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          1st Scrimmage  SPRING  OFFENSE vs DEFENSE                                                                                                          

By SDIII                  EUGENE, ORE (April 12, 2008)--The sidelines were crowded when I arrived but there    was an air of competition, the drills were finishing up and the coaches were telling their players to hydrate because the temperature in Autzen Stadium was warmer than 74 degree's as reported in Eugene. The Stands looked empty compared to a conference game of 54,000 + yelling and quacking fans, these are the first spectators getting a look at the 2008 Oregon Ducks football team attempting to "gel" and try out different positions. I had a chance to speak with Dennis Dixon for a brief moment asking how his web site is doing and he expressed a thumbs up...traffic is good , maybe someday SDN.com will catch up with his. The 7 on 7 drills showed Roper as being the most effective with  passes to Jwill and Jamere Holland on the first go around. Nate Costa had a couple of good plays and a  pass to Jeffery Maehl.                                                                                                         Cody Kempt had a couple of passes completed to Alston and Elvis...no not the singer! Akpla. Cade Cooper's first pass was to the intended receiver Terrell Robinson and then TJ Ward the first pass was not received but the second was. Darren Thomas struck out but that means nothing at this point as over the last week he showed some flashes of nothing but goodness. 11 on 11-- Roper passed his way to the end zone finishing with Andre Crenshaw after missing the; end-zone on a run. There was a penalty but the PAT was good by Matt Evenson. Cody Kempt made passes to Jamere Holland, Jeffery Maehl and Alston but failed to convert. Darren Thomas ran LeGarette Blount, Marvin Johnson #1 and LeGarrette again, fumbled on the 4th and Defense took over. Scrimmage-- Offensively Cade Cooper was the star as he contructed a 11 play drive that ended with a score and PAT. LeGarrette Blount ran 5 times and at one point leveled #35 Spencer Paysinger.. the last run was for the end zone, Remene Alston got a 1st down during the drive and Morgan Flint kicked the PAT. Defensively it was the "Defense" the rest of the game and coach Gray should be proud