Ducks ignore ‘outside noise,’ improve CFP hopes

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Since entering the Big Ten last year, Oregon has shown it can win in several of the league’s most hostile environments, not losing a single road game. Perhaps more impressive: How the Ducks have won.

The latest example came Saturday at Iowa‘s Kinnick Stadium as No. 9 Oregon won 18-16 following Atticus Sappington‘s 39-yard field goal with three seconds to play. Oregon prevailed without top wide receiver Dakorien Moore and top tight end Kenyon Sadiq. Another starting receiver, Gary Bryant Jr., left Saturday’s game with a right ankle injury on the team’s second series and did not return.

As a steady rain fell and temperatures dropped, the Ducks leaned on their run game, which gashed No. 20 Iowa for 261 yards on 36 carries, and special teams, which produced 12 points, including a safety after a bad snap by Iowa.

“We said special teams had to be special today,” coach Dan Lanning said.

Iowa has won consistently under coach Kirk Ferentz by being better at the line of scrimmage and in the kicking game. But Oregon held the edge in both areas Saturday.

The Ducks outrushed Iowa by 121 yards.

“Oregon’s always been the team of the flashy uniforms and fast spread offense, explosive,” linebacker Bryce Boettcher said. “Coming to the Big Ten, I get it, Iowa’s been a classic team running the ball, I-formation, and we did it better than them tonight, which is pretty cool to see.”

Oregon’s rushing total marked the most yards Iowa has allowed since 2022, and its 7.3 yards-per-rush average is the highest the Hawkeyes have surrendered since 2014, when Indiana averaged 8.1. Led by Noah Whittington, all four Oregon rushers averaged more than 6 yards per carry, and all four had a run of 19 yards or longer.

“We went into this game saying, ‘We run in the trenches,'” said Whittington, who had 118 rushing yards. “We don’t really pay attention to the outside noise, but going into this game, it was kind of put in our faces by the coaching staff, ‘Our O-line wasn’t going to be able to hold up with what Iowa had up front.'”

Despite Oregon’s consistent running success, its game-winning drive hinged on the arm of quarterback Dante Moore, who had just 65 total passing yards as the Ducks took possession with 1:51 left, after Iowa marched 93 yards in 12 plays to take its first lead of the game. Moore had thrown an ugly interception in the end zone and never established a passing rhythm, but he completed 5 of 6 attempts, including a 24-yarder to Malik Benson that put the Ducks into field goal range.

Benson and fellow wide receivers Jeremiah McClellan and Cooper Perry all recorded their first receptions of the game on the final drive.

“Dante was lights out in that drive,” Lanning said. “It reminds me of what we do in practice. We put our guys in a lot of scenarios like that, but I don’t ever give them 1:51.”

Despite a strong special teams showing, Oregon needed one more kick to win from Sappington, who had connected from 46 and 40 yards but had three misses from beyond 30 yards on the season. Whittington initially wanted to close his eyes and pray, but Moore told him to watch the pressure-packed kick, which they both had seen Sappington make many times in practice.

Sure enough, it sailed through.

“When [Iowa] called timeout to ice me, I just go through my process, breathe, know that it’s all out there for me to go get it,” Sappington said. “That moment was made for me.”

After debuting in the CFP standings at No. 9, Oregon strengthened its playoff profile with a win that should resonate with the selection committee. The Ducks finish the regular season against three teams with winning records — Minnesota, No. 19 USC and No. 23 Washington — a challenging path for a young team, but one that doesn’t make Oregon flinch.

“Our guys are resilient, they’re tough, they can handle tough moments,” Lanning said. “If it’s a four-quarter fight, we can do a four-quarter fight. I had guys coming up to me at the end of the game, like, ‘Coach, breathe.’ That’s what I’m telling them all week.

“For them to be able to come up and say that same thing to me, it just tells you that they believe in what we’re doing.”