EUGENE - Before Oregon fans even settle into Autzen Stadium for Saturday’s opener, they’re going to get a clear look at just how much the Ducks’ football footprint has changed.
The new indoor practice facility rising beside the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex has moved well past the early stages. From Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., the building already jumps out, and for anyone headed to the game against Boise State, it figures to be impossible to ignore.
What’s going up there is no ordinary training space. Oregon’s project is on track to be longer, wider and taller than any similar facility in college football, with the top reaching nearly 100 feet. The structure is becoming one of the most eye-catching pieces around Autzen, and the scale alone makes it stand out.
The Ducks broke ground on the project, known as “2. Mo,” in February 2025.
Since then, the site has changed fast. Compared with the last time fans were filling Autzen for Oregon’s first-round College Football Playoff win over James Madison - or even for the spring game - the futuristic shape is now much easier to recognize.
The black steel frame is up to its full height. The curved roofline is defined.
Wood roof decking now covers large portions of the curved “O” frame. A tall wall of reflective glass has gone in along the side facing the Hatfield-Dowling Complex and Autzen Stadium, and more exterior walls are starting to close the building in.
Cranes and heavy equipment are still on site, but the project already looks far more like the renderings than a bare construction zone.
The expected finish date is 2027, per the University.
At 170,000 square feet, the indoor athletics training facility also came with some major changes to the surrounding area. Oregon had to move two outdoor practice fields and realign Leo Harris Parkway to make room.
Those outdoor fields hit a milestone during fall camp when the Ducks practiced on the new turf for the first time. It gave the team an early look at part of the developing complex, and it also lined up with some of the ideas coach Dan Lanning has been using to describe the program.
“I think what it maybe ties into more than anything that represents our program is we talk about telescope goals and microscope goals, right? And obviously that building is not going to be done tomorrow, but it lets you know where we're heading and what we're building," Lanning said.
In a video released by Oregon Football, Lanning expanded on that comparison.
“There's something really cool happening there, but there's work that's done on that building every single day to make it a leap. All right, that same thing's happening with our program right now.
We have goals that we want to be able to accomplish. On the same note, we got to focus on what's in front of us right now to be able to do it," Lanning said.
The project is being paid for through private philanthropy, and it will also free up more access for Oregon’s other teams at the Moshofsky Center, where football currently practices indoors.
It’s a significant investment, and it comes at a time when facilities, NIL and the transfer portal carry enormous weight in college football. Oregon has chosen to keep pushing forward anyway, even after the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex opened in 2013.
Saturday’s game will be the first chance for fans to see the Ducks at home this fall. Oregon, wearing a classic green and yellow uniform combination, hosts Boise State at 12:30 p.m.
PT in a nationally televised game on CBS. It also marks the start of Oregon’s pursuit of a third straight College Football Playoff appearance under Lanning.
And before the football even starts, the newest piece of the program’s future will already be on full display.
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