Oregon
Big Ten Power Rankings After Spring Practice: Ohio State, Oregon Ducks, Penn State
With the conclusion of spring practices, it is time to look ahead to the 2025 college football season. The Big Ten conference had four teams make the College Football Playoff, with the Ohio State Buckeyes winning the National Championship.
The Oregon Ducks went undefeated in the regular season and won the Big Ten Championship against Penn State. The Ducks lost in the College Football Playoff against Ohio State. When looking ahead to the 2025 season, where do the Oregon Ducks stand in the Big Ten?
The Ohio State Buckeyes are coming off a National Championship win, looking to win another one next season. While the team lost several players to the 2025 NFL Draft, Ohio State will have wide receiver Jeremiah Smith returning. Smith was one of the most notable players in college football and will only get better over time.
While the team does not know who the starting quarterback will be in 2025, quarterback Lincoln Kienholz had a strong spring practice. If he keeps it up, he will start ahead of five-star recruit Julian Sayin.
Defensively, the Buckeyes have continuously maintained a strong unit. Safety Caleb Downs will be returning to the team as well, ensuring the defense is just as strong as it has been in years past.
The Oregon Ducks have a talented roster heading into 2025. The team will have a new quarterback, projected to start Dante Moore. The Ducks are a school to consistently send quarterbacks into the NFL, most recently with Dillon Gabriel being selected in the third round by the Cleveland Browns.
Oregon was not hit hard in the transfer portal but did lose a couple of players to the 2025 NFL Draft. With retaining much of the roster, the Ducks are in a good position to compete in 2025. Oregon has a couple of projected first-round picks on both offense and defense, which will help the team in 2025.
Defensively, the Ducks have defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei and safety Dillon Thieneman. With the number of crucial players being retained next season, in addition to a top 2025 recruiting class, the Ducks are ready to go into the season in another dominant fashion.
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The Penn State Nittany Lions made the College Football Playoff, losing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Penn State is set to be a dominant team, with several key returning players including quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
Penn State lost tight end Tyler Warren to the 2025 NFL Draft, who was the team’s leading receiver. The Nittany Lions will have several returning receivers and recruited Kyron Hudson and Trebor Pena from the transfer portal. These were crucial additions, but have to get going early in the season without a player like Warren to rely on.
Defensively, Penn State lost several players, including linebacker Ta’Mere Robinson, but will have returning linebacker Tony Rojas. Penn State is another school with a consistently strong defense, and the Nittany Lions will look to make another big push in 2025.
The Illinois Fighting Illini were a surprising team last season. Quarterback Luke Altmyer is returning, and so is the majority of the roster. Illinois finished with a 10-3 overall record, going 6-3 in Big Ten conference play.
Illinois defeated notable teams such as Michigan and went on to defeat South Carolina in the Cheeze-It Citrus Bowl. With the majority of the roster set to return, the team will develop and stay competitive throughout the season.
After much uncertainty in 2024, the Michigan Wolverines have a quarterback in 2025. The Wolverines recruited five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, who is set to start. Michigan coach Sherrone Moore is now in his second season as head coach, which will be less of a transition period for him.
The Wolverines also brought in two targets for Underwood, including true freshman wide receiver Jamar Browder and Indiana transfer receiver Donovan McCulley.
There are still questions surrounding Michigan, coming off an 8-5 season, going 5-4 in Big Ten conference play. The Wolverines have linebackers Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barhman on the roster, setting up the defense for success. The Wolverines could go back to being the dominant program they have been in the past, but with many new players on the offense and a new offensive coordinator, it could take time.
Oregon
Oregon man mounted a jet engine on a 60-year-old fishing boat to blast around a lake and thinks he may have set a world record
A man from Oregon has unveiled something truly crazy after he added a jet engine to the back of a 60-year-old fishing boat – and he suspects he might have broken a world record.
YouTuber Robert Maddox from CrazyRocketman mounted a pulsejet engine and its 230lbs of thrust to the back of a 1965 12-foot Sears fishing boat.
A wild juxtaposition by any standard, and the video he posted on YouTube confirms that as the diminutive boat roars away.
But did the YouTuber actually actually get the record?
How does this 1965 Sears fishing boat get its power?
The video shows the Oregon man hurling the boat around a lake, with the engine glowing behind him.
Strapped to the back of the boat is a pulsejet engine that produces 230lbs of thrust.
Pulsejet engines are smaller, lighter jet engines with combustion occurring in pulses.
Such is their simplicity that they can be made with few or even no moving parts at all.
Engines like these were used on the German V-1 Flying Bomb from World War II.
These were the Argus As 014 engines, the very first pulsejet ever to be mass-produced.
It is a smaller and even simpler version of these that Maddox has put on the back of his boat.
The funny noise they make comes from the way in which the jet makes its power.
This old boat could be a record holder
In his video, Maddox had clearly enjoyed his outing on the boat.
“Man, this boat really is super controllable,” he said, highlighting the ease with which it handles.
The video suggested there are a few niggles still to sort out on the boat.
