Is Oregon Ducks spring game in jeopardy following recent cancelations?
This month the Oregon Ducks announced they would hold their annual spring game at Autzen Stadium on Saturday, April 26, following several weeks of practices in Eugene.
Will that decision stand, though?
The question is worth asking after the string of spring game cancellations we've seen in the college football world this last month. The trend gained prominence when Nebraska Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule declared his program was considering moving away from the scrimmage to cut down on tampering. The theory was that while the spring game was fun for fans to look at the new roster after the spring season, televising the event allowed other programs to scout players and coax them into the transfer portal via tampering.
This isn't just a Nebraska problem . It's something we've seen spread across the nation, afflicting certain schools more than others. In the past month, the USC Trojans, Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns announced they are canceling their spring games as well.
Could the Ducks be next?
It is fair to speculate, but we don't have a good answer. It seems relatively unlikely, given the Ducks already announced a date for their scrimmage. Is that enough to stop them from canceling two months before the event?
If they really wanted to, they certainly could cancel. However, I'm not sure the reasoning applies as much to Oregon as it does to some other schools. Smaller programs are moving away from a televised spring game to cut down on tampering, hoping to stop more prominent schools from seeing their players and getting tape on potential future transfer prospects. This isn't a problem Lanning has had to deal with during his time in Eugene.
Of course, Ohio State and Texas have not had to deal with that in the transfer portal era either, but they still skipped the spring game.
It will be interesting to see what transpires over the next couple of weeks as more teams potentially choose to move away from the spring game. Many college coaches have advocated for an NFL-style schedule of spring organized team activities, doing away with a televised scrimmage but allowing fans to participate.
“OTAs are just spring practice, there’s no real difference,” Washington Huskies coach Jedd Fisch told On3 . “I just think they should be later, which is what people are considering OTAs to be. We should have OTAs. We should literally just take the NFL schedule, which I’ve been very on record on. The NFL does it really, really, really good. There’s no reason for us not to just do that."
Don't be surprised to see college football move in that direction in the future. Also, don't be surprised if the Ducks choose to follow suit this season, joining the Buckeyes and Longhorns . I'm not predicting they will cancel the spring game now that a date has already been set, but it's certainly on the table.
This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Is Oregon Ducks spring game in jeopardy following recent cancelations?
