Oregon
Big Ten football mailbag: Can anyone stop Oregon? Realignment regret for USC?
By Cameron Teague Robinson, Jesse Temple, Scott Dochterman, Austin Meek, Mitch Sherman and Antonio Morales
This weekend’s Big Ten slate includes No. 20 Illinois at No. 1 Oregon and a flurry of other intriguing matchups. How is your fan base feeling? How many teams can the conference really get into the College Football Playoff?
Let’s get into this week’s Big Ten mailbag.
GO DEEPER
Big Ten football rankings: Which teams are sailing, sinking or (for one) already sunk?
(Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Who is regretting their move to the Big Ten more? USC currently or Nebraska going on a decade-plus of irrelevance and unranked seasons? Oklahoma is another team regretting their realignment move. I’m sure they would like to have a chat with Nebraska to talk about the old days of the Big Eight when they were the only two teams around. — Jason S.
The landscape of college sports has shifted drastically since Nebraska and Oklahoma ran the Big Eight. If those two schools had a choice to undo three decades of change since they entered the world of conference realignment and expansion, they’d take it.
But no such choice ever existed.
The window of time for Nebraska to regret its move to the Big Ten has long closed. Remember, when Nebraska decided to switch leagues in 2010, the future of its conference was in doubt. The only conversation about relevance involved the viability of the Big 12 — and the possibility for Nebraska to find itself on the outside of the group of programs capable of competing at the highest level.
While Nebraska has struggled to win over the past eight years, its place among the top tier of resourced athletic departments nationally is secure. As long as the Big Ten structure remains, Nebraska has a chance in football to find its footing. Meanwhile, many of its other programs are thriving.
Perhaps fans of USC and some leaders at the school are regretting this move to the Big Ten in the short term. But the Trojans, like the Huskers, surely recognize that a jump into one of the two power leagues nationally will better secure possibilities to win championships ahead. — Sherman
GO DEEPER
USC or Oklahoma: Who’s better off in Year 3 after Lincoln Riley’s big move?
Which remaining regular-season opponent is most likely to knock off Oregon? — John K.
Playing at Camp Randall Stadium in mid-November is a rite of passage in the Big Ten. If there’s a game that could trip up the Ducks before the Big Ten Championship Game, it’s at Wisconsin on Nov. 16. I wouldn’t have said that a few weeks ago — after Tyler Van Dyke went down, the Badgers lost back-to-back games against Alabama and USC — but Wisconsin has re-energized its season by beating Purdue, Rutgers and Northwestern by a combined score of 117-16.
We’ll find out if Wisconsin’s turnaround is for real Saturday when the Badgers play Penn State. No matter what, Madison in November is a tough trip. If the Ducks make it through that game undefeated, a home game against rival Washington will be the only thing separating them from a perfect regular season. The Huskies have won three in a row in that series, but if the Ducks make it to 11-0, they’re not going to blow it against their rival. Oregon plays 6-1 Illinois on Saturday and travels to Michigan a week later, but the most impressive part of the Michigan-Illinois game last week was the replica leather helmets. — Meek
Certainly, my MSU Spartans aren’t a great team, but Stewart Mandel had them winning only one Big Ten game this season. With Michigan, Purdue and Rutgers (the last two at home!) still on the schedule, the Spartans have a real shot at a bowl. Has MSU exceeded expectations? Is my excitement about the future of the program justified? — Jason M.
I’ve been surprised by how quickly Michigan State has turned things around. Jonathan Smith is doing a great job in his first year, and last weekend’s win over Iowa should spark confidence in everybody.
A bowl should be the expectation now, with just two more wins needed for eligibility, but the schedule isn’t easy.
The Spartans play at Michigan this week, host Indiana and then go to Illinois. Even as bad as Michigan is, that’s a tough three-game stretch. On the back end is a home game against Purdue and then they host Rutgers to end the season. Those are winnable, but I wouldn’t write off a win against Michigan, either.
A bowl game would be a big boost, but even if things stall out at five wins, this is a program on the rise. Smith is a smart coach and he has his quarterback of the future, Aidan Chiles.
I was down on Chiles to start the year, when he threw four touchdowns and seven interceptions in the first four games. Since then, though, he’s been great. In a three-game stretch against Ohio State, Oregon and Iowa, three of the most talented defenses in the Big Ten, he has thrown for 577 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, which includes the 256-yard day he had last weekend against the Hawkeyes. He and freshman Nick Marsh could be a lethal combo in the conference for a long time.
