Saturday, October 25
Eugene, Ore.
4:00 PM
University of Oregon
7-1 , 4-1
21
vs
7
Wisconsin
2-6 , 0-5
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Wisconsin
0
0
0
7
7
Oregon
0
7
7
7
21
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Adversity No Match For Ducks' Toughness
10/25/25 | Football
Oregon fought past various hurdles Saturday to beat Wisconsin, 21-7.
EUGENE, Ore. — Adversity presented itself in all sorts of ways Saturday. The Oregon football team was up to every challenge.
Sheets of wind and rain, a tough Wisconsin defense and an injury to the starting quarterback might have derailed the Ducks. But they fought through all of that and more to come away with a 21-7 win over the Badgers before 58,940 grateful fans.
It may never rain at Autzen Stadium, but an atmospheric river made for tough conditions Saturday. The peak might have come during the second quarter, when the Ducks leaned on their run game to break a scoreless tie. Then, after quarterback Dante Moore left the game, backup and Eugene native Brock Thomas led the Ducks to two more scores.
"I'm proud of how our players played," UO coach Dan Lanning said, "in a tough environment, in a tough situation, able to just take advantage of every opportunity in front of them."
The Ducks (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) rolled the dice in several ways Saturday — an onside kick to open the game, a touchdown pass to an offensive lineman, a fake punt for a passing touchdown that was negated by penalty. But in the end, it was physical play at the line of scrimmage that turned the tide.
With the teams locked in a scoreless tie midway through the second half, Oregon got the ball at its 1-yard line. The Ducks proceeded to march 99 yards in 16 plays for the game's first touchdown — the first of two on the night for freshman Jordon Davison — as they chewed up 8:24 of game clock.
"It's just a mentality — 99 yards, you look at it as a positive," said Davison, who followed up a 100-yard performance the week before at Rutgers with 102 on Saturday, including nine carries for 49 yards on that first touchdown drive. "We look to go break their spirits. (Offensive coordinator Will) Stein, he put all his trust in us, and we went out there and did that."
Up 7-0 at halftime, the Ducks lost Moore to a bloody nose on the opening possession of the third quarter; Lanning said after the game Moore potentially could have returned if needed, but Oregon played it conservatively. Into the game came Thomas, a Sheldon High grad just like former UO quarterbacks Chris Miller and Justin Herbert.
Thomas' first pass attempt on a rainy night was a third-down conversion. On the next play Davison ran for his second touchdown.
"I'm proud of that kid," said UO senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher, who attended Thomas' rival South Eugene High. "He's shown it in practice every single day, so it wasn't surprising — especially in a rain game."
The Ducks still led 14-0 at the end of the third quarter. At that point, Thomas had three completions while the Badgers had just one through three quarters.
Some of that owed to the UO defense; the Ducks had six pass breakups in the game, including a pair each for Boettcher and Dillon Thieneman. And some of that was due to the conditions; like Oregon, Wisconsin leaned on its run game in the wind and rain.
"It was a lot of fun," said Thieneman, the defensive back who led the UO defense Saturday with seven tackles. "Playing in the rain, it's something you dream of as a little kid, coming downhill."
The Ducks made it 21-0 early in the fourth. Despite the rain, Oregon inserted offensive lineman Gernoriss Wilson as a tight end at the 1-yard line, and called a pass play the Ducks have been practicing for weeks. Wilson got open, Thomas threw him a soft pass and the offensive lineman hauled it in after a brief bobble.
"Brock was either throwing that ball for a touchdown, or he's throwing it away," Lanning said. "So we felt confident in his decision-making in that moment. That was a look and a set that we'd been in and run the ball pretty effectively multiple times this year, so to be able to have some tendency breakers and play off of that was good. It's looked really good in practice. We ran that play for seven weeks, and now it showed up in a moment where we could use it."
The conditions also didn't keep the Ducks from calling for a pass by punter James Ferguson-Reynolds on a fake in the fourth quarter. After the Badgers had finally scored their touchdown, Oregon looked to have answered it on that play — a pass from the punter to tight end Roger Saleapaga for a 46-yard touchdown, which was negated by a penalty.
That was one of nine penalties on the Ducks over the course of the game, which Lanning mentioned postgame would be a point of emphasis as Oregon now enters its second bye week of the season. But the Ducks also enter that bye week with two straight wins since their loss to Indiana, with a foothold in the College Football Playoff race and with a chance to get healthy entering a grueling November.
Sheets of wind and rain, a tough Wisconsin defense and an injury to the starting quarterback might have derailed the Ducks. But they fought through all of that and more to come away with a 21-7 win over the Badgers before 58,940 grateful fans.
It may never rain at Autzen Stadium, but an atmospheric river made for tough conditions Saturday. The peak might have come during the second quarter, when the Ducks leaned on their run game to break a scoreless tie. Then, after quarterback Dante Moore left the game, backup and Eugene native Brock Thomas led the Ducks to two more scores.
