Ducks rediscover their firepower in 56-10 rout of Rutgers

Oh, was Dan Lanning ready for this one.

A week ago, the fourth-year Oregon coach took his lickings: a 30–20 home loss to Indiana, a wave of shirtless internet memes and the humbling of an Oregon program that had sprinted to a 5-0 record before running into that Hoosiers buzzsaw.

The loss wasn’t entirely surprising. How it happened was — so much so that by Wednesday, Lanning was still fielding questions about it.

“You guys know we’re playing Rutgers, right?” Lanning asked a reporter. “…(Indiana) played really good, guys. They played really good. They had a better plan than us. And we played that game last Saturday.”

For a moment this Saturday, the Ducks looked to be back in that same spot. A first-possession drive turned into a fumble, Rutgers had the ball in Oregon territory and the Ducks’ mission of getting out of the blocks fast following their first regular-season loss since 2023 was suddenly in doubt.

Then the defense flexed, limiting the Scarlet Knights to a 51-yard field goal. Then Oregon’s offense followed, proving that Rutgers is definitely not Indiana.

The Ducks won 56-10. After Gary Bryant Jr.’s fumble on Oregon’s first drive, Oregon responded with touchdowns on its next seven possessions, with quarterback Dante Moore at one point completing six straight passes of 20 yards or more.

“I was expecting our players to play with an edge,” Lanning said. “I was expecting them to execute and do their job at a really high level. I thought the things that we were asking our guys to do, that they were able to do, and they did that tonight.”

A week after the worst performance of his Ducks career, Moore was out of the game by the end of the third quarter, finishing with 294 passing yards, four touchdowns, 49 rushing yards and one interception.

Much of that early success was sparked by Oregon remembering it still had a nuclear option waiting in the wings. After Noah Whittington gave the Ducks a 7-3 lead with a 68-yard touchdown run on Oregon’s second drive, the Ducks went to work with their star tight end Kenyon Sadiq. 

For much of the season, Sadiq’s impact has felt muted — relatively speaking. The junior came into Rutgers with three touchdowns, 225 receiving yards and 17 catches, solid numbers but not the kind of explosive production expected from one of Oregon’s top big-play threats.

That changed on Saturday. Moore connected with Sadiq four times for 80 yards in the first half, including two touchdown grabs that could make one wonder why the Ducks don’t throw to the 6-foot-3, 245-pounder every play.

Sadiq’s first touchdown was a leaping, fingertip grab on a rocket up the seam from Moore for a 30-yard score. His second, a 20-yarder on a flea-flicker, again saw Sadiq elevate in the end zone before crashing hard to the turf. The Idaho native came up limping — seemingly the only thing that could slow him down.

Sadiq did not play in the second half. Nor was he needed.

Oregon led 42–3 at halftime, then kept piling on the ground. Whittington (125 yards, two TDs) and Jordon Davison (100 yards, one TD) each topped the century mark as the Ducks rushed for a season-high 450 yards. Oregon’s 750 yards of total offense fell just 27 yards shy of the program record. 

“We wanted to establish the run, and we felt like we could move bodies up front and run through some arm tackles,” Lanning said. “We did that tonight.”

Meanwhile, a defense that struggled to stop Indiana a week earlier gave Rutgers fits. Oregon finished with three sacks, forced a fumble and intercepted quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis twice.

By the end, Oregon averaged 11.5 yards per play to Rutgers’ 2.9.

“All week we talked about operating to our standard, there’s still some moments that we want back from that game, but overall, I thought our players really attacked that,” Lanning said. “And regardless of what time it was in the game, who was on the field, like these guys went and attacked, which is great. We talked about strength of numbers, and we had that tonight as well.”

Moore’s only mistake came midway through the third quarter when he was intercepted on a pass over the middle. By then, Oregon led by 53. On the next drive, walk-on Brock Thomas entered the game, and soon enough, Lanning and the Ducks were back in the win column — and ready to move on.

Rutgers? That game is over. Wisconsin is up on Saturday.