Oregon head football coach Mark Helfrich released the two-deep depth chart for week one against Nicholls State on Monday, still leaving a couple positions unanswered.

Second string quarterback is an “or” position, with redshirt freshmen Jeff Lockie and Jake Rodrigues sharing the position on the depth chart as of Monday.

“We haven’t discussed that,” Helfrich said regarding the amount of paying time each quarterback will see. Helfrich then confirmed that Lockie has the upper hand for week one. “Yes, if that situation arises, [Lockie] would be the second guy in the game right now.”

Helfrich also said the tight end depth chart is a work in progress, but freshman Johnny Mundt is currently listed second behind junior Colt Lyerla.

“That position is  very much a work in progress,” Helfrich said. “All those guys have their strengths and weaknesses, Colt obviously being the most talented among them, but yeah, along with guard, backup quarterback, all those guys [are in the mix]. The best guy, whoever’s been the best this week will be in there.”

Sophomores Koa Ka’ai and Pharaoh Brown are listed as the third and fourth tight ends, respectively.

Other previously unknown starters are as follows:

Offensive guard: Mana Greig, Hamani Stevens.

Defensive tackle: Arik Armstead.

Defensive end: Tony Washington.

Middle linebacker: Rodney Hardrick.

Weak side linebacker: Derrick Malone.

Kickoff specialist: Matt Wogan.

Wogan and Alejandro Maldonado are both listed at place kicker.

The complete depth chart can be seen here.

No baseball game is immune to rain, especially in Eugene, Oregon. The Eugene Emeralds and Salem-Keizer Volcanoes made it through three innings before getting rained out at PK Park. The game will resume at 5 p.m. Monday.

Through three innings, the teams matched one another in the run column with one a side. The Volcanoes broke through first in the top of the third when Blake Miller hit a sacrifice fly to center off starter Vladimir De La Cruz. Eugene responded in the bottom of the inning when Fernando Perez doubled home the tying run.

De La Cruz had trouble with his command and tiptoed in and out of trouble until he was pulled in the top of the fourth inning.

After a two hour rain delay, the game was nearly resumed twice. The players were on the field and ready when the rain came pouring down, forcing a delay. Brian Ragira is at the plate for Salem-Keizer with the bases loaded and two outs. The teams will play three innings, then break for half an hour and play the series finale, a full nine inning game.

Jeff Goodman of ESPN reported that Detroit senior Jason Calliste will transfer to Oregon and play for Dana Altman next season. Calliste has one year of eligibility remaining and will to play immediately. The guard averaged 14.4 points per game last season for the Titans and shot 36.5 percent from three-point range, giving the Ducks an outside shooter.

The Eugene Emeralds lost its fifth straight game Saturday night at the hands of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. Starting pitcher Pat Young was virtually un-hittable, yielding one hit, a third inning double by Edwin Moreno.

The Volcanoes did their damage in the third inning against starter Coby Cowgill. Ty Ross got it started with a base hit and advanced to second on an error by left fielder Malquiel Brito. Tyler Hollick advanced Ross to third on a bunt, and Brian Ragira replaced him at third with an RBI triple, breaking the scoreless tie. Tyler Horan singled to right allowing Ragira to score and add to the lead. Two batters later, Blake Miller lined a base hit to left that scored Horan from second. Cowgill walked the bases loaded with two outs, but escaped and stopped the bleeding.

Young continued to effectively take the bat out of the hands of Ems hitters, retiring nine straight before being replaced after six innings.

“His delivery was kinda funky, and with that it’s deceptive,” said Ems manager Jim Gabella of Young. “It’s not like he was overpowering with a 96 mile per hour fastball. He had average stuff but just that deception with that delivery makes it harder to hit sometimes, it’s harder to see a ball that way. He was funky tonight.”

Young used a 3/4 arm slot and slung pitches accurately and changed speeds often, keeping batters off balance.Young came in to Saturday night’s game sporting a 0.95 ERA and 1.129 WHIP through six starts. The six-foot-five-inch Villanova product was a 13th round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants this spring.

Cowgill lasted 4.2 innings in the loss, giving up three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks. Cowgill had struggled in his previous two starts, giving up a total of nine runs (seven earned) in 10.1 innings pitched.

“You get two hits you’re not gonna win many games,” Gabella said. “We’ll come out tomorrow and keep working and who knows, we might get 15 [hits] tomorrow, you just never know. Every day’s a different day. It depends on who’s on the bump there. Tonight they threw three pretty good pitchers at us and they kept us at bay and that happens, that’s baseball.”

The Ems have scored five runs in the last five games and have scored 223 on the season, ranking them last in the Northwest League. Eugene’s team batting average of .223 is also the lowest in the league.

