The No. 6 Oregon Ducks (11-1) wrapped the 2025 regular season up with a bow on Saturday against the Washington Huskies (8-4). Backdropped by Lake Washington, the 26-14 win over the Huskies all but guaranteed Oregon its place in the playoff — and its Autzen Stadium as a host venue.
Oregon’s Big Ten Championship dreams — or perhaps, lack thereof — were dead on arrival. Neither of the Ducks’ tie-breaking scenarios came true as the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes handled No. 15 Michigan and the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers steamrolled Purdue. With the Hoosiers owning the Ducks’ lone loss in the conference’s standings
Oregon won’t prepare for a trip to Indianapolis next weekend for the conference’s title game. Nor will it, in Monopoly fashion, pass go and collect a first-round bye. The 2024 Oregon Ducks — spotless record, No. 1 ranking and all — achieved both feats. But 2025’s rendition of green and yellow, ranked No. 6 in the selection committee’s latest top-25, is fixated on the same prize as it was a season ago.
“The expectation is to win a national championship. Plain and simple,” Ducks linebacker Bryce Boettcher said postgame. “Obviously, we’ve got to go one practice, one game at a time. And whoever our first-round opponent is, we can’t look past (them). I’m excited to find out who that’s going to be. But like I said: the goal is a national championship, one game at a time.”
The final step of one journey ended with a win at Washington. Simultaneously, the first of a different one started with it too.
“It’s always felt the same way. You win, it’s up to you,” Ducks head coach Dan Lanning said. “Its good being in charge, right? Controlling your own destiny… We had to play a certain way to make sure that we had that opportunity. Our guys wanted to make sure we did that on the field.”
Some by ground…
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For all of the youth on its roster, Washington allowed nothing easily.
The Ducks’ 106 yards-rushing were their fewest all season, averaging just 2.5-yards per carry. The Huskies deployed stacked boxes all afternoon and got pressure home in unique (and occasionally unblockable) ways. Their six tackles-for-loss included a pair of sacks and, against an Oregon team that prides itself on explosive runs, surrendered only one of 10-or-more yards.
“(Washington) did a good job closing the middle of the field… They had loaded boxes and did a good job stopping the run,” Lanning said. “Probably something I’m anxious to watch (and) see what their answers were.”
Lanning added that, because of the Huskies’ run-smothering defense, Oregon leaned on its quarterback in the fit. Dante Moore, the Ducks’ redshirt-sophomore under center, carried the ball seven times in the win.
“When they’re playing with 10, we’ve got to find a way to play with 11,” Lanning said. “But, you know, we’ve got a tough quarterback. He was able to go out there and get the tough yards when it mattered.”
Moore gained just 11 yards with his legs, but powered ahead for Oregon’s first touchdown on Saturday. His dominance, as is a quarterback’s nature, was through the air. Moore completed 20 of his 29 pass attempts for 286 yards and a touchdown.
… But most by air
The passing score, a 64-yard catch-and-run by wide receiver Malik Benson in the fourth-quarter, all but ended Saturday’s game.
“Once I caught it and landed on my feet, I was like, ‘yeah, it’s my time to turn up,’” Benson said.
Benson’s five catches for 101 yards paced a still-shorthanded Oregon receiving corps. For the third-straight game, the Ducks went without true freshman phenom Dakorien Moore and sixth-year senior Gary Bryant Jr. on a Saturday. If the pair’s injuries — or trio’s, counting Evan Stewart — weren’t an elephant in the room, you’d never know they were gone.
Jeremiah McClellan’s David Tyree/Odell Beckham Jr. impression ensured as much. Officials ruled the catch incomplete ultimately, leaving McClellan to settle for a measly three grabs for 78 yards.
Lanning declined to seriously comment on the availability of both Bryant Jr. and Dakorien Moore postgame.
And when Oregon couldn’t find the end zone, senior kicker Atticus Sappington delivered. The former Oregon State transfer went a perfect 4-for-4, setting a career-best with a 51-yard strike.
No easy yards against Lupoi and Co.
It was a “bend, don’t break” sort of day for the Oregon defense.
And it ended the same as the last time the Ducks found themselves in the situation. Safety Dillon Thieneman’s fourth-quarter interception ended the battle at Husky Stadium the same as it did at Beaver Stadium against Penn State in overtime.
Oregon forced only three three-and-out drives and allowed, on average, 28 yards per drive. But the Ducks traded Washington’s midfield ball movement and a pair of touchdowns for seven punts, two interceptions and turnover on downs. Washington’s 283 offensive yards were 100-and-change short of Oregon’s 392, doing it in what very well may have been Ducks defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi’s final game.
Lupoi is, according to numerous reports, expected to be a leading candidate for Cal’s head coach vacancy. Lanning emphatically endorsed Lupoi earlier this week for any job the latter may want, and Boettcher doubled-down on Saturday.
“He’s a heck of a coach, man. (Lupoi) works extremely hard for us,” Boettcher said. “He makes it clear that ll the success on the field is because of the players, not him. Which, you’ve got to give him credit… He’s more of an old school guy, which blends with my personality.”
Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. completed 15 of his 30 pass attempts, found senior receiver Denzel Boston for a pair of touchdown passes and collected 129 yards through the air. His two interceptions, one for Theineman and another for cornerback Javon Canady, gave the sophomore’s box score a well-rounded, Jekyll-and-Hyde sort of feel.
Williams Jr. added 27 yards-rushing on 10 tries, finishing second amongst Washington’s leaders on the ground. Running back Adam Mohammed led the Huskies’ 154-yard effort, gaining 105 yards on 14 carries.
Next up: ?
The who, what and where of the No. 6 Oregon Ducks’ next matchup will get some time to marinate before its announcement. Oregon won’t play until Dec. 19 at the earliest. But with its position as the No. 6 team in the selection committee’s most-recent poll, the Ducks appear poised to host a first-round playoff game at Autzen Stadium.
“I think they’ll be pretty cranked up,” Lanning said, answering a question about fans potentially returning to Autzen one more time. “Hopefully it’s interesting weather. I don’t know, could be fun for somebody.”
