Prior to Oregon’s spring game, quarterback and apparent successor to Darron Thomas, Bryan Bennett, told ESPN’s Brock Huard that it was more a matter of “when” he was named the starter for the Ducks, not so much a matter of “if.”
Hold the phone on that.
Bennett got off to a slow start throwing a pair of first-half interceptions and looked uncomfortable most of the day as part of a 41-14 loss to the white team. Bennett didn’t get much help from his offensive line and was on the run most of the day, but watching the game, you could see the frustration building for the redshirt sophomore QB.
On the other hand, Bennett’s competition, Marcus Mariota, had a solid day throwing for a couple touchdowns and running for another. Mariota basically played a game of opposites with Bennett, getting off to a hot start before settling in for a slow -- at least, by Oregon’s standards -- second half.
Of course, there’s the coaching cliche “it’s never as good as you think, never as bad as you think”, but this QB competition looks like it’ll go right into fall camp. There are plenty of other offensive holes to be filled as well with the Ducks losing running back LaMichael James and tight end David Paulson.
Keep in mind that plenty of offensive stars were either held out or limited during today’s game. But overall Chip Kelly looks like he has another batch of playmakers ready to step in.
The Ducks were impressive defensively, as well. The defense is almost always going to have some advantage in a spring game, but one thing that’s always been impressive about Kelly’s teams is the competition at every single position. Everyone on the field plays with an edge. The D-line got some good pushes and recorded a few sacks and the secondary, again, looks like it’s filled with ball hawks.