The Duck Report: A familiar challenge

This, at least, feels right.

I know college sports have changed. I can’t tell you how weird it was to watch Oregon/Oregon State basketball on a Monday in November, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the traditions and norms that have shifted in college athletics over the last few years.

Up is down. Left is right. Stanford and Cal play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

So maybe it’s because things have been so different lately that I’m so excited about Oregon’s final two games.

There are certainly stakes: Beat USC and Washington and it’s smooth sailing to the playoffs. Lose to USC and/or Washington and it might be time to book accommodations for the Holiday Bowl.

And yes, it’ll still take time to get used to playing the Huskies — instead of the Beavers — after Thanksgiving. But after two years of trying to drub up anticipation to play teams such as Rutgers, Minnesota, Maryland and Purdue, we now have two games where everything is on the line against two programs that really hate the Ducks.

How much does USC hate Oregon? The Trojans were supposed to be the new Big Ten darling when they became the first program to defect. They were the ones with the new, young, big name coach in Lincoln Riley. They were the ones who were supposed to be rubbing shoulders with the Ohio States of the world.
That hasn’t happened for them — and it has for the Ducks.

How much does Washington hate Oregon? In 2023, the Huskies were finally back on top. After the Ducks dominated the rivalry’s first two decades of the 2000s, Washington handed Oregon three devastating losses in the span of 14 calendar months. They had the genius coach in Kalen DeBoer. They won the final Pac-12. They entered the Big Ten coming off a national championship appearance.

They’ve since lost that coach — and much of their national relevancy since realignment.

There’s bad blood with both of these schools. There’s history with both of these schools. Lose one of these and it’s not like losing to Fernando Mendoza and an excellent Indiana team that returns back to the Midwest. It’s losing to programs that would grate Ducks fans the most.

Oregon may play in bigger games. But these are the ones that get remembered no matter the year. And in this topsy-turvy college football landscape, that familiarity is feels right heading into the home stretch.

A strong hand

Jackson Shelstad had 22 points in Oregon’s win over Oregon State. (GoDucks.com photo) Credit: Photo courtesy of GoDucks.com

After an 87-75 win against Oregon State on Monday at Matthew Knight Arena, Dana Altman’s men’s basketball squad is 4-0.

Now, it hasn’t been a pretty 4-0 — the Ducks had to squeak by Hawaii and Rice before finally finding their rhythm against South Dakota State and the Beavers — but it’s still 4-0. And it sets the Ducks up nicely for next week’s Players Era Festival, which begins for Oregon on Monday against No. 22 Auburn.

While Auburn will be favored, Altman does have three pretty strong cards in his hand heading into Vegas: against Oregon State, Oregon’s veteran trio of Nate Bittle, Jackson Shelstad and Kwame Evans Jr. combined for 62 points and 24 rebounds.

“If those three guys don’t play really good, it’s not going to happen for us here early,” Altman said. “We might be able to get away with it in January and February, them not playing well, but you saw what happened with Hawaii when Jackson didn’t play and even Rice when Jackson didn’t shoot it good and was a little off his game.”

A Duck Report I-Team Investigation

Tyson Alger photo of Madison Beer’s boyfriend.

Oh, the rumors were swirling all week.

With ESPN’s College GameDay making its second trip to Eugene this season for Saturday’s top-25 showdown with USC, the smartest minds in sports were grinding to figure out who Oregon’s guest picker will be for the show.

Sabrina Ionescu was in town for a disguised appearance at Sunday’s 80-55 women’s win over Army, but she was just the picker in October. Marcus Mariota is on a bye, and his Cybertruck has been spotted around town with the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner set to be inducted into the Oregon Hall of Fame on Friday night.

And then there’s this: Justin Herbert is also on a bye, and we had two first-hand sightings by Lookout Eugene-Springfield reporters of Herbert and pop star girlfriend Madison Beer touring around Eugene.

They just don’t make the Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles quite like they do here in the Northwest.

But in the end, it ended up being the old GOAT: ESPN announced Thursday morning that Mariota will be joining the show as the guest picker. We expect him to keep his shirt on.

Seeing (almost) clearly

Dante Moore speaks with the media after his record-setting performance.

Dante Moore was really good against Minnesota.

Like, better than the guy being inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday, good.

Moore’s 27-of-30 performance against the Gophers broke Mariota’s single-game Oregon record for completion percentage, with Moore connecting on 90% of his throws for 306 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Funny thing about that, Moore said: He wasn’t seeing things all that clearly. After breaking his nose against Wisconsin, Moore played against Minnesota while wearing a visor for the first time.

“Your vision is a little bit different,” Moore said. “A lot of times I was thinking — like, for example, with Kenyon (Sadiq) — that he was closer than he was, so I overthrew him a little bit. It just messes up the vision a little bit, but I’ve been wearing it all week and getting comfortable with it. The guys love it, the teammates love it, so it feels great to be out there on the field protecting my nose.”

INSIDE look

Make sure to check out this week’s episode of the Inside Look, where Ken Woody and I break down Oregon’s win over Minnesota and take a look at the challenge that awaits the Ducks with USC’s passing attack on Saturday.

camera roll

Autzen Stadium isn’t a bad place to be on a Friday night.

Then I spent my Saturday doing something completely different: watching football. Was cool to see the Vikings actually play in Portland — and to see my Griz get a convincing win.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I’m really proud of J-Mac’s growth. Our quarterback trusts him, wants to throw it to him and give him an opportunity to go make a play on it, and he did in that moment.”
— Oregon coach Dan Lanning on receiver Jeremiah McClellan

UPCOMING GAMES

Cross Country at NCAA Championships (Missouri) • 7 a.m. • Saturday
Football vs. USC • 12:30 p.m. • Saturday
Volleyball vs. Michigan • 6 p.m. • Saturday
Women’s basketball vs. Utah State • 2 p.m. • Sunday
Men’s basketball vs. Auburn (Las Vegas) • 5 p.m. • Monday
Women’s basketball vs. Saint Mary’s • 11:30 a.m. • Tuesday
Men’s basketball vs. San Diego State (Las Vegas) • 8 p.m. • Tuesday

STORIES I’m WORKING ON

Beating USC on the field — and in its own backyard on the recruiting trail — was Oregon’s priority during the Mario Cristobal era. Before the game on Saturday, we’re going to take a look at how Oregon’s reliance on SoCal has changed under Dan Lanning.