Saturday Night’s game pushed Oregon past the halfway point, and now the Ducks are staring at the part of the schedule that will define everything. At 4-2, Dan Lanning’s team is still in the College Football Playoff conversation, which is not where most Oregon fans expected to be after all the twists and turns of the first half. But with Ohio State, Michigan, Northwestern and Washington still ahead, the margin for error is about to shrink fast.
That leaves Oregon with three big questions hanging over the rest of the season, and the answers could decide whether the Ducks keep their National Championship hopes alive.
The first - and biggest - is whether Dante Moore comes back at quarterback, and if Oregon can survive long enough for that to matter. Moore’s hit against USC immediately became the kind of moment that sends a jolt through a season, and while concussions are serious, there was at least some relief that he did not suffer any additional neck injury.
The Ducks have not looked the same without him. Dylan Raiola was excellent in relief against USC, but the team has not been able to open games without its top quarterback.
Raiola started against UCLA and was benched in the loss, while Brock Thomas ran into the same problem against Nebraska before Raiola stepped in and saved the day. If Moore returns, Oregon has enough talent to put together a run.
If he doesn’t return soon, the Ducks could be in danger every week, given how the backup quarterback play has gone over this two-game stretch.
The next issue is up front, where Oregon still hasn’t found a steady offensive line. For a roster built with this much investment, especially with Moore back in the fold, it was a surprise to see the Ducks do so little in the Transfer Portal to reinforce the line.
A'lique Terry and Dan Lanning brought in only one transfer to help cover multiple openings left by NFL Draft departures. So far, that gamble has not paid off.
Oregon has not started the same offensive line in consecutive weeks, and the staff is still searching for the right combination. With stronger Big Ten defenses coming up - and with a backup quarterback possibly still in play - that unit may end up deciding how far this team can go.
Then there’s the defense, which may be the one thing keeping Oregon afloat. Over the last two games, the Ducks have started to look like the version everyone was talking about when they were being billed as the best defense in the country.
Maybe the standard changed because the offense has been so shaky, but there’s also a sense that the group is getting more comfortable with Chris Hampton calling plays. The question now is whether that level holds.
If the defense keeps giving the offense chances to stay in games, Oregon can beat anybody with or without Moore. But if it has one sloppy outing, this team could unravel quickly, because the offense has not shown it can score with the best teams in the Big Ten.
In Other News...
Oregon Suddenly Faces A Big Evan Stewart Question
Evan Stewarts status has become another uneasy subplot for Oregon, which is already managing his return from injury after he missed the recent game. The wide receiver was booked into Springfield Municipal Jail on a charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants and released about an hour later, turning what should have been a football-focused week into a fresh off-field concern for the Ducks.
Springfield Police also moved quickly to shut down the noise around the incident, saying rumors of street racing involving Oregon players were unfounded and that Stewarts arrest was not tied to a separate police pursuit. For a team counting on Stewart as part of its offensive mix after his recovery, the bigger question now is less about what happened in Springfield and more about how Oregon handles the situation from here. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Exposed A Nebraska Problem That May Get Worse
Oregons defense left Nebraska searching for answers after holding the Huskers to 242 yards on 67 snaps, a performance that exposed how much work still remains for an offense trying to find any rhythm. Anthony Colandrea finished 18 of 33 for 164 yards and a touchdown while adding 38 rushing yards and a score on the ground, but the passing game rarely found easy openings and the run game never really got going.
The bigger concern is how many different parts of the offense looked stuck at once. Nebraskas primary backs managed just 58 yards on 18 carries, injuries took a toll on both the offensive line and the backfield, and wide receivers had trouble separating against Oregons coverage. The line gave up only one sack but allowed five pressures and was flagged four times, leaving a problem that could get a lot harder to solve if the protection and health issues linger. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Left Wondering After Two Late Replay Moments Swung Everything
Nebraska spent the final minutes of its loss to Oregon wrestling with two replay moments that ended up defining the finish. The Cornhuskers had a touchdown catch by Kwazi Gilmer upheld after review, with officials saying there was not enough clear evidence to overturn the call, and the Ducks kept hanging around until they finally grabbed their first lead with 28 seconds left.
Isaiah Mozee then became part of the late-game frustration when a potential Nebraska fumble was not reviewed, leaving the Huskers in possession and the sequence unresolved in real time. For Oregon, it was another close escape in a game decided by a handful of snaps and a couple of calls that Nebraska will be replaying for a long time. [Read more 🡒]