Oregon offense in fine form

EUGENE, Ore. – Marcus Mariota threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns and the Oregon offense looked as potent as ever in the Ducks’ first spring game under new coach Mark Helfrich.

Bralon Addison had eight catches for 136 yards, Mariota completed 13 of 15 passes and the White team defeated the Green team 65-10 Saturday.

Oregon went strictly with an offense (white) vs. defense (green) format because of nagging injuries piling up.

The scoring system heavily favored the offense, admitted Helfrich, the former offensive coordinator who took charge of the Ducks in mid-January when Chip Kelly left for the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Coach just apologized to the defense for that,” said Addison, a sophomore receiver who has drawn praise from coaches and teammates for his performances in practice this spring. “Those guys have been tearing us up all spring so they kind of know it was just the scoring system.”

Still, the offenses put up nine touchdowns and 802 yards up against a defense that essentially knew what was coming.

The offense under Mariota looked to be in midseason form. The tempo was fast, the scores came quickly and sophomore looked as comfortable as ever directing the team to three TDs on four drives.

“Today was chance to go out there with the offense and show what we’ve been doing and how we’ve progressed,” said Mariota, “It was a lot of fun today.

“We had a good rhythm going and that’s always really key in this offense,” Mariota said. “Once you get into a rhythm, especially in this offense, it’s kind of hard to stop it.”