A 69-3 win nobody in Stillwater has forgotten
Oregon spent the week looking at themselves. Not at Oklahoma State, at themselves. That tells you how the opener went.
The Ducks beat Boise State 34-27 and slid from second to sixth in the Top 25. They trailed by 10 points in the first half. Twelve months ago they put 69 points on Oklahoma State and held the Cowboys to three, averaging 10.2 yards per play, after then-coach Mike Gundy had criticised the price of Oregon’s roster. That 66-point margin is still the largest against a Power 4 opponent in Oregon history.
Saturday is the return fixture. It is also Oregon’s first ever trip to Stillwater.
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Twelve straight on the road
Oregon carry the longest active road winning streak in the country into the game. It started in October 2023 and has reached 12. Dan Lanning is 18-2 away from Eugene.
Dante Moore is the reason most people will be watching. The quarterback is being talked about as a possible first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and threw for a career-high 378 yards against Boise State, with three completions of 50 yards or more, including a 62-yard touchdown. The deep ball is there. Lanning wants the running game to match it in a stadium his players have never seen.
He is also worried about something more basic than schemes. Kickoff lands at 9 a.m. Oregon time, and Eugene has been cool while the turf in Stillwater will not be.
“The heat will be something that we’re going to have to adapt to relatively quick,” Lanning said.
Travel, hydration and depth all get mentioned in the same breath. Lanning wants numbers, not just starters.
Morris starts from scratch
Oklahoma State are 0-1 and rebuilding in public. Eric Morris lost his debut 24-10 at Tulsa, the same opponent whose win in Stillwater last season ended Gundy’s two-decade run. Left tackle Jacob Sexton is out for the year with a leg injury.
Morris has coached Patrick Mahomes and Cam Ward. He is now building around Drew Mestemaker, who followed him from North Texas, where the pair ranked second nationally at 318 passing yards per game. Morris also ran the Washington State offence in 2022, so he has faced Lanning before, and Lanning was quick to say he expects a loud first home game.
Morris talks about identified problems and building from the inside out, one step at a time. Oregon are double-digit favourites, which suggests the outside world is not expecting that process to speed up this weekend.
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