening drive inside Autzen Stadium, marching 70 yards in 12 plays and capped by Jeff Maehl’s 3-yard touchdown catch.
“The offense came back today and had a nice showing,” said head coach Chip Kelly. “I thought the guys were a lot more physical today.”
All told, the offense accounted for five touchdowns – three passing, two rushing – and converted on all four field goal attempts. This came a week after the unit produced two rushing touchdowns and six field goals.
More points were to be had if not for seven penalties, including three for holding. Kenjon Barner had a nifty 37-yard scoring run wiped out due to holding.
“We played a cleaner game last week, but there was more intensity today,” Kelly said.
Oregon’s passing game showed improvement, highlighted by Thomas hitting on 16 of 31 attempts for 145 yards, but the running game took the biggest step forward, rolling up 276 yards on 53 carries. Remene Alston Jr. led all rushers with 93 yards on nine totes of the ball. LaMichael James accounted for 33 yards on the ground, including a 22-yard first-down run on second-and-long.
As is the case with most offseason football scrimmages, statistics should always be taken with a grain of salt. At Oregon practices, all drives are situational, which sometimes includes killing the clock instead of trying to move the chains.
John Boyett was the leading tackler on the day with eight stops, which included a sack. He also intercepted Nate Costa on a play that probably should have been blown dead as the quarterback was contacted before releasing the ball.
That drive was a clutch situation for the offense, where they were trailing late and had to score. While Boyett made a play on the ball, Kelly was quick to point out that his safety should have gone down immediately instead of attempting to run it back and risk a fumble.
“There were a few times when guys needed to make better decisions during certain situations,” Kelly said. “But we’ll utilize those mistakes as a teachable moments.”
Another defender that stood out was Kenny Rowe, who had a sack among his three tackles and delivered the hit of the day on Lavasier Tuinei while breaking up a pass attempt.
Costa, who rotated with Thomas in leading the 1s, completed 9 of 24 attempts for 59 yards, and No. 3 quarterback Daryle Hawkins was 3 of 6 for 68 yards and two touchdowns against one interception. Hawkins had scoring passes of 43 yards to Garrett Davis and 21 yards to Chad Delaney.
The Ducks have three practices remaining before the annual Spring Game on May 1 at 2 p.m.
Individual Statistics
RUSHING
Remene Alston Jr., 9-93
Brandon Thurston, 4-36
LaMichael James, 7-33
Jide Shinaba, 5-25, 1 TD
Craig Loper, 8-24
Daryle Hawkins, 5-21
Kenjon Barner, 4-17
Nate Costa, 3-13
Darron Thomas, 4-10
Andres Reed, 3-5, 1 TD
Dustin Haines, 1--1
TOTAL, 53-276, 2 TD
PASSING
Darron Thomas, 16-31-0, 145 yds, 1 TD
Nate Costa, 9-24-1, 59 yds, 0 TD
Daryle Hawkins, 3-6-1, 68 yds, 2 TD
Dustin Haines, 0-2-1, 0 yds, 0 TD
TOTAL, 28-63-3, 272 yds, 3 TD
RECEIVING
Justin Hoffman, 4-36
Jeff Maehl, 4-33, 1 TD
D.J. Davis, 3-40
Remene Alston Jr., 3-17
Andres Reed, 3-15
Lavasier Tuinei, 2-29
David Paulson, 2-7
Garrett Davis, 1-43, 1 TD
Chad Delaney, 1-21, 1 TD
LaMichael James, 1-16
Jide Shinaba, 1-9
Brandon Williams, 1-9
Will Murphy, 1-4
Ben Butterfield, 1-1
TOTAL, 28-272, 3 TD
TACKLES
8-John Boyett; 6-Eddie Pleasant; 5-Zac Clark, Blake Thompson; 4-Keloni Kamalani, Javes Lewis, Casey Matthews, Dewitt Stuckey; 3-Michael Clay, Brian Jackson, Bryson Littlejohn, Avery Patterson, Brian Paysinger, Chad Peppars, Kenny Rowe; 2-Brandon Bair, Mikey Dosen, Scott Grady, Ryan Hagen, Cliff Harris, Terrance Mitchell, Terrell Turner, Anthony Anderson; 1-Kiko Alonso, Brian Butterfield, Taylor Hart, Tyrell Irvin, Bo Lokombo, Andy McIntyre, Nick Musgrove, Wade Keliikipi, Isaac Remington, Will Wallace.
INTERCEPTIONS
1-John Boyett (20), Mikey Dosen (20), Blake Thompson (0).
SACKS
1.0-John Boyett, Kenny Rowe
KICKING
Rob Beard, 4-4 FG (27, 37, 37, 41), 5-5 PAT
PUNTING
Jackson Rice, 6-225 (37.5 avg., long 46)
PENALTIES
Offense: 7-50; Defense: 2-13
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