EUGENE, Ore. – Justin Herbert threw for 327 yards with three touchdown passes to Darren Carrington II , each of Oregon's three top tailbacks rushed for a score and Arrion Springs made it three straight scrimmages with an interception Saturday, as the Ducks capped their 2017 spring practice schedule with a 34-11 victory for Team Free over Team Brave before 36,821 fans in sunny Autzen Stadium.

The Ducks wrapped up their first spring under new head coach Willie Taggart , hired to change the program's course after a 4-8 fall in 2016. "We've got a chance to have a good team," Taggart said after the spring game. "We're not there yet. But we're doing some good things overall."

How It Happened: The sophomore Herbert, Oregon's returning starter, went 5-of-7 on the opening drive, capped by a 13-yard TD pass to Carrington. The two connected again on a scoring play of 30 yards in the second quarter, and made it three on the final snap of the day, a 25-yard scoring pass.



Herbert let fly with the last scoring pass from a spot on the field littered with ice, after Team Free coach Raymond Woodie was doused with ice water as his team celebrated the impending win. After Carrington hauled in the TD reception, Team Free flooded the end zone to celebrate, energy Taggart refers to as "juice" and which he's worked hard to foster in the Ducks this offseason.

Travis Jonsen led Team Brave to a field goal to get Team Brave within 7-3 midway through the first quarter. But Team Free led 14-3 at halftime after the second TD reception by Carrington, and went up 28-7 in the third on rushing touchdowns by Royce Freeman and Kani Benoit .

True freshman Braxton Burmeister led a scoring drive for Team Brave in the fourth quarter, capped by a one-yard TD run for Tony Brooks-James . Burmeister completed a pass to Charles Nelson for a two-point conversion that made it 28-11, until Herbert and Carrington hooked up one last time on the final play.

Who Stood Out: Herbert finished 16-of-26 for 327 yards and three touchdowns, while Jonsen was 5-of-15 for 86 yards and Burmeister went 3-of-7 for 63 yards. Jonsen and Burmeister each threw an interception, while Team Free's only turnover came on a muffed exchange with Herbert watching from the sideline.

Despite those numbers, Taggart wasn't ready to name a starter coming out of spring drills. "They're coming," said Taggart, who continues to try and coax more vocal leadership from his quarterbacks. "They're not there yet, but I saw a little more today."

Springs – who intercepted Herbert's first pass attempt in each of the Ducks' prior spring scrimmages – picked off a Jonsen throw Saturday, and Burmeister threw an interception when a pass was deflected first by the intended receiver and then a defender before settling into the arms of true freshman safety Billy Gibson .

Carrington had 116 yards on four receptions – the three touchdowns, and a one-handed grab of 48 yards to set up the final scoring play. Benoit's 95-yard touchdown gave him 109 yards on five carries, while workhorses Freeman and Brooks-James also found yardage mostly hard to come by, combining for 26 carries and 75 yards.





Defensively, walk-on linebacker Blake Rugraff had a game-high 11 tackles for Team Brave, and A.J. Hotchkins led Team Free with seven. The two teams were credited with nine total sacks, by nine different players.

Quotable:

Willie Taggart , head coach

On the defense's progress

"We have nowhere to go but up. … We're going to be better tacklers. But the thing you're going to see is great effort. That by itself will make us a lot better than where we were."

Justin Herbert , sophomore quarterback

On his performance

"It was a lot of fun. I thought for the most part it went pretty well; I missed a couple throws. I feel bad for Ryan Bay – he was wide open and I kind of dinked it (on an overthrown pass in the second quarter). But overall offensively, I think we did some good things."

Arrion Springs , senior cornerback

On his strong spring

"I'm kind of emerging as a leader a little bit. They're letting me play with energy, and I'm just trying to make plays for my teammates. I think you can see, if we play with energy, there's no stopping us. We've just got to keep the energy up."

Notable: The Spring Game was conducted largely at "thud" tempo, with little tackling to the ground. … The two teams threw the kitchen sink at each other: Team Brave ran a double reverse pass that fell incomplete, and Team Free employed a short-yardage package that used Hotchkins and defensive linemen Elijah George and Hunter Kampmoyer on offense. … Prior to the game, a ceremony was held to bestow a traditional Hawaiian blessing upon the Marcus Mariota Sports Performance Center, with its namesake in attendance. … A halftime flag football game was held involving alumni including Jeff Maehl (below), Jason Fife and Kenny Rowe.

Up Next: The Ducks open the 2017 season at home against Southern Utah on Sept. 2.