Oregon Ducks Football: Mariota Shines as Mariasu takes sloppy spring game

Oregon had a few question marks on the offensive side of the ball; namely, who would step up for Bralon Addison out wide and would we get a resolution to the backup quarterback battle. Both Lockie and Rodriguez were good in spots and not so good in others as they led the way through most of the game. The outcome ultimately didn't matter, but team Mariasu defeated team Twifo 27-7.

"I thought we were a little bit sluggish today. I think there's probably 37,000 people who left here today going, ‘I don't know,' and they're probably right," said Mark Helfrich after the game.

Rodriguez looked like he was stepping up to be the solid #2 QB through much of the game. That was until a little trickeration gave Jeff Lockie a chance to uncork one for a touchdown. The see-saw battle continued as Rodriguez led Team Twifo into the red zone, blending the read option into his game before finally stalling out at the 9 on downs.

"I thought a couple times, both of them forced it. That's human nature of trying to win the job with one throw. That's the quickest fastest way to lose it. They wanted to go out and make it happen, and sometimes that's not how it works," said Helfrich.

Not surprisingly, Marcus Mariota was stellar in his limited action. Mariota led three drives, two of them resulting in touchdown passes. The third was a Kenny Bassett fumble that stopped a drive that got deep into the red zone.

It's not unusual for the defense to be further along than the offense, but it seemed as though the defensive line and line backers were more able to stuff the run inside and keep the backs from springing too many runs. The big standout in the secondary was Reggie Daniels who broke up several passes and was a pest all over the secondary.

Special teams was a train wreck. An assortment of fumbles and penalties marred the third unit's production. This is where Oregon is really going to miss Bralon Addison. His ability to turn nothing into something was unparalleled.

Both Johnathan Loyd and Erick Dargan got a chance to run back punts, Dargan muffed the punt and Loyd got blown up by Derrick Malone, drawing a penalty.

Matt Wogan was way short on his only attempt, barely getting the ball across the word OREGON in the west end zone. It wasn't clear whether or not the attempt got clipped by the onrushing defender but it appears that Oregon's dubious reputation with field goals continues.

Kickoffs appear to be a mixed bag. I'm not crazy about how deep and high the kicks are going, but the coverage was stellar. Rarely did a returner get the ball out past the 20, let alone the 25.

Overall, not a lot can be taken from a Spring scrimmage, but simply put Oregon looks to have at least shored up their run defense and seem to have reverted to the offense we're used to seeing...at least when Marcus Mariota is at the helm.