The Emeralds’ elimination number is down to three, meaning any combination of three losses and wins by either the Boise Hawks or Hillsboro Hops will eliminate the Ems from postseason contention.

One week away from the season opener, Oregon head football coach Mark Helfrich says the team is practicing in “game week mode” in preparation for Nicholls State.

“We’re definitely in game week mode,” Helfrich said. “Everybody’s out there simulating their offense and defense as best as you can predict. You can always look at their previous film and kind of know what their coaches have done in the past. I’m sure they’ve tweaked and adjusted just like we’ve tweaked and adjusted over the summer. There will be some newness.”

Helfrich said the Colonels provide some difference in terms of game strategy.

“They’re different,” Helfrich said. “They’re kind of similar to our defense in some ways… but different than anything else we’ve played from a schematic standpoint.” Nicholls State plays in the Southland Conference of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Helfrich said the Nicholls State offense leaves some unknowns, especially at quarterback.

“[Their offense is] conventional in terms of formations and some of the stuff they do. They did a bunch of quarterback run stuff last year and that’s an unknown as to excatly what the quarterback’s strengths and weaknesses are.” Last year’s starting quarterback Landry Klann underwent season-ending shoulder surgery and is expected to be replaced by junior Beaux Hebert.

Helfrich alluded to some depth chart placements, and which freshmen will be getting redshirted and who will play this upcoming season for the Ducks.

Expected to redshirt: Darren Carrington (WR), Elijah George (OL), Doug Brenner (OL), Evan Voeller (OL), Devon Allen (WR), Jake Pisarcik (OL), Cameron Hunt (OL), Tyree Robinson (DB), Chris Seisay (DB), Juwaan Williams (DB), Damion Hobbs (QB), Taylor Alie (QB).

Expected to play: Johnny Mundt (TE), Tyrell Robinson (LB), Torrodney Prevot (LB), Matt Wogan (K), Thomas Tyner (RB)

Running back Kani Benoit is in what Helfrich called a “grey area.”

“Kani’s a grey area. We’d like to redshirt him, but I don’t know.”

Helfrich said Alejandro Maldonado will have punting duties, but the battle for starting kicker is ongoing.

Guards Hamani Stevens and Mana Greig are expected to start, and Helfrich said Everett Benyard and Andre Yruretagoyena will see significant playing time as well.

Helfrich will release a depth chart Monday.

Lane United FC played its second friendly match of the summer Friday night, and it went much better than the opener — a 3-0 loss to the Portland Timbers U-23 squad. The Reds defeated the visiting Southern Oregon Fuego 4-0 at Sheldon High School in front of a sizable group of supporters.

Miguel Murillo nearly put home the first goal in club history in the third minute. His header hit the post, then the turf, then was clutched by the Fuego keeper off the bounce. The Reds had other near goals early in the first half as they controlled possession and kept the Fuego defense busy.

As the first half wore down, midfielder Loren Hill entered the history books as he scored Lane United’s first ever goal — a ground shot to the left of the keeper.

“We could all take a big deep breath of air and kind of relax,” said head coach Gabriel Hernandez on Lane’s first goal. “It definitely was nice to reward the crowd and the supporters that came out. It was a nice goal. Plus from a guy that went to high school here, so it makes sense that he was the one.” The crowd seemed more than satisfied, roaring with approval and praise at the goal.

With the outcome still very much in doubt, LUFC came out with aggression in the second half and had many shots on goal, breaking through again in the 54th minute, this time courtesy of Gus Bermudez. Bermudez received a pass on the left wing and dribbled around a defender before striking a line drive past the keeper, putting the Reds up 2-0.

Six minutes later, forward Paul Beach added his name to the list of goal scorers, redeeming himself for a 37th minute yellow card. Defenseman Ryan Trutner narrowly missed in the 66th minute, banging the ball off the post.

The Reds controlled much of the game with its fast-paced, possession centered game strategy, which proved succesful a third time in the 69th minute Bermudez came through again, perfectly lobbing a shot over the head of the Fuego keeper for his second goal of the match, increasing the lead to 4-0.

The score would remain that way until the final whistle blew, giving Lane United its first win in franchise history.

“I think we were a lot more composed on the ball, a lot more confident on the ball and we’ve had more training sessions together, so we were able to kind of put our style on display for everyone,” Hernandez said on the victory. “It was a lot of short combinations and unlocking it long, and I thought they did that really well. That’s what the adjustment was at halftime and that changed the game.”

Lane United will begin playing in the Premier Development League next spring.

