Orange Bowl Notebook

Thursday, January 1

Miami, Fla.

9:00 AM

University of Oregon

Texas Tech

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Photo by: Ian McFarland/UO Athletics

12/30/25 | Football

The Oregon football team traveled to Miami on Monday and held a practice Tuesday for Thursday's College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Texas Tech.

By: Rob Moseley

MIAMI — Dante Moore's morning drive to Oregon's facilities for the Ducks' last Orange Bowl practice in Eugene brought on an eerie feeling for the UO quarterback.

"I'm driving here," Moore recounted in a press conference following that practice, "and the freeways are clear. I'm like, 'where is everybody at?' And then I check and it's the weekend."

That practice was held this past Sunday in Eugene. But given that the Ducks were preparing for a game to be played on Thursday, at the Orange Bowl, and also had to build a travel day into their plans, for Moore and his teammates the day was structured like a Wednesday during the regular season.

And so, the quarterback expected to see more cars on the road during his drive to practice. To him, after all, it felt like a weekday.

"When I woke up this morning, I didn't even know it was Sunday," Moore said. "We thought it was Wednesday. And yesterday we thought it was Tuesday."

Such is the extent to which UO coach Dan Lanning and his staff have sought to keep the Ducks on as regular a routine as possible as they prepare for their College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup with Texas Tech on Thursday (9 a.m. PT, ESPN). The team traveled to Florida on Monday, then held practice at nearby Barry University on Tuesday — which was like a Thursday for the team, if your head isn't already spinning too fast to keep the calendar straight.

All of Oregon's postseason schedule-making has been influenced by the Ducks' CFP quarterfinal appearance last season, in which they followed a three-week layoff after the Big Ten Championship Game with a flat performance in a loss to Ohio State. This year there was no Big Ten title game, but instead a first-round CFP game before the quarterfinals.

So the Ducks' postseason plans have looked different from a game schedule perspective, and also in the way the team's preparations have been structured.

A week prior to the CFP first-round win over James Madison, for example, the Ducks shook off any rust that might have built up since their regular-season finale at Washington by holding a mock game in Autzen Stadium — complete with the motorcycle that leads the team onto the field pregame, to the playing of "Shout!" prior to the fourth quarter. Last week, the team took just a single day off for Christmas, rather than a longer break so players could travel home for the holidays; that opportunity was afforded them in early December, right after the win at UW.

"It definitely does feel different," UO offensive coordinator Will Stein said. "I feel like we've been in a better rhythm compared to last year. We had a really long layoff, as we all know. To have the mock game two weeks ago, the real game however long ago it was, to get into this rhythm we're having real game weeks."

As a native of Lakeland, Fla., Gernorris Wilson figured he'd get to see his mother this week, with Oregon playing a game in his home state. That it happened Tuesday was a sweet surprise to the injured UO offensive lineman, and to his teammates.

Following practice Tuesday, the Ducks enjoyed dessert treats from the "Sweets By Norris" food truck operated by Wilson's mother, Rica. Oregon's operations staff coordinated the snack, unbeknownst even to Wilson himself.

"It genuinely caught me by surprise," he said later Tuesday afternoon. "I ain't gonna lie, I shed a little tear. It felt amazing to see (family members), and that everybody enjoyed it as well."

Wilson said his mother took a leap of faith during the pandemic and began the business, at first selling baked good out of a car before investing in the trailer in recent years.

"It's been a lot of trials and tribulations for it to finally come to fruition," Wilson said. "So it was good to see."

In keeping with College Football Playoff protocol, the UO football program on Monday announced its initial availability report for Thursday's game.

The Ducks have designated seven players as officially out for the Orange Bowl, among them a couple of receivers who've been dealing with long-term injuries, Evan Stewart and Kyler Kasper. Wilson also is among those listed as out.

The only player designated as questionable is defensive back Trey McNutt, a true freshman who suffered a broken leg in the preseason and has yet to play in a game. He could potentially provide depth for a position group that also has multiple players listed as out for the Orange Bowl — Kingston Lopa, Sione Laulea and Solomon Davis.