EUGENE - Oregon’s offense was a wreck Saturday, but the Ducks still had a chance to survive because the defense kept dragging them back into the fight.
That’s what made No. 13 Oregon’s 17-15 loss to No.
21 UCLA feel so messy. The Ducks used two backup quarterbacks, forced three turnovers and got goal-line stands in both the first and third quarters, yet still walked out of Eugene with the ugliest defeat of Dan Lanning’s five-year tenure.
UCLA, behind first-year head coach Bob Chesney, left with a signature win.
The ending was brutal. After Dylan Raiola was replaced by third-stringer Brock Thomas in the fourth quarter, Thomas finally got Oregon moving.
He led the Ducks to a field goal, then guided another drive that ended with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Evan Stewart, who had earlier fumbled. But Oregon needed two points to tie, and Jordon Davison was stopped on the conversion try.
The box score tells part of the story, but not nearly all of it. Raiola was a mess from the start, finishing 6-of-19 for 43 yards with two interceptions.
He missed open throws, missed basic reads and somehow escaped with only two picks. One of those came on a back-footed toss that was easily intercepted and sent him to the bench going into the fourth quarter, after the Ducks’ fifth turnover of the day.
That was only one piece of the breakdown. Oregon’s offensive line never settled in, the run game never got going, and the play calling looked painfully bland. The one time the Ducks tried to get cute, it backfired: offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer had Jordon Davison take the snap in the wildcat, and Davison fumbled a handoff to Dierre Hill.
The penalties piled on, too. One of the ugliest came when A’Mauri Washington nearly intercepted a pass and then chucked the ball downfield, drawing an undisciplined personal foul. Oregon also made life harder on itself by going for two in the first quarter, a decision that came back around at the end when the Ducks needed that point.
There’s already going to be noise about whether Oregon still has a path to the College Football Playoff, especially with a road trip to Ohio State looming. But Saturday looked bigger than a bad loss. It looked like a season unraveling in real time.
And if there was any bright spot, it came from the defense.
The Ducks kept UCLA out of the end zone on goal-line stands in the first and third quarters and came up with three turnovers. Nico Iamaleava, the Bruins’ starting quarterback, was nearly as shaky as Raiola. Oregon also got one of its best scoring chances when Koi Perich rushed Iamaleava, forcing a fumble at the goal line that set up Davison’s one-yard score.
For all the chaos around it, that part was clear: Oregon’s defense gave the Ducks enough chances to win. The offense didn’t come close to holding up its end.
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 Is Suddenly Facing A Brutal Dylan Raiola Question
With Dante Moore unavailable against UCLA, Oregon had to lean on Nebraska transfer Dylan Raiola to keep the offense on track, and the first half made the Ducks quarterback situation feel a lot more fragile than they would have liked. Raiola was asked to manage the game and move the ball, but the opening stretch was uneven, with incompletions piling up and a costly fumble helping UCLA build a 10-6 lead.
The Ducks defense had its moments, but it was hard to ignore how much the afternoon depended on Raiola settling in and finding some rhythm through the air. For Oregon, the concern was not just one shaky half, but the broader question of whether the offense could function the way it needed to if Moore remained out and Raiola had to carry that burden. [Read more 🡒]