Is Michigan State a Big Ten contender this year or next? Probably not, but there’s a lot to like about Smith, and it’s time for people to hop on the Chiles bandwagon. — Teague Robinson
Illinois coach Bret Bielema has a 24-20 record with the Illini. (Dan Rainville / USA Today via Imagn Images)
With the job Bret Bielema is doing at Illinois, is there any danger of him leaving/being recruited to any other Power 4 jobs? Also, the 2025 class is not ranked very highly for the Illini right now, what is the ceiling for the program in the long term? — Brendan C.
I covered Bielema during his final two seasons at Wisconsin in 2011 and 2012 — including when he left abruptly for Arkansas just days after the Big Ten Championship Game. That move was a stunner considering he was Barry Alvarez’s handpicked successor and spent nine seasons there as either the defensive coordinator or head coach.
Sometimes in life, you just need a change. But I do think that experience demonstrated the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side. Bielema went 68-24 at Wisconsin and 29-34 at Arkansas before he was fired in Year 5. He’s a Midwest guy who understands the Big Ten and has stability at Illinois. At age 54 and with a family, that has to matter.
It’s possible to build a career in one place if you win enough — Bielema saw it on Kirk Ferentz’s Iowa staff and under Bill Snyder at Kansas State — and it’s not like he has to do it at a place with outrageous expectations. Illinois didn’t have a winning season for a decade before Bielema arrived. His eight wins in 2022 were the most there in 15 years.
As for the program’s immediate ceiling, we’ll find out that Saturday when No. 20 Illinois plays at No. 1 Oregon. The Illini have beaten three teams ranked in the Top 25 at the time of the game (Kansas, Nebraska and Michigan). They play physical, smart football and rank in the top 15 nationally in turnover margin.
I don’t think it’s out of the question to believe Illinois can at some point challenge for the 12-team College Football Playoff under Bielema when you consider the Big Ten could get as many as four teams in and you don’t have to reach the conference title game to have a shot. Illinois was 7-1 to begin the 2022 season, when all five of its losses were by single digits, and is off to a 6-1 start now.
Bielema’s 2025 class may not be ranked especially high at No. 58, but that’s in part because there are only 15 committed prospects. Illinois actually has the highest per-player rating (86.75) in the 247Sports Composite out of any of Bielema’s four full recruiting classes. He can recruit and develop but also needs to hit on the right transfer portal targets to keep Illinois moving in the right direction. — Temple
Does Iowa not recruit talented enough QBs or do the Hawkeyes just not develop the QBs they recruit? — Mike B.
Oh, we’ve got a chicken-or-the-egg discussion here. To provide some context, let’s turn back the clock to the previous decades. In 2008, Iowa switched quarterbacks from Jake Christensen to Ricky Stanzi, who presided over the era known as Ferentz 2.0. That also launched a nice run of four of five quarterbacks becoming NFL Draft picks that concluded with Nate Stanley, who threw 68 touchdown passes from 2017 to 2019. In the five seasons since Stanley left, Iowa has totaled 44 touchdown passes, the lowest in the power conferences. Ohio State, for instance, has 152 touchdown passes over that span.
The downfall in quarterback selection coincides with former offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz’s elevation in 2017. Most of the recruited quarterbacks didn’t pan out from that year onward. The transfers with minimal contributions or limited success include Peyton Mansell (2017), Alex Padilla (2019), Deuce Hogan (2020), Joe Labas (2021) and Carson May (2022). Mansell played a bit at Abilene Christian (where May currently is a backup), and Padilla spent a year as a backup at SMU. Hogan left for Kentucky and now New Mexico State, where he was second team this fall but suffered a broken collarbone. Labas is the starter at Central Michigan but has completed 58.2 percent of his passes with a 7-to-7 TD-to-INT ratio.
Spencer Petras (2018) was a three-year starter from 2020 to 2022 before a torn labrum and rotator cuff knocked him out in 2023. This year, Petras transferred to Utah State. Despite an ankle injury that kept him out for two games, Petras has completed 66 percent of his passes, already posted his season best for touchdowns (11) and his 326.3 passing yards per game blows away his previous high of 196.1 in 2020. Those numbers don’t bode well for Iowa’s development.
Perhaps that lack of identification and development turns around under first-year offensive coordinator Tim Lester, who has put together a sound scheme but lacks a quarterback to run it effectively. The good news is if the Hawkeyes don’t have a quarterback they like, they can always sign one from the portal. But the track record isn’t great there, either. — Dochterman
If Michigan’s championship season played out exactly as it did, except Jim Harbaugh wasn’t suspended for the last three regular-season games, is Sherrone Moore still the coach? — Will M.
