No. 13 Oregon and Nebraska now know when they’ll meet in Eugene, and the matchup lost a little of its shine after both teams stumbled in Week 6.
According to the Nebraska website, the Ducks and Cornhuskers will kick off at 8 p.m. PT on Saturday at Autzen Stadium, with FOX carrying the broadcast.
The timing came into focus after UCLA’s 17-15 upset of Oregon on Saturday at Autzen Stadium knocked the Ducks out of the running for a potential national primetime window. The Bruins also beat Oregon for the first time in Eugene since 2004, doing it by forcing seven turnovers from a Ducks offense that had no answers.
That same UCLA win helped put the Bruins at 3-0 in Big Ten play, tied with No. 5 Ohio State and No. 7 Indiana atop the conference standings.
NBC had already locked in another Big Ten game for its 6:30 p.m. CT primetime slot on Oct. 17, choosing Wisconsin at UCLA at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena under the league’s six-day television selection process.
That process lets broadcast partners wait until the Sunday before a Saturday game to announce kickoff times and TV assignments, giving everyone a chance to see how the previous week plays out before the final call is made.
Oregon’s loss to UCLA, along with Indiana’s comeback win over Nebraska, stripped some of the appeal from the Week 7 meeting in Eugene. If both Oregon and Nebraska had handled business in Week 6, the game would have carried a stronger case for NBC’s primetime stage.
Instead, both teams head into Saturday trying to clean up the mess from their first conference defeats, losses each side probably felt they let get away.
Oregon’s passing game, ranked No. 3, never really got rolling. The Ducks finished with 199 yards through the air, and 156 of those came in the fourth quarter from quarterback Brock Thomas after he replaced Dylan Raiola. Thomas connected with Evan Stewart on a 44-yard touchdown with 2:16 left to keep Oregon alive.
Raiola started in place of injured quarterback Dante Moore and had shown promise in his first two outings, but UCLA rattled him badly. At one point, he strung together a career-worst seven straight incompletions.
With Moore still recovering from the concussion he suffered against No. 21 USC in Week 4, Dan Lanning’s quarterback situation is suddenly looking a lot less stable.
Nebraska took its own gut punch at home against Indiana. The Cornhuskers led 17-6 late in the fourth quarter at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, only to give up 14 unanswered points and fall 20-17.
Raiola’s day against Indiana also added another layer to the Oregon storyline. He went 6 of 19 for 43 yards with two interceptions, and now there’s obvious intrigue around whether the Nebraska transfer gets a chance against his former team.
Either way, the Ducks and Cornhuskers will meet Saturday night in Eugene trying to avoid a second straight conference loss.
In Other News...
Oregon's Quarterback Crisis Just Got Harder To Ignore
Oregons quarterback situation was already under a bright enough spotlight with Dante Moore sidelined by a concussion, and the fourth quarter against UCLA only sharpened the concerns. After Dylan Raiola struggled with turnovers, Dan Lanning turned to Brock Thomas, a move that underscored how little margin the Ducks had as the offense searched for a rhythm. Even with a touchdown and a field goal on the board, the Ducks were still chasing the game late.
The trouble was not just the score, but the way the offense kept putting itself in difficult spots. Multiple turnovers and other offensive issues left Oregon trailing 17-9 entering the fourth quarter, and the shuffle under center made the depth chart feel unsettled at a moment when stability mattered most. For a team built to compete at the top of the conference, the quarterback conversation is suddenly becoming impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Win Now Comes With A Big Ten Question For Bear Alexander
Oregons win over UCLA is already producing a bigger aftershock than the final score, because a viral clip from the game has put defensive tackle Bear Alexander in the middle of a possible Big Ten review. The video appears to show Alexander striking Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava during a tackle, and Iamaleava later left with a lower body injury, leaving the play under fresh scrutiny as the conference weighs its next step.
The Big Ten has a sportsmanship policy that can allow for discipline in cases like this, and Oregon is waiting to see whether the league decides to act. The situation also lands in a sensitive spot for Dan Lanning, who recently condemned a similar incident involving another player, making the conferences response to Alexanders case the next development that could shape how the aftermath of the game is remembered. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Heads To Nebraska With A Quarterback Problem And Bigger Questions
The late push from Brock Thomas gave Oregon something to hang onto after a 17-15 loss to No. 21 UCLA, but it also left the Ducks with a familiar kind of uncertainty as they head to Nebraska. Thomas stepped in for starter Dylan Raiola in the fourth quarter and helped lead scoring drives, yet the bigger picture was hard to ignore: turnovers, penalties and offensive line problems kept the offense from ever finding a steady rhythm, even as the defense did enough to keep the game within reach.
Now the attention shifts to the quarterback picture, and it is not getting any clearer. Oregon could also be waiting on the possible return of Dante Moore from injury, which only adds another layer to a situation already made messy by the loss to UCLA. The Ducks leave with a hard-earned defensive performance to build on, but with the offense still searching for answers, the trip to Nebraska feels like a test of both depth and direction. [Read more 🡒]