Oregon Spring Game: Lockie Steps Up, Nelson Shines On Both Sides Of The Ball

The Oregon Ducks took to the field at Autzen Stadium for the Annual Spring Game to Salute the Troops under sunny and cool conditions to start. There were plenty of questions entering the game. Quarterback? Offensive Line? Safety? Could Charles Nelson make a succesful move from a special team player in 2014 to a Safety for 2015. This among the many questions that have yet to be answered. The game on Saturday was good. It was good to get back to football, it was good to get back to Autzen.

More from Autzen Zoo

• Oregon football: Ducks and Coach Prime playing it cordial leading up to Saturday
• Oregon Basketball: Non-conference slate features Michigan coming to Eugene
• Oregon football: Ducks find complete game effort in win vs Hawaii
• Oregon Ducks must get run game going against Hawaii
• 8 Pac-12 teams represented in Associated Press Top 25 after Week 2

1st “Quarter” Highlights

The Oregon team started with the ball and Thomas Tyner had a nineteen yard run before they were stopped. The home team, the Pathway team with Jeff Lockie at Quarterback had a nice pass play for fifty yards to Byron Marshall setting up a touchdown by Royce Freeman. On the next Pathway posession Freeman would start the second drive with a twenty yard run up the middle. Lockie would add a second touchdown pass for fifty two yards to Charles Nelson.

Ty Griffin would enter the game at Quarterback for the Oregon team. A trick play would end in a touchdown as Bralon Addison would throw a fifty yard pass to Darren Carrington for a score. The ensuing snap from team Pathway would go out the back of the endzone for a safety and Team Oregon would get the ball back with Tyler Jonsen as the signal caller. The Ducks Defense would be all over in the series with pass breakups by Darren Carrington and Reggie Daniels.

Score: Pathway 21, Team Oregon 2

2nd “Quarter” Highlights

Bralon Addison would start the second quarter with a forty-two yard touchdown. Charles Nelson would have an interception and a scampering gain of eleven yards before the quarter came to an end. Team Oregon would score in the quarter, twice, to make it 21-16. Jeff Lockie would find Charles Nelson for a forty-six yard score before the end of the quater to make it 27-16 Team Pathway. Ty Griffin would let a few balls fly for incompletions before running for nine yards and a first down.  After several penalties it was third and thirty-three as time ran out in the second quarter.

Charles Nelson led the charge in the first half with a pick to go along with two touchdowns for the Ducks.

Score: Pathway 28, Oregon Team 16

The final two quarters would be played with a continuously running 10:00 clock.

3rd “Quarter” Highlights

Morgan Mahalak scores from eight yards out to give Team Pathway a 35-16 lead.  Travis Jonsen would show off some footwork with a pass on the move to Darren Carrington for a touchdown in the final minute of the third quarter.

Score: Pathway 35, Oregon Team 22

4th “Quarter” Highlights

TJ Daniel sacks Ty Griffin for a loss of two yards.

Final Opinion.:

It was a game – sort of. In the end Quarterback Jeff Lockie and Charles Nelson stood out as the players of the game for Oregon. The final score was 35-29. Both teams racked up a combined 842 yards of offense led by Lockie going 9 for 9 on the day. He did his best Mariota impression with the former Oregon QB in the house for the game. He received a very long standing ovation from the crowd as he was introduced as a member of the Tennessee Titans and a great way to transition the position for whoever will be filling the role in the Fall. Lockie has a firm grasp on what he needs to do and the battle in Fall camp with incoming QB Vernon Adams should be a fun one to watch.

Nelson had a breakout year in 2014 playing on both Special teams and Offense. In the Spring Game he had an interception and also one-hundred forty four yards receiving and two touchdowns. Running Back Royce Freeman had a solid day with forty-eight yards on the ground and Thomas Tyner showed flashes that he is back and healthy with several long runs from scrimmage finishing the day with forty-seven yards on the ground. Bralon Addison, who missed all of 2014 showed he was healthy.

Addison came in and threw a touchdown. He also had fifty yards receiving for the Ducks.

The key to any Spring Game is that everyone came out healthy. It was a spectacular day to watch football at Autzen and while none of the key questions were really answered, big performances on both sides of the ball assured there were not as many questions as I thought.