Yes, most likely. Moore was mentioned as a potential successor when Harbaugh flirted with the NFL after the 2022 season, and even before Harbaugh’s suspension, there were signs that he would be next in line. Michigan likes promoting from within, as it did with Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr after Bo Schembechler retired. The program went off track in replacing Carr with Rich Rodriguez, and the whole Harbaugh era was a way of correcting that mistake. It would have taken a really compelling candidate to make Michigan look outside the family when Harbaugh left.
That being said, if Moore hadn’t gotten the three-game test run in November, there would have been more pressure on Michigan to conduct a full search rather than the abbreviated process that led to Moore’s promotion. Perhaps that process would have revealed a candidate who made Michigan think twice about promoting Moore. Based on who was available at that time, I’m guessing Moore would have gotten the job either way. But those wins against Penn State and Ohio State made it a much easier call. — Meek
GO DEEPER
Meek: For ‘disappointed’ Sherrone Moore, challenges of starting over at Michigan hitting hard
We all know that Oregon is the cream of ex-Pac-12s in the Big Ten, but who’s having the better season of the other three? It would not surprise me if you said UCLA since there is no team in the Big Ten playing a more difficult schedule. — Peter G.
This is all relative to expectations. USC wasn’t thought of as a Big Ten contender before the season, but it was expected to be better than 4-3. UCLA was expected to be bad. And the Bruins are, well, bad.
So, in this reporter’s opinion, the answer is Washington. The Huskies do have some ugly losses, a 24-point beatdown at Iowa and a three-point loss at Rutgers where they outgained the Scarlet Knights by more than 200 yards.
But there were a ton of questions about what Washington would look like this season after it lost essentially its entire starting lineup and coaching staff from last season’s team that reached the national championship game.
I know the win total before the season was 6.5 and the Huskies might not reach that, but winning six games and playing in a bowl with a roster that was completely made over in the offseason and a first-year coaching staff would be a success. At 4-3 with home games against USC and UCLA remaining, Washington is on track to do that. — Morales
Can the Big Ten really get four teams in the Playoff? — Michael C.
It depends on how chalk holds up throughout November. If the favorites win the games, then absolutely. But we know there will be an upset or three before Thanksgiving weekend, which will put everyone on edge on Dec. 8. Let’s play out the scenarios.
If we’re projecting without upsets, Oregon goes unbeaten at 12-0 and Ohio State beats both Penn State and Indiana to finish 11-1. They’re your Big Ten championship participants. Then both Penn State and Indiana are 11-1 with Illinois at 10-2. The Nittany Lions’ strength-of-schedule boosts them ahead of Indiana — especially with a victory against Illinois — but all four are in the Playoff. It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where an 11-1 team in either the Big Ten or SEC gets left out.
GO DEEPER
College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Tennessee knocks Alabama out of bracket
But we know someone will slip up somewhere on the road. Perhaps it happens to the Hoosiers if they still have to use backup quarterback Tayven Jackson at Michigan State on Nov. 2. Maybe Penn State falls this week at Wisconsin or Nov. 23 at Minnesota. Maybe Oregon has a bad day Saturday against Illinois or at Michigan on Nov. 2. Even Ohio State could suffer another setback at Penn State or against Indiana.
If Penn State ends the season 10-2, then the selection committee will place its resume alongside teams four and five from the SEC, Notre Dame and the No. 2s from the Big 12 and ACC. Then the committee will have to decide who looks more impressive among Tennessee, LSU, Notre Dame, Clemson/Miami and Iowa State/BYU for the final three at-large spots. That’s presuming the Big Ten and SEC already have three locked up.
To answer your question, the Big Ten is in line for four spots today. But that could change as soon as Saturday night. — Dochterman
(Top photo of Oregon running back Jay Harris: Marc Lebryk / Imagn Images)
BLUE RIVER, Ore. (KATU) — The founder of a former disaster relief nonprofit is being sued for allegedly diverting nearly $837,000 in donations and grants for personal gain.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed the lawsuit Thursday against the founder and executive director of Cascade Relief Team (CRT), Marcus Brooks. In the complaint, Rayfield calls CRT “a sham.”
Brooks is accused of stealing donations and government grants meant for disaster relief following wildfires and flooding in 2020, and using it for personal expenses including casino visits, travel, vehicles, and more.
