Bucky Irving gave Tampa Bay exactly the kind of night it needed in Dallas.
With Baker Mayfield sidelined for a second straight game and the Buccaneers stumbling into Week 5 at 1-3, Tampa Bay leaned hard on its third-year running back Thursday night. Irving answered with a career-best 165 rushing yards on 21 carries and scored two total touchdowns in a 24-16 win over the Cowboys.
It was a breakout performance from a player who came into the game with just 241 rushing yards through his first four contests and had topped out at 89 yards in a Week 2 loss to Cleveland. Against Dallas, he was the engine from start to finish.
Tampa Bay also got a boost from rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, who bounced back from a rough showing in last week’s 17-14 home loss to Green Bay. The Kansas product completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards and threw a touchdown to Irving.
That scoring strike came in the second quarter, when Irving hauled in a five-yard touchdown reception to knot the game at 7-7.
The biggest swing, though, came on the ground. Irving ripped off a 72-yard run in the third quarter, setting up a 14-yard rushing touchdown by wide receiver Emeka Egbuka on an end-around that pushed Tampa Bay ahead 14-10. With Dallas keying on Irving, Egbuka slipped untouched around the left side for the score.
Irving wasn’t done. Later in the third quarter, he punched in a one-yard touchdown run to stretch the lead to 21-10.
Former Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson also chipped in with a single catch for 65 yards, helping move Tampa Bay into the red zone before Irving scored a few plays later.
The night marked another big step in Irving’s NFL career. He opened his pro run in 2024 with 1,122 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, including three 100-yard games and a previous high of 152 yards in an overtime win over Carolina. Injuries limited him to 10 games last season, when he finished with 588 yards and one touchdown and didn’t post a 100-yard game.
At Oregon, Irving piled up 2,238 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns over the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
In Other News...
Oregons Quarterback Situation Just Got More Complicated At The Worst Time
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Dan Lanning has made it clear he trusts Raiola to handle the job if Moore cannot go, while also signaling that the Ducks are not going to force the issue with concussion protocol. For Oregon, the bigger concern now is less about one game and more about how long this uncertainty lingers at quarterback as the schedule keeps moving. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Just Unveiled A New Look Ducks Fans Will Definitely Debate
Week 6 brought the usual flood of college football alternates, throwbacks and one-off concepts, and Oregon once again found itself in the middle of the conversation. The Ducks leaned into their "Origin of Speed" design, part of a slate of notable looks around the sport that also included Floridas 1966 throwback, Notre Dames all-green setup with a special logo, and Utahs icy white helmets.
For Oregon, uniform unveilings have become part of the weekly theater, the kind of detail that fans notice immediately and argue about just as quickly. This one fits the Ducks long-running reputation for trying something new, but it also sits alongside a crowded Week 6 field of sharply different styles, from Western Kentuckys offering to Georgia Tech, Kentucky and FIU, making the debate over Oregons latest look feel very much in line with the programs identity. [Read more 🡒]
Dylan Raiola Just Showed Why Oregons QB Battle Feels Different
Dylan Raiolas arrival at Oregon has added another layer to a quarterback room that already feels unusually connected, and he made that clear this week while talking about teammate Dante Moores recent injury. Raiola said the relationship between the two goes well beyond football, a reflection of the kind of support system Oregon has tried to build under Dan Lanning, where the focus is not just on competition but on the way players handle one another through it.
For a quarterback battle, that kind of tone matters. Lanning has pointed to a culture built on connection, growth, toughness and sacrifice, and the Ducks QBs seem to be living it out in real time. Raiolas comments offered a window into a room where the stakes are obvious, but the atmosphere remains collaborative enough that one players setback does not change the respect around him. [Read more 🡒]