Frustration was the name of the game for the Eugene Emeralds Thursday night at PK Park. The Ems hit the ball hard many times, racking up seven hits, but were robbed of a few more on exceptional defensive plays by the Hillsboro Hops, who won 5-0.

“It’s frustrating but it’s good for us cause were making solid contact,” said Ems catcher Ryan Miller on the Hops defense. “But you know, the baseball gods weren’t in our favor tonight. Nothing we can do about it.”

Hillsboro shortstop Ryan Gebhardt made a diving stop in the hole at short to turn an inning-ending double play. Center fielder Taylor Ratliff dove head first and cleanly caught a line drive to take away a base hit. Left fielder Yogey Perez-Ramos prevented another would-be single with a sliding catch in shallow left.

On the other side of the token, the Ems committed three errors that led to a pair of runs.

“It’s the past, you gotta worry about the next pitch and the next play,” Miller said. “With baseball you gotta have a short term memory, you gotta focus on the next play not the previous play.”

Two of the errors came in the top of the ninth and allowed Hillsboro to extend its lead to five.

But the Ems had chances with at least one hit in six of nine innings. They also grounded into three double plays and were hurt by the aforementioned stellar defense.

Hops starter Ross Gerdeman (2-6) threw all nine, striking out eight along the way without surrendering a free pass. It was Gerdeman’s first complete game of the season, and his first win since August 12.

Tyler Hale (2-2) made his first start for the Ems and lasted 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on as many hits with three walks. Hale had been Eugene’s best reliever but didn’t fare as well in a starting role.

Hops first baseman Daniel Palka hit his first home run of the season in the second inning, a line drive that barely cleared the low right field fence. Hillsboro added two runs in the fourth on a bases-loaded walk by Randy McCurry and a sacrifice fly by Gebhardt.

Eugene right fielder Donavan Tate was ejected in the ninth inning after being called out on strikes by home plate umpire Brandon Butler. After the strike three call, Tate pointed to the location of the pitch with his bat and was tossed instantly. Manager Jim Gabella was also run from the game by Butler following Tate’s ejection for what appeared to be defending his player and verifying the strike zone. Arguing balls and strikes are automatic ejections in baseball, and Butler acted accordingly. Gabella had been in discussion with Butler and field umpire Josh Root previously in the game.

“It was a little bit inconsistent,” said Miller of Butler’s strike zone. “It was his first game back from nine games, he hurt his back and then previously before that he had a concussion, so he’s trying to get in the groove of things, but it was little inconsistent.”

The two teams conclude the series Friday night in Eugene.

Oregon’s final football scrimmage before its season opener took place Thursday morning with a focus on getting younger players several reps and getting the team ready for week one by executing in-game situations.

“Got a bunch of looks at young guys in every situation,” head coach Mark Helfrich said. “We did down and distance stuff, did some red zone stuff, special teams … kind of every situation. I think we had 120 plays of offense and defense, the defense got the better [of it] a little bit early and the offense kind of got after them in the red zone portion. All in all, productive.”

Nine days away from hosting Nicholls State at Autzen Stadium, Helfrich said some decisions need to be made regarding the depth chart.

“There’s a ton of decisions,” Helfrich said. “Linebacker obviously is gonna be a big deal, interior offensive line will be a big discussion, and then just a big discussion on redshirting on DBs, linebackers, a couple offensive lineman.”

Offensive line coach Steve Greatwood said there’s a wealth of talent and experience along the offensive line, making the decision process difficult, but at the same time not as vital.

“We really have a great deal of experience,” Greatwood said. “Both the tackles Tyler [Johnstone] and Jake [Fisher] started all season last year so I feel really good about their experience coming in, and I know the guard situation has been talked about but all those kids that are in contention have seen extensive playing time. Mana Greig actually was a starter for us before he got injured, Hamani Stevens has seen a ton of time as has Everett Benyard … so those candidates right there are very very viable, I’m comfortable with any and all of them.”

Quarterback Marcus Mariota said he’s been able to lean on center Hroniss Grasu when it comes to overall communication along the offensive line.

“These last few weeks with fall camp have really helped us get on the same page,” Mariota said. “Hroniss does an awesome job of making sure everyone is on the same page … To be able to build off of him as a leader and being able to communicate with him, I think we’re all seeing the same things and we’re really just all ready to go.”

Helfrich also addressed the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex and how it’s helped make his job easier.

“The functionality of this place is off the charts,” Helfrich said. “The aesthetic design is incredible, but I think it’s even better [as] a functioning building. You know, where you’re meeting, where you’re eating, how you get to the practice field, how you get to the weight room, it was very well thought out for sure.”

Helfrich said there was little he wanted to change, then jokingly said he demanded a certain type of soap.

