IOWA CITY, Iowa – Since entering the Big Ten last year, Oregon has shown it can win in many of the league’s most hostile environments, without losing a single road game. Perhaps more impressive: how the Ducks won.
The latest example came Saturday at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium as No. 9 Oregon won 18-16 after a 39-yard field goal by Atticus Sappington with three seconds left. Oregon won 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 during the team’s second series and did not return.
As steady rain fell and temperatures dropped, the Ducks relied on their running 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 Iowa snap.
“We said special teams needed 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 running game. But Oregon held the edge in both areas Saturday.
The Ducks outgained Iowa by 121 yards.
“Oregon has always been the team with the flashy uniforms and the fast, explosive offense,” linebacker Bryce Boettcher said. “Coming into the Big Ten, I get it, Iowa has been a classic ball-handling, I-formation team, and we did it better than them tonight, which is pretty cool to see.”
Oregon’s rushing total represents the most yards allowed by Iowa since 2022, and its average of 7.3 yards per carry is the most the Hawkeyes have given up since 2014, when Indiana averaged 8.1. Led by Noah Whittington, Oregon’s four rushers averaged more than 6 yards per carry, and all four had a run of 19 yards or more.
“We went into this game saying, ‘We’re running in the trenches,’” said Whittington, who had 118 yards rushing. “We don’t really pay attention to outside noise, but before this game the coaching staff kind of put it in our faces: ‘Our O-line wasn’t going to be able to hold up to what Iowa had up front.'”
Despite Oregon’s consistent success, its game-winning drive rested on the arm of quarterback Dante Moore, who had just 65 total passing yards as the Ducks took possession with 1:51 remaining, after Iowa had gone 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 within field goal range.
Benson and fellow receivers Jeremiah McClellan and Cooper Perry all recorded their first receptions of the game on the final drive.
“Dante was off on 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 never give them 1:51.”
Despite a strong special teams performance, Oregon needed an extra kick to win from Sappington, who connected from 46 and 40 yards but had three misses beyond 30 yards this season. Whittington initially wanted to close his eyes and pray, but Moore told him to watch the pressure kick, which they had both seen Sappington do several times in practice.
Sure enough, he crossed.
“When [Iowa] I called a timeout to ice, I’m just going through my process, I’m breathing, I know it’s all there for me to go get it,” Sappington said. “This moment was made for me.”
After debuting in the CFP rankings at No. 9, Oregon boosted its postseason 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 tough road for a young team, but one that doesn’t make Oregon flinch.
“Our guys are resilient, they’re tough, they can handle tough times,” Lanning said. “If it’s a four-quarter fight, we can have a four-quarter fight. I had guys come up to me at the end of the game and say, ‘Coach, breathe.’ That’s what I tell them all week.
“For them to be able to come and tell me the same thing, it just tells you that they believe in what we’re doing.”
