Lightning has already put Oregon’s trip to Stillwater on hold.
The No. 6 Ducks were set for a 9 a.m.
PT kickoff at Boone Pickens Stadium against Oklahoma State, but strikes in the area forced players off the field and sent fans into the concourses. The game is suspended until further notice.
Under NCAA policy, play stops when lightning is detected within eight miles of the stadium, and teams must wait at least 30 minutes without another strike in that radius before a short warmup can begin. Any new strike inside that zone resets the clock.
That delay arrived with a forecast that was already asking a lot of both teams. AccuWeather did not call for thunderstorms until 4 p.m. local time, five hours after kickoff was supposed to happen, but the conditions around the game still looked brutal.
Stillwater was projected to reach a heat index as high as 106 degrees, with punishing humidity and thunderstorms hanging over the day. AccuWeather also projected a 95-degree high with little shade relief and described it as “Very warm with some sun, then turning cloudy; a thunderstorm in parts of the area in the afternoon; a hot afternoon for football; stay hydrated.”
Oregon wide receiver Dakorien Moore said the weather doesn’t rattle him because of what he dealt with at Duncanville High School in Texas.
“I’m kind of used to the weather, so I kind of know how to handle it,” Moore said. “The summer workouts in high school were way worse than what we’re going to be facing, so I’ll be totally fine.”
The Ducks arrived in Oklahoma a day earlier than usual because of the 9 a.m. PT start time, and the trip comes after a shaky but successful opener.
Oregon beat Boise State 34-27, though the performance left plenty of room for concern. The Ducks had trouble stopping the Broncos’ run game in the first half, committed 10 penalties for 90 yards, and had a few misjudged punt returns that helped overshadow the good moments.
Running back Jordon Davison led Oregon’s ground game with 90 rushing yards, and Jeremiah McClellan finished with 150 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Oregon is also coming off a game in which it struggled in short-yardage situations, especially on fourth down, while Oklahoma State has its own issues to sort out. The Cowboys opened with a 24-10 road loss to Tulsa, and their new era under Eric Morris comes with 91 new names on the roster.
That kind of turnover has made the adjustment period a big part of the story. Against Tulsa, Oklahoma State had trouble moving the ball in short-yardage spots and also lost fifth-year senior left tackle Jacob Sexton to a season-ending broken leg on the opening drive.
Ducks coach Dan Lanning said the heat is part of the challenge, but not the only one.
“When I was at Arizona State, I'm sure I coached in some hot ones. It's a different type of heat.
That's the oven heat. In Georgia, I've coached in some really humid ones, and same with Memphis or my time in Texas.
So I've certainly been in some hot games,” Lanning said in his pregame press conference.
“I think in these games, again, it's what preparation you can do throughout the week to make sure you're able to perform when you get there? Then it's about how many players you have who can play winning football, because strength in numbers has to show up in a game like that,” Lanning said.
There’s also a little history attached to this matchup. This is the third time Oregon has played Oklahoma State, with the Ducks holding the historical record at 0-2.
The first meeting came in the 2008 Pacific Holiday Bowl, when Oregon won 42-31 behind a second half that featured five lead changes. Jeremiah Masoli ran for three touchdowns and threw for another in that game.
This is also the first time an active Big Ten Conference member has played at Boone Pickens Stadium.
And Oregon leaned into that 2008 memory with its uniform choice for this one, using a look that references the Holiday Bowl win. The details included the first white helmet mask with a non-white helmet in the modern era.
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The biggest draw was the quarterback stage, with Oregons Dante Moore and Oklahoma States Drew Mestemaker giving evaluators a fresh look at two players who could be playing their way into first-round consideration. Oregon also brought several other prospects into the spotlight, which only added to the appeal for teams that had no shortage of reason to send talent evaluators to the game. For Oklahoma State, it was a reminder that the right home game can become something bigger than a matchup. [Read more 🡒]