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QuickTake:
After a pair of punt-return mistakes against Boise State, the receiver still had the full backing of his coach — and plenty of reasons to believe the best is ahead.
Evan Stewart trusted Dan Lanning had his back — long before the Oregon coach showed it after Stewart’s long-awaited and bumpy return to action Saturday against Boise State.
It was the senior receiver’s first game since the 2024 Big Ten Championship, and he caught eight passes for 72 yards. But two miscues as the team’s punt returner helped keep Boise State, a team Oregon otherwise statistically dominated, in the game longer than it should have been.
The first mistake was calling for a fair catch on a punt Stewart fielded at Oregon’s 3-yard line in the first quarter. It wasn’t a huge problem for the Ducks, who used a 50-yard reception by Jeremiah McClellan to quickly get out of danger.
The second was far more costly.
With the game tied 7-7 and the defense rolling after forcing a three-and-out, Boise State punted and Stewart again signaled for a fair catch. This time, he couldn’t secure the ball, and the Broncos recovered.
One play later, Sire Gaines was off to the end zone on a screen for a 38-yard touchdown.
It was 14-7 Boise State, and, for a moment, the Ducks were reeling.
But after Oregon regrouped to win 34-27, Lanning found Stewart just outside the locker room.
Lanning knew how hard Stewart worked after tearing the patellar tendon in his right knee on the first day of summer workouts in June of last year. He saw the rehab, the return to health and the explosiveness Stewart showed during camp while handling the expectations of not just returning, but starring for the Ducks.
“When it happened last year, I felt like it low-key brought us closer,” Stewart said in August. “Just him seeing me go through hardships, hard times.”
Outside the locker room, Lanning had Stewart’s back.
He told him he believed in him.
Then he told the media that practices were about to get a lot harder.
“I’ve got the most trust in Evan because of how hard he’s worked,” Lanning said. “That means we’ve got to create some more of those moments for him in practice where it’s a challenge and where it’s tough. He’s been very consistent throughout practice in being able to field those balls. That’s just something he’s going to have to be able to work through, and then we’ll continue to challenge ourselves to find other guys that can also do those things.”
This is college football — trust does come with a backup.
But Saturday also showed that the larger part of Stewart’s game is more than up to speed.
He tied for the team lead in receptions, catching eight of his nine targets. Oregon got him the ball underneath and downfield. His 39-yard reception on third-and-10 in the third quarter helped set up Oregon’s game-tying field goal.
“If you look outside of (the punts), I thought Evan played a good game,” Lanning said.
And his quarterback believes Stewart can be even better.
“There were some times where Stu got in his head today because of some of the (mental errors) he had,” Dante Moore said. “But just knowing Stewie, he’s going to bounce back. He’s going to make sure he goes out there next week attacking with a smile on his face.”
He’s got a good chance of getting a lot of work, too: The Ducks are playing Oklahoma State this week, which punted 10 times in Oregon’s 69-3 win last year at Autzen Stadium.