"I'm proud of how our players played," UO coach Dan Lanning said, "in a tough environment, in a tough situation, able to just take advantage of every opportunity in front of them."
The Ducks (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) rolled the dice in several ways Saturday — an onside kick to open the game, a touchdown pass to an offensive lineman, a fake punt for a passing touchdown that was negated by penalty. But in the end, it was physical play at the line of scrimmage that turned the tide.
With the teams locked in a scoreless tie midway through the second half, Oregon got the ball at its 1-yard line. The Ducks proceeded to march 99 yards in 16 plays for the game's first touchdown — the first of two on the night for freshman Jordon Davison — as they chewed up 8:24 of game clock.
"It's just a mentality — 99 yards, you look at it as a positive," said Davison, who followed up a 100-yard performance the week before at Rutgers with 102 on Saturday, including nine carries for 49 yards on that first touchdown drive. "We look to go break their spirits. (Offensive coordinator Will) Stein, he put all his trust in us, and we went out there and did that."
Up 7-0 at halftime, the Ducks lost Moore to a bloody nose on the opening possession of the third quarter; Lanning said after the game Moore potentially could have returned if needed, but Oregon played it conservatively. Into the game came Thomas, a Sheldon High grad just like former UO quarterbacks Chris Miller and Justin Herbert.
Thomas' first pass attempt on a rainy night was a third-down conversion. On the next play Davison ran for his second touchdown.
"I'm proud of that kid," said UO senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher, who attended Thomas' rival South Eugene High. "He's shown it in practice every single day, so it wasn't surprising — especially in a rain game."
The Ducks still led 14-0 at the end of the third quarter. At that point, Thomas had three completions while the Badgers had just one through three quarters.
Some of that owed to the UO defense; the Ducks had six pass breakups in the game, including a pair each for Boettcher and Dillon Thieneman. And some of that was due to the conditions; like Oregon, Wisconsin leaned on its run game in the wind and rain.
"It was a lot of fun," said Thieneman, the defensive back who led the UO defense Saturday with seven tackles. "Playing in the rain, it's something you dream of as a little kid, coming downhill."
The Ducks made it 21-0 early in the fourth. Despite the rain, Oregon inserted offensive lineman Gernoriss Wilson as a tight end at the 1-yard line, and called a pass play the Ducks have been practicing for weeks. Wilson got open, Thomas threw him a soft pass and the offensive lineman hauled it in after a brief bobble.
"Brock was either throwing that ball for a touchdown, or he's throwing it away," Lanning said. "So we felt confident in his decision-making in that moment. That was a look and a set that we'd been in and run the ball pretty effectively multiple times this year, so to be able to have some tendency breakers and play off of that was good. It's looked really good in practice. We ran that play for seven weeks, and now it showed up in a moment where we could use it."
The conditions also didn't keep the Ducks from calling for a pass by punter James Ferguson-Reynolds on a fake in the fourth quarter. After the Badgers had finally scored their touchdown, Oregon looked to have answered it on that play — a pass from the punter to tight end Roger Saleapaga for a 46-yard touchdown, which was negated by a penalty.
That was one of nine penalties on the Ducks over the course of the game, which Lanning mentioned postgame would be a point of emphasis as Oregon now enters its second bye week of the season. But the Ducks also enter that bye week with two straight wins since their loss to Indiana, with a foothold in the College Football Playoff race and with a chance to get healthy entering a grueling November.
Team Stats
WIS
ORE
Total Yards
196
335
Pass Yards
86
132
Rushing Yards
110
203
Penalty Yards
67
75
1st Downs
11
19
3rd Downs
3
8
4th Downs
2
0
TOP
25:03
34:57
2nd Quarter
WIS 0, ORE 7
ORE - Davison,Jordon 3 yd run (Sappington,Atticus kick), 16 plays, 99 yards, TOP 08:24
3rd Quarter
WIS 0, ORE 14
ORE - Davison,Jordon 20 yd run (Sappington,Atticus kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:46
4th Quarter
WIS 0, ORE 21
ORE - Wilson,Gernorris 1 yd pass from Thomas,Brock (Sappington,Atticus kick) 5 plays, 54 yards, TOP 02:44
WIS 7, ORE 21
WIS - Mason,Lance 2 yd pass from Simmons,Hunter (Vakos,Nathanial kick) 12 plays, 78 yards, TOP 06:14
Game Leaders
CMP
9
TD
0
YDS
86
INT
0
CMP
4
TD
1
YDS
46
INT
0
Players Mentioned
ILB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
P
/ FootballQB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
DB
/ FootballQB
/ FootballGernorris Wilson | Postgame vs. Wisconsin
Sunday, October 26
Brock Thomas | Postgame vs. Wisconsin
Sunday, October 26
Dillon Thieneman & Teitum Tuioti | Postgame vs. Wisconsin
Sunday, October 26
Jordon Davison | Postgame vs. Wisconsin
Sunday, October 26
