Running back Noah Dahl remembers watching Joey Harrington play as a toddler, and spent the last two years as a UO student before joining the Ducks as a walk-on running back this year.

Venue: Moshofsky Center

Format: Fast Friday

Noah Dahl grew up attending Oregon football games with his family, who were season-ticket holders. Then, the Silverton native spent two years watching the Ducks from the student section in Autzen Stadium.

This fall, he's had yet another vantage point: The Oregon sideline, where Dahl spends game days after joining the UO roster as a walk-on running back for spring drills earlier this year.

"It's a dream come true," Dahl said.

All along, the idea had been for Dahl to try and walk on with the Ducks after he enrolled at the university. But he missed a tryout date as a freshman in 2016; last season, the UO roster accommodated very few walk-on players, and no tryout was offered.

Then, late in winter quarter of this year, Dahl opened Twitter and saw the moment he'd been anticipating. Oregon had announced a tryout prior to the start of spring practice.

"I walked in and there were like 30, 35 guys," Dahl recalled. "I was pretty nervous. And there were some good guys there."

Dahl had a bit of a leg up, though. His brother, Jonas, had walked on at Oregon State and so could prepare Noah for what he was about to face. And Dahl had spent two years keeping himself in shape for the chance.

Still, the two-day wait to hear anything from Oregon coaches after the tryout was interminable.

"I was just sitting in my room, waiting for that email," Dahl recalled. "It was nerve-racking."

Finally, though, the good news he was hoping for arrived. And since April, Dahl has been suiting up for the team he cheered for as a kid; Dahl remembers watching the likes of Joey Harrington and Jason Fife as a toddler, and of course was a Marcus Mariota fan while in high school.

This year's Ducks have leaned on the varying skills of the scholarship running backs by employing all of them in various roles with the travel squad. That's been good for those backs, and good as well for Dahl, who was the only scout-team running back at one point this year.

That meant a ton of reps, in practices and also the developmental-squad scrimmages held before each "Fast Friday" walk-through for the travel squad.

"We all look forward to this," Dahl said after Friday's practice. "Going live like this, fast tempo, getting the signals, it really helped me learn the plays, as well as learning to make reads and how to run."

Dahl spent this week wearing the No. 2 jersey of Utah running back Zach Moss on the scout team. Then, Thursday night, he again opened Twitter and saw surprising news: Moss was injured, and wouldn't play against Oregon on Saturday.

At practice Friday, "I had to take off No. 2 and put on No. 4," Dahl said. Another back had already been practicing in the No. 6 of new expected Utah starter Armand Shyne, so Dahl took on the role of Tyrone Young-Smith, and adjusted his style to account for Young-Smith's propensity to bounce outside.

"Switching it up made it a little different today," Dahl said. "Especially the day before the game, it probably messed with the defense a little too."

Better to make the adjustment in practice Friday than on the fly in the game Saturday. Dahl was there to help Oregon's defense do so, while living out his dream of suiting up for the Ducks this season.

Developmental-squad scrimmage highlights: After the offense broke through for a few touchdowns in last week's Fast Friday scrimmage, the defense kept them off the scoreboard this week. Tevin Jeannis hauled in a pass from Mike Irwin from the 20-yard line to end the first possession of the scrimmage, but the gain managed 15 yards, shy of the end zone. … Dahl opened that drive with a run of about 15 yards on the first play of the scrimmage, and only an open-field tackle by Billy Gibson kept him from scoring. …

Demetri Burch quarterbacked two of the five possessions. On his first rep, he kept the football on the option, but defensive lineman Miguel Nevarez dropped him at the line of scrimmage. … On the third possession, Bradley Yaffe completed back-to-back passes to Jeannis and Spencer Webb , but Nick Wiebe and Nate Heaukulani kept Dahl out of the end zone on the last play. … Heaukulani, who has been on the travel squad in recent weeks, then opened the next drive by stopping Burch on two run plays. Lucas Noland also stopped the QB after a short gain. …