CRT was founded in 2020 and was hired for cleanup and relief services following the Labor Day Wildfires that burned over 1 million acres across Oregon.
In Blue River, an unincorporated community in the McKenzie River Valley, the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire destroyed nearly 800 homes and burned more than 173,000 acres.
I am angry that my community was taken advantage of
Just months after the fire, long-time Blue River resident Melanie Stanley said CRT stepped in and promised help to the community.
“For us, it was…like a savior at that point,” Stanley said.
Stanley was the manager for the Blue River Resource Center and worked for Brooks to help facilitate recovery efforts. She said CRT operations slowly became questionable.
“None of us knew the level at which all of this stuff that finally came out was at,” Stanley said. “We knew that there was some stuff that had started to look hinky or feel hinky, or there was just some lack of communication that was happening. There were some other things that were happening, and so we just all were kind of guarded.”
In fall of 2023 the nonprofit was reported to have run out of money, and Brooks allegedly fired staff without disclosing the organization’s financial conditions and did not notify donors or beneficiaries. Stanley was one of those people fired.
The state now claims the funds that were meant to go towards communities like Blue River, never made it out of Brooks’ hands, including donations given by Blue River neighbors.
“I am angry that my community was taken advantage of, and I am angry that they now have to worry about trusting when something else happens, because we know something else is going to happen,” Stanley said. “We hope to God it’s never anything as big or as bad as what has happened, but you know, we also have learned that groups like Locals Helping Locals…they are our foundation, and they are because they’re us.”
The state is seeking to recover the money, permanently bar Brooks from serving in a leadership role at a charitable organization and dissolve the nonprofit.
Stanley said Brooks’ actions have tainted reputations.
“We as a community and as the people from the community who helped kind of put all of these things together, we did what was asked of us,” Stanley said. “We did help clean things, and we did help get things to provide, you know, more progress and get things moving forward, and we did good work, and so I just really hope that this is not overshadowed.”
According to Stanley, Blue River’s recovery now stands at 50%.
“We will be very picky from here on out about who and what groups gets let in to help with anything,” Stanley said. “And sadly, it may be to our detriment, but he did more damage now, as far as reputations go, and for that I’m angry. I’m very angry.”
The Oregon Ducks have been progressing through the class of 2027 with hopes of landing some of their top target’s commitment on both the offense and the defense.
With many names left on the board, the Ducks have started to receive some great news, including some news from someone they have been targeting since they offered back in January of 2025.
Darius Johnson Releases His Top Four Schools
One of the Ducks top targets’ in the 2027 class at the cornerback position is Darius Johnson. Johnson recently released his top schools with Hayes Fawcett, as he is entering a crucial part of his recruitment. The four schools he has listed at the top include the California Golden Bears, Michigan Wolverines, UCLA Bruins, and the Oregon Ducks.
Johnson is one of the better cornerbacks in the country. He currently ranks as the nation’s No. 178 prospect in the country, No. 20 player at the position, and the No. 14 player in the state of California, according to Rivals. Landing his commitment would be major for any of the schools, as he is someone who could see the field early due to his size, and his growing ability to lockdown a side of the field all by himself.
More About Darius Johnson
Johnson currently measures in at 6-1 and 155 pounds, and will be someone who continues to add weight through his high school program, and will eventually have the chance to really improve his frame when he gets to college. As of now, each of the four schools has a solid chance to win its recruiting battle, but there seems to be a clear leader at this moment.
The leader for the Ducks target seems to be the Michigan Wolverines, who have the only scheduled official visit at this moment. It seems likely that the talented prospect will schedule his other official visits sooner rather than later now that he has officially cut down his list. If the Ducks want to land his commitment, they will need to get him on an official visit because they are likely trailing at this point.
What If He Committed to Oregon Today?
If he were to commit to the Ducks today, he would be the ninth commitment for the Ducks in the class of 2027. He would also be the third cornerback commit for the Ducks in the class of 2027, which is a position they have been recruiting heavily. The cornerbacks the Ducks have at this moment are four-star Ai’King Hall from the state of Alabama and four-star Josiah Molden from the state of Oregon.
Some of their other commits at this moment include four-star EDGE Rashad Streets, four-star defensive linemen Zane Rowe, and four-star EDGE Cameron Pritchett. This class is shaping up to be another top-five class if the pieces continue to fall into place for Oregon coach Dan Lanning and his staff.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
Oregon tight end Jamari Johnson, after an impressive 2025 season with the Ducks, now becomes the leader at his position following the departure of star Kenyon Sadiq to the NFL.
