I’m in the process of putting together a lengthy profile on Oregon center Hroniss Grasu, so this week I spoke with one of Grasu’s childhood friends - former Oregon quarterback Bryan Bennett - who is now playing at Southeastern Louisiana.

Ironically, the Ducks this week play at Colorado, where in October of 2011 Bennett made his first splash when he was thrust into a starting role as a redshirt freshman. Starting for injured quarterback Darron Thomas, Bennett led the Ducks to a 45-2 victory as he led them on scoring drives on their first four possessions. All told, Bennett completed 11-of-20 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns while adding 69 yards on six rushes.

Bennett said he still gets asked about that game.

“Sometimes people talk about it, ask about it, or sometimes I will see highlights here and there,’’ Bennett said. “It was a fun time playing there. I got my first start against them ... was MVP of the game ... those are some good memories.’’

After three seasons in Eugene, Bennett transferred in January of this season, and Southeastern Louisiana is 2-2 heading into its game this week against Incarnate Wood (3-2). Bennett starts for the Lions and in the season opener had 106 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a 45-7 win over Southeastern Missouri. The next week, at Texas Christian, he had 132 rushing yards in 38-17 loss. The next week, he had 322 passing yards in a 34-26 loss at South Dakota State, which is ranked 7th at the FCS level.

“I’m doing well. The team has been playing well and fixing mistakes as we go,’’ Bennett said. “But I think we have a good team. We have progressed and we have a chance to do some good things here.’’

Bennett is a junior and has completed 51-of-82 passes for 649 yards. He has one touchdown pass and six interceptions. He has also rushed for 319 yards and five touchdowns.

He said he looks back fondly on his time at Oregon, but tries not to let his mind drift back to Eugene out of fairness to the task at hand in Hammond, La.

“I have to focus on where I am now, what I’m doing now,’’ Bennett said. “But being in Eugene, being at Oregon, was a huge part of my life. There is still a lot of things I miss, but I’m happy with where I’m at, happy with what I’m doing. But it’s people like Hroniss, Blake (Stanton), Jake Fisher, Josh Huff -- all the guys I came in with -- you miss those friendships. But they are still there, I just don’t get to see them.’’

At Oregon, Bennett finished with 580 yards passing, 9 touchdowns and three interceptions. He also had 365 yards rushing and six touchdowns. He left after Marcus Mariota beat him out in a hotly contested battle before the 2012 season. He left because he wanted to play, not because he had bad feelings.

“The learning experiences I received from those coaches, those are things that will stick with me for the rest of my life,’’ Bennett said. “I have to say I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity.’’

The links:

The Ducks

for Joe Bernardi.

Hoops prospect

which school he will attend.

Long snapper

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of Thomas Tyner, Brian Jackson and coaches Mark Helfrich and John Neal.