Oregon lost only one game during the 2024 college football season during the semifinal round of the Playoff. The Ducks have a lot of momentum under head coach Dan Lanning and the fanbase is very excited about their potential for this fall and beyond.
The ongoing narrative about their lack of passion and/or interest was proved untrue over the weekend!
A large number of college football programs decided to cancel their spring games for various reasons. Some coaches didn’t want to provide free tape for other teams to potentially poach their roster. Others did not see a need for a formal spring game because of the amount of roster turnover. Injury concerns were another reason for the nationwide abandonment.
Oregon was not one of those teams! Lanning loves to compete. He wants to give the fanbase as many opportunities to live alongside his program as possible. Fan engagement is more important in the NIL era than ever before. They showed out to support their team!
However, one particular photo from the weekend went extremely viral in an attempt to discredit the Ducks. I believe the original photo was posted by a visiting recruit prior to kickoff. It was shared to a larger audience by a well-known USC personality on X.
A photo of the stadium right at kickoff showed a similar attendance. Autzen Stadium was by no means empty but it was not full.
A look at the crowd at kick-off for the Oregon Ducks spring game. pic.twitter.com/2RagzJ0RgM
— Zachary Neel (@zacharycneel) April 26, 2025
That photo reflects a pretty solid turnout for a spring game. Oregon can’t really ask for much better— especially when Alabama could not fill the lower bowl.
And yet, that was not an accurate representation of the crowd that eventually filled in after kickoff. A video from Saturday shows no less than 30,000 people singing ‘Shout’ in unison. One half of the stadium looked how it would during a top-10 matchup in late October.
Truth is important. #GoDucks https://t.co/f2RzJZCe96 pic.twitter.com/9loILbb5eL
— Cameron Derby (@CamDerbyTV) April 28, 2025
The haters are going to point at the Ducks and laugh at their poor attendance. They choose to believe the narrative they want to believe. They would be wrong but they are entitled to do so!