Backup QB Raiola leads Ducks to 41-27 victory over USC

This story has been updated from an earlier version with quotes from the press conference.

LOS ANGELES — Dante Moore had been in the ambulance for less than a minute when the game went on without him.

Oregon’s starting quarterback had seen room, taken off, realized he was running out of space and slid. Then came a vicious and late hit from USC linebacker Desman Stephens II that connected with Moore’s helmet and whipped his head into the ground.

Whistles blew and players from both sidelines rushed the field in a moment of chaos, all while Moore lay motionless on the field.

He was there for nearly 10 minutes as trainers from both teams attended to him before paramedics carefully loaded him into an ambulance as Ducks and Trojans waited, yards away, for the game to resume.

Oregon trailed by a touchdown early in the second quarter and had a first down upcoming. The doors to the ambulance closed, in came Dylan Raiola and the game clock began.

It took two plays for the Ducks to realize that, within the confines of this game, they would be OK.

Oregon’s first play without Moore was a run for no gain. Its second was a pass from Raiola to Evan Stewart in the flat, which the receiver took around the corner and into the end zone for a 3-yard score.

Stewart held up five fingers. So, too, did Raiola.

The Ducks had No. 5’s back — and the 10-7 lead.

Then they went back to work.

“Trusting the game plan and trusting these coaches – we grind so hard to get put in a position that’s successful, and it’s our job to execute,” Raiola said. “I felt like we did that.”

A statement win

In the end, No. 20 Oregon (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) produced a 41-27 statement win, one that pulled the Ducks out of the muck of that Week 2 loss to Oklahoma State and propelled them right back into the playoff hunt.

It also handed No. 12 USC (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) its first loss of the season.

“How fun was that?” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said upon entering his postgame press conference. “I said the most physical team is going to win. I think that showed up tonight, right?”

The Ducks outgained the Trojans 504 yards to 446. They were 6-of-12 on third down, converted both of their fourth downs and, when given the opportunity to go for it on fourth and goal to end the first half or kick the field goal, Lanning said he had learned from his prior mistake against Washington back in 2023 and decided to go with the points. 

The Ducks had shown they were evolving. But nobody knew how they’d fare without their preseason Heisman candidate at quarterback. 

While the Ducks brought in Raiola from Nebraska with the intention of him taking Moore’s throne for the starting job in 2027, his arrival in Eugene also provided a safety net for an Oregon team coming off consecutive playoff runs.

The intention wasn’t to test the backup plan this early in the season, though.

Raiola started 22 games for the Cornhuskers over two seasons, tallying 4,819 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He threw for 2,000 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2025 before his sophomore season ended with a broken fibula suffered against USC on Nov. 1.

To this point at Oregon, Raiola’s lone action had been perfect mop-up duty in last week’s 84-0 win over Portland State, when he went 11-of-11 for 124 yards and three touchdowns in his first game since the injury.

“You have practice reps, but nothing simulates a game,” Raiola said after PSU. “So just being able to go out there and operate our system and not trying to do anything out of the normal. And success was there when we just did our job. Yeah, that made it easy for us.”

On Saturday, the rest of the Ducks made things pretty easy for Raiola, too.

Hill finished with 63 rushing yards, 105 receiving yards and two total touchdowns, turning easy plays into big gains. In the third quarter, he caught a pass in the flat and turned it into a 25-yard gain, then finished the drive himself with a 1-yard touchdown run that gave Oregon a 27-17 lead with 5:52 to play.

“I think a lot of guys come into that situation, they feel like they have to press,” Lanning said. “I think what gave Dylan confidence is he’s like, ‘I got great players around me. I’m going to take what they give me.’”

Oregon scored on each of Raiola’s first four drives, producing 24 points — and a 10-point lead — before finally coming back down to earth.

Late in the third quarter, Oregon punted for the first time since the quarterback change, and USC eventually fought back to tie the game at 27-27.

But Raiola, who would finish 19-of-25 for 289 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, wasn’t done.

Facing second-and-10 from USC’s 29 with 8:35 to play in the fourth quarter, Raiola threw a ball that fought to form a spiral as it floated toward the end zone. But he read the matchup correctly. He had Dakorien Moore in one-on-one coverage and watched as Oregon’s star sophomore leapt and secured the ball over a defender.

Oregon led 34-27.

“We saw a (freshman defensive back) and we saw Dakorien Moore,” Moore said of the play. “And we said, ‘Check.’ Touchdown.”

After scoring on their first three drives of the second half, the Trojans were finally stopped near midfield with 7:15 to play when Brandon Finney Jr. swatted away a pass attempt over the middle.

And it was finally the defense’s turn to carry the load.

The Ducks took over on downs, then gave the ball to No. 8 to finish the job for No. 5.

“This guy prepared for this moment like he was going to be out there on the field,” Lanning said. “He was ready for it. He was able to execute. Really proud of that.”

After Oregon tacked on another touchdown, and after the final whistle blew and Ducks and Trojans greeted each other at midfield, Raiola sprinted toward the stands to high-five Oregon fans who had made their way down to the railings.

Next week, the Ducks are off, and Lanning had no further update on Moore’s status other than that he was recovering at a nearby hospital. 

“I don’t want to speak too soon, but he is moving. He has the ability to move,” Lanning said. “So we continue to assess him, but I don’t want to make any speculation on further thoughts on that until we have no information on him.” 

Oregon won’t know until later how long it might be without its starting quarterback. The Ducks don’t know how many more games Raiola might have to pull out.

But Lanning did know this: The Dylan Raiola Oregon Ducks were still better than the USC Trojans.

And after a season that started dreadfully, and a night that began with a scare, the Ducks will take that bit of knowledge with them back to Eugene.

“For my brother, Five, seeing him like that shook the whole team,” Raiola said. “But at the same time, we knew that was our brother and we were going to fight for him.”

Full coverage from Oregon’s 41-27 victory over USC will be available in Sunday’s Duck Report.