Imagine Oregon’s spring game being against Portland State or a Mountain West team.
The possibility of a spring game being an inter-squad scrimmage has been bandied about for years, but has gained significant traction this offseason after Division II approved a proposal for its football teams to scrimmage four-year schools starting in the spring of 2024.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning would be open to the Ducks facing another team in future spring games.
“I’m not opposed to it,” Lanning said. “I think why people probably say that is right now in college football more than ever rosters are really depleted in the spring. People don’t have enough bodies to actually get through practice and make themselves better. Obviously, there’s injury concerns.
“Last year, I would have been all for that because we didn’t have as many as many bodies. Now we got a lot of guys that need to work. And personally, I want to get to work of our guys in the spring. But if we had a depleted roster, I’d probably be in favor of doing that. Our numbers are a lot closer this year to where we’re able to go out there and play.”
Oregon has 114 players on its spring roster, including 81 scholarship players with 45 on defense and 32 on offense. UO’s intra-squad spring game on April 29 is free admission, supports Food for Lane County and also includes military appreciation ceremonies.
Last week, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze called for Alabama and Auburn to face UAB and Troy in spring scrimmages, which quickly garnered support from coaches Trent Dilfer and Jon Sumrall, and said there the proceeds could be donated to charity. Nick Saban called it a “great idea.”
During a radio interview on Wednesday, Georgia’s Kirby Smart said he would be open to playing a spring game against an in-state team.