Oregon Spring Game 2016: Recap, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

Mighty Oregon defeated the Webfoots 21-20 on Saturday in the Oregon football spring game in front of a large crowd at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.

A contingent of 35,116 fans was on hand Saturday, according to Oregon Football on Twitter, to potentially witness the start of a new era for the Ducks under head coach Mark Helfrich.

With Marcus Mariota two seasons removed from the team and Vernon Adams out of the picture as well, the spring game focused largely on the quarterback battle between senior transfer Dakota Prukop and freshman Travis Jonsen.

Both signal-callers performed well, as Prukop completed 20 of 29 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns in a winning effort for Mighty Oregon, while Jonsen went 15-of-24 for 188 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a rushing score.

Neither quarterback clearly pulled ahead of the other, which means Helfrich and Co. will likely have a tough decision on their hands as spring turns into summer.

In addition to the signal-callers, Oregon's uniforms are always a topic of conversation, and the team went in a throwback direction with a nod to the 1916 Ducks, as seen in this GIF from GoDucks on Twitter:

The contest started off in feel-good fashion when Jonsen completed a pass to senior tight end Pharaoh Brown on one of the first plays, as seen in this video:

Brown missed all of 2015 after suffering a significant leg injury against Utah in 2014, and he received a warm reaction from the crowd Saturday when he announced his return by making the early catch.

Jonsen led the Webfoots on an impressive eight-play drive shortly thereafter, but they had to settle for a 3-0 lead by virtue of a 26-yard Aidan Schneider field goal.

Mighty Oregon failed to get anything going for much of the first half, and Andrew Nemec of the Oregonian had some concerns regarding Prukop's mechanics:

While the 22-year-old former Montana State standout was efficient, he largely refrained from taking deep shots for nearly the entire opening half, per Rob Moseley of GoDucks.com:

The Webfoots defense did well to limit Mighty Oregon's big-play potential, as the front seven was often disruptive, even in the wake of the departure of San Francisco 49ers No. 7 overall draft pick DeForest Buckner.

From an offensive perspective, the Webfoots managed to move the ball quite effectively, but they struggled in terms of finishing off drives with touchdowns. That was the case with 46 seconds remaining in the half, as Schneider made a 30-yard field goal to up the lead to 6-0.

Although the Webfoots seemed poised to enter the locker room with the advantage, the Mighty Oregon offense came to life just before halftime when Prukop found freshman wide receiver Dillon Mitchell for a beautiful 32-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone, as seen in this video courtesy of Pac-12 Network:

Prukop made a nice toss on the play, but Moseley was particularly impressed with the manner in which Mitchell attacked the ball:

That touchdown appeared to open up the floodgates, as both offenses were far more potent throughout the second half.

Junior running back Kani Benoit scored from two yards out late in the third quarter to extend Mighty Oregon's lead to 14-6.

As  Nemec pointed out, Benoit has come a long way since he was initially recruited quite lightly out of high school:

Benoit ended the day with a game-high 113 yards on 14 carries and figures to be a key part of Oregon's multipronged running attack.

The Webfoots answered right back, however, when Jonsen connected with wide-open junior wide receiver Darren Carrington off his back foot for a 52-yard scoring strike:

By virtue of a two-point conversion, the game was tied at 14-14 with nine minutes remaining.

Prukop then threw his second touchdown pass of the day to Mitchell from 31 yards out, and Mighty Oregon pulled back in front 21-14 with 4:36 remaining.

Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Jonsen led the Webfoots on a 12-play drive culminating in a one-yard touchdown scramble with 32 seconds left. Rather than potentially going to overtime, the Webfoots went for two and failed, which gave Mighty Oregon the victory.

There is still plenty of uncertainty surrounding the Ducks offense entering the 2016 regular season, but Saturday's spring game suggests Oregon has the talent needed to be explosive as usual.

A number of playmakers made a statement, with Mitchell and Carrington standing out as potential stars at wide receiver.

Prukop and Jonsen both showed flashes of brilliance and made cases to be the starting quarterback as well, which should allow the Ducks to be contenders in the Pac-12 once again.

Helfrich must ultimately settle on one to guide the offense since dual-quarterback situations rarely work out, but with the amount of talent that is around them, both have the potential to put up big numbers in 2016.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.