With an Oregon offense set to return several top stars and bring in two talents at the tight end position, Johnson looks to not only improve as a leader but build off his impressive 2025 season, in which he recorded 32 receptions for 510 yards and three touchdowns.
Here’s everything Johnson had to say during his media appearance following Oregon’s scrimmage on Saturday, with the spring game on the horizon.
Everything Tight End Jamari Johnson Said After Spring Scrimmage
What He Learned From Playing With Tight End Kenyon Sadiq:
“So many, but one is training. Everybody in this facility harps on it, and it’s just a standard here. It’s like him from last year, that man strained his guts out almost every play. I just feel like I got to do the exact same thing or even more to uphold the standard.”
Stepping Up At Tight End:
“It just changed because obviously Kenyon leaving somebody has to step up and be a leader in the room, and me being one of the older guys, it just happens to be me. I just accepted that role, and I actually kind of like it, getting these young guys going, getting them in the playbook and getting them used to college football.”
Participating Again In Spring Practice:
“It feels good coming back. Feels like I have something to prove for me personally, I feel like I haven’t really done anything in college football. I feel like this year is that year for me to show everybody what I’m about.”
On Tight Ends Kendre Harrison and Andrew Olesh:
“Both good dudes, they both got that dog in them. Andrew, he came from Penn State. He’s been coming along well, getting in the playbook. Kendre, he’s a big, tall guy, getting in the playbook too. They’ve been getting after it, man. It’s been good taking them under my wing. Hopefully, we just get going this year.”
Goals and Expectations Ahead of Spring Game:
“I’ll say one expectation that we really try to harp on in the room is just going 100 percent. That’s with your effort, that’s with knowing the plays and just giving it your all. A goal is just to get in that endzone. That’s one of the goals for the tight end room right there.”
Why He Returned to Oregon:
“Like I said earlier, to me, I felt like I haven’t really done anything in college football. That was one of the reasons, and another is I wouldn’t say I’m not ready for the NFL, but like that’s pretty much what I’m getting at, is just like I have a lot of stuff to work on that’s within footwork and hand placement, block in the run game, and route details. Getting to the right depth and just touching up everything I can so when I get to the NFL, there’s none of those problems, it’s just the big problems I have to fix.”
How Reps Helped Him Improve:
“It really helped me. Last year, we ran a lot of twelve personnel at the end of the season because we had a couple of injuries, but that really helped me. This year, I feel like I’m coming in rolling off the ground. It’s just so much more fluent, and those reps really helped me with the playbook. Playbook is way easier now, and I’m getting a good feel for it.”
His Leadership Traits:
“I like to get the guys going. I have a real voice on the field, and if y’all hear me on the field, I get the guys going. I wouldn’t say I’m a vocal leader, but I lead by example. Vocal leader, probably something I need to work on.”
On New Offensive Coordinator Drew Mehringer:
“It’s been different. They’re two different people, coach (Will) Stein and coach Drew. My guy’s getting us going. I’m excited for this season.”
Supporting Dakorien Moore At Track Meet:
“Yesterday, that touched my heart, man. Just all of us going out there, and it wasn’t even just for Dakorien. It was really for Oregon. It was just more for Dakorien because we see him every day. That really touched my heart, and the connection is just unbelievable. I don’t think many people are doing that for their teammates.”
Quarterback Dante Moore’s Growth:
“That guy has his head on his shoulders at all times. He’s been growing consistently, but it’s a couple of different things. I probably can’t name them right now, but he’s been having his head on his shoulders. He’s just been on the climb.”
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
-
Alaska4 minutes ago‘We never forgot her’: Friends, family of longtime Alaska teacher gather for 100th birthday celebration
-
Arizona10 minutes agoTrying to beat the heat: Addressing rising temperatures in Southern Arizona
-
Arkansas16 minutes ago
Arkansas Lottery Cash 3, Cash 4 winning numbers for April 19, 2026
-
California22 minutes agoCalifornia couple charged with murder in death of toddler skip court
-
Colorado28 minutes agoUPDATE: Northbound Powers reopned after major crash
-
Connecticut34 minutes agoCT Lottery Cash 5, Play3 winning numbers for April 19, 2026
-
Delaware40 minutes agoMan speeds past leading runner in photo finish at Delaware Marathon
-
Florida46 minutes ago
Florida Lottery Fantasy 5, Cash Pop results for April 19, 2026