Helfrich and the Ducks resume practice on Saturday.

De’Anthony Thomas. Marcus Mariota. Josh Huff. They’re household names. Players like this are constantly in the spotlight, having their every move analyzed under a giant microscope.

So what about the other guys? Players who go relatively unnoticed but contribute just as much between the hash marks. Oregon has several of those players, some on both sides of the ball.

Hroniss Grasu

The junior center has been a starter since his first day at Oregon, but is unfamiliar to many football fans due to the nature of his position. Even though he touches the ball more than anyone else on the field, Grasu won’t make any headlines or appear on any Heisman watch lists.

“Hroniss is awesome,” head coach Mark Helfrich said. “His mentality, his toughness, his instincts, his awareness. All of the positive things that you’d want in a center, he has. He’s a really likable guy — a great leader in that way, too. So all those guys want to keep him happy.”

B.J. Kelley

Sophomore wide receiver B.J. Kelley has been overlooked thus far in his college football career by many because of the Ducks’ dominant run game. But Helfrich hyped Kelley’s speed, potential and motivation.

“There’s nothing holding him back,” Helfrich said. “He’s got all the tools — he’s a tough kid. I think he wants to be great, and we expect great things from him.”

Kelley caught six passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns last season, ranking him 10th on the Oregon squad in yards per game a year ago.

Chance Allen

Redshirt freshman receiver Chance Allen was another name mentioned by both Helfrich and wide receivers coach Matt Lubick as a player who has shown improvement during fall camp. Allen was selected as a 5A Texas Region III All-District athlete his senior year of high school and checks in at 6-feet-2-inches. The possibility of an increased passing game provides intrigue for receivers, especially returners like Allen who have little to no experience on the field but show promise.

Arik Armstead

Armstead has gained popularity by being a two-sport athlete, but like his fellow linemen, he won’t show up on the traditional highlight reels. As a freshman in 2012, Armstead appeared in all 13 games and is set to see an increased number of snaps this season.

Armstead should make more of a name for himself this season and develop into one of the top defensive threats in the country.

“He’s playing great,” defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said. “He’s a big strong guy that can run so you love him. He can play any of our d-line positions.”

After an up and down road trip, the Eugene Emeralds lost a close game at PK Park, 2-1 to the Hillsboro Hops. The Ems managed only a pair of hits in the ballgame, which manager Jim Gabella attributed to the loss.

“Our kids kept fighting, just couldn’t get the big hit. It’s hard to win when you get two hits,” Gabella said. “We had chances, though. That’s one thing about this team, we’ve always kept fighting, never giving up.”

The first chance for the Ems to break through was in the third when Michael Bass drew a two-out walk and was followed by a Wynton Bernard single, putting runners at the corners. Malquiel Brito grounded out to end the inning, and Eugene would have to wait until the seventh inning to get their next baserunner.

In the seventh, Donavan Tate led off with a single but was ousted at second two batters later on a routine double play.

The eighth and ninth innings provided excitement, as the scoreless stalemate was finally broken. The Hops struck first in the top half of the inning against relief pitcher Josh Richardson (1-2). After retiring the first two hitters in order, Richardson gave up a base hit to Yogey Perez-Ramos, who then stole second with George Roberts at the plate. The stolen base ended up being moot, as Roberts skied his fifth home run of the year over the right field fence, putting Hillsboro up 2-0.

In the home half, the first two Ems hitters reached base safely via a walk to Fernando Perez and a Marcus Davis hit by pitch. Anthony Torres laid down what looked like a successful sac bunt, but turned out to be more. Hops catcher Yosbel Gutierrez couldn’t come up with the ball cleanly, resulting in Torres reaching first safely. With one out, Bernard reached safely on yet another Hillsboro error, allowing everybody to move up on the base paths, scoring Perez.

Michael Miller and pinch hitter Chase Jensen both drew ninth inning walks to put the Ems in position to tie the game, but closer Jose Jose shut the door and handed Eugene the loss.

Ems starter Erik Schoenrock threw only three innings before being pulled without surrendering as much as two hits.

“He can only go three innings,” said Gabella of his starter’s short outing. “The organization is limiting some of the guys that came in from college that had a bunch of innings … we’re trying to keep their innings down.” Schoenrock has been one of the more consistent pitchers for Eugene this season, never allowing more than four runs in any start.

Hops starter Austin Platt (3-3) tossed seven shutout innings, yielding the only two Ems hits of the night to go along with three walks and three strikeouts.

Ems leadoff hitter and fan favorite Ronnie Richardson was recently promoted to the Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League. Richardson hit .298 for Eugene and was on the Northwest League All-Star team.