Ducks Dominate Again To Improve to 2-0

Saturday, September 6

Eugene, Ore.

12:30 PM

University of Oregon

2-0 , 0-0

Oklahoma State

1-1 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Oklahoma St.

Oregon

Photo by: Mia Jacobs

09/06/25 | Football

Box Score Game Book - #6 Oregon 69, Oklahoma State 3 Postgame Notes Photo Gallery

Oregon will take a 2-0 record into the start of Big Ten play after Saturday's 69-3 win over Oklahoma State.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — They're incredibly balanced, they're potently explosive and they're driven to continue raising the bar.

A year after a 2-0 start that seemed to create as many questions about the No. 6 Oregon football team as it answered, the Ducks are once again unbeaten through two games of the season. But there's a dramatically different feel around the program this time, thanks to all that balance, all that explosiveness, and all that drive.

The latest example was Saturday's 69-3 thrashing of Oklahoma State before 57,266 fans in Autzen Stadium. A week after jumping out to a 59-6 lead over Montana State, at which point the Bobcats scored the only touchdown allowed so far this season by Oregon, the Ducks were in complete command against the Cowboys to reach 2-0 before next week's Big Ten opener on the road against Northwestern.

"What comes to mind is energy and effort," senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher said of the difference between last season's 2-0 start, with narrow wins over Idaho and Boise State, and this season's dominance in the early going. "Not to say we didn't play with that last year, but on tape — defensively, offensively — it's incredible, the effort and energy you see out of guys. We may be young, with some new guys, and that's what I love to see — guys are trying to prove themselves, young guys off the bench proving themselves, and everyone's playing hard."

Teitum Tuioti

That shows in Oregon's blocking on offense, by skill guys as well as linemen, and in the continued dominance by the defense even after going deep into the depth chart. The Ducks got two defensive touchdowns in the second half Saturday, complementing an offense that was almost perfectly balanced, with 319 yards passing and 312 rushing.

Saturday's performance featured deep shots down the field, new formations and motions, and players lining up all over the offense — a tight end at quarterback, a receiver at running back, and on and on. Dante Moore was the trigger man, completing 16-of-21 throws for 266 yards and three scores, and seven players contributed to the offense's eight touchdowns — freshman Dakorien Moore had one each through the air and on the ground.

"It's amazing to go out there and just know, if we play at a level that we know we can play at, it's going to be total domination," said receiver Gary Bryant Jr., who scored for the second straight week. "To just going out there, play call by play call, whether it's a run or pass play, I think all 11 of us in the game are like, man, if we do our job, it's going to be pretty fun to come out here and play and compete against anybody."

The Ducks led 41-3 at halftime Saturday. Noah Whittington opened the game with a 59-yard scoring run on Oregon's second play, and the next snap for the UO offense was a 65-yard touchdown reception by Moore. The young receiver lined up at running back on the next touchdown, an end-around by freshman running back Dierre Hill Jr. — who began the play split out as a receiver — and Oregon scored on another deep shot in the second quarter, a 42-yard reception by Malik Benson.

When the offense wasn't going over the top of Oklahoma State's defense, they were going through it with exceptional protection from not only the UO offensive line but perimeter pancakes from tight end Kenyon Sadiq, elite blitz pick-ups by Whittington, and more.

"It's a great feeling, especially when you got the receivers all the way down there, the big boys still catching up to us, chasing us," said running back Jayden Limar, whose touchdown just before halftime made it 41-3. "It's amazing and that's why we're springing so many big runs."

The Ducks led comfortably at that point. But they were far from through.

"I told our guys at halftime, I want to see everybody eat, all right? I want to see everybody eat," UO coach Dan Lanning said. "And that means eat what's on your plate; don't worry about what's on somebody else's plate, eat what's on your plate."

The UO defense took that to heart. After Dante Moore's final TD pass of the day to open the second half, and later freshman Jordon Davison's fourth TD run in two games, both linebacker Jerry Mixon and defensive back Peyton Woodyard had pick-sixes in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter.

"(Lanning) always preaches 0-0 at halftime," Mixon said. "I feel like we came out with the right mindset."

The Ducks ended up handing Oklahoma State its largest margin of defeat in over a century. They did it by scoring the most points the Cowboys have allowed since 1996, and by holding them to but a single field goal. Oregon had a 631-211 advantage in offense, averaging 10.2 yards per play while holding Oklahoma State to just 3.4 yards per play.

"Ultimately this was one of our better defensive performances since we've been here," Lanning said. "… This has been a team that's been able to create a lot of explosive plays; you didn't necessarily see that today."

What you saw instead was all number of Ducks running, tackling and celebrating what was a one-sided matchup from the outset. Big Ten play looms, but two games into this season, the Oregon football team seems to be in a much more comfortable place than it was at this time a year ago.

"The part that always makes me excited is seeing how the people on the sideline that weren't scoring, or the people that were in the game not scoring, are the guys celebrating the hardest," Lanning said. "We want to celebrate good football. It's about team. I've preached to our guys all week that our team is the secret sauce — the way that we're connected — and I think that showed up in this game."