“It was making all kinds of fuel noises, I’ve probably got a fuel pump out or something,” he added.
Yet this isn’t the end of the road for this particular project.
“I’m going to do a lot with this boat, and put a twin engine on it,” Maddox said in the video.
Given the speed of the vessel, with two pulsejet engines, this should rocket through the water.
That means another world record could be up for grabs for the Oregon YouTuber.
If there was any doubt over a world record with one engine, two engines should end the debate in an instant.
Jet engine timeline
150 AD – Hero of Alexandria invents the aeolipile, a steam-powered device demonstrating the basic jet principle
1930 – Frank Whittle successfully patents the first design for a working gas turbine jet engine
1937 – Hans von Ohain tests his first centrifugal turbojet engine prototype in Germany
1939 – The Heinkel He 178 makes the first successful flight powered entirely by a jet engine
1941 – The Gloster E.28/39 completes the first British jet flight using Whittle’s engine design
1944 – The Messerschmitt Me 262 enters combat service as the world’s first operational jet fighter
1949 – The de Havilland Comet makes its maiden flight to become the first commercial jet airliner
1958 – The Boeing 707 enters commercial service and officially kicks off the global Jet Age
1969 – Concorde takes off for the first time to pioneer supersonic passenger jet travel
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CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. — DNA analysis has identified the remains found in a car in the Columbia River as those of an Oregon family that went missing in 1958 while on a trip to find Christmas greenery, authorities said Thursday.
The state medical examiner’s office has identified parents Kenneth and Barbara Martin and their daughter Barbie from remains located in the river within the wreckage of the car, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said. The sheriff’s office said it concluded its investigation and found no evidence of a crime.
The Ford station wagon thought to belong to the family was found in 2024 by a diver who had been looking for it for several years. Authorities pulled part of the car from the river the following year.
The family vanished in December of 1958. The bodies of two of the family’s children were found months after the disappearance, but the other members never turned up.
The search for the Martin family was a national news story at the time and led some to speculate about the possibility of foul play, with a $1,000 reward offered for information.
“Where do you search if you’ve already searched every place logic and fragmentary clues would suggest?” an Associated Press article asked in 1959, months after the disappearance.
Only the frame and some attached components were retrieved from the water because of the “extent to which the vehicle had been encased in sediment,” the sheriff’s office said. Analysis of those items allowed investigators to conclude that it was indeed the Martin family’s car.
Later in 2025, the diver located human remains that were ultimately turned over to the state medical examiner’s office.
Scientists developed DNA extracts from the remains and generated a profile that was compared with relatives of the Martin family, allowing for the identifications, authorities said.
When it comes to the Oregon Ducks’ offensive line, the only assured starting spot is at center with returning junior Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu.
As both guard and tackle spots up in the air with returning veterans like Dave Iuli and Kawika Rogers, younger offensive linemen with promise like Fox Crader and Trent Ferguson, Yale transfer Michael Bennett III, and several talented freshmen looking to cut their teeth.
Tommy Tofi Brings Raw Talent That Needs Refining
According to Oregon Ducks offensive line coach A’lique Terry, freshman lineman Tommy Tofi has promise on the line despite the transition from high school to college ball. Granted, Terry did indicate Tofi still needs to get over that hump before finding his place in the lineup.
Terry went into more detail during a Thursday spring practice media availability.
“It’s early, he’s been in college for a month, but it’s clear he’s gonna help us in some shape, form, or something. Like most times with linemen, you talk about strength and conditioning being a little bit of an issue of, can they catch up?” Terry said.
Eug 031623 Uo Spring Fb 14 | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Experience Supercedes the Size
At 6-6, 330-pounds, Tofi was one of the heaviest athletes in the class of 2026, with a makeup that seemed like a shoe-in for a college line. Terry did acknowledge that while speaking to the media, but it’s Tofi’s fundamentals that still need some cooking after a short glimpse.
“He’s physically ready. Now it’s our job to just make sure our football game within those trenches, the closer you get to the ball, the faster things happen, a lot more processing happens, so that part you’ve got to make sure he can really handle and understand,” Terry said.
Iron Sharpens Iron
Thankfully for Tofi, not only does he have the building blocks from Archbishop Riordan, but he’s also got great foils on the practice field with Oregon’s defensive line. While with Archbishop Riordan, Tofi received a first-team all-state offense recognition from Cal-Hi Sports. He also earned a MaxPreps California all-state selection for his 2025 senior year.
For Terry, Tofi’s roots show promise. Amongst the excitement Terry shared about the line this year, Tofi was among those that got their flowers.
“Obviously, the defense is giving him much variety, but prepping against our defense every single day is helping him,” Terry said. “But he’s got it. Loves the game. He came from a great foundation at his high school. He has great football knowledge, and he is a junkie for it.”
Speaking of That Competition
It’s likely going to be especially hard for freshmen talent like Tofi to make it into a starting position, simply because of the wealth of talent Oregon’s offensive line room boasts. Terry even admitted that was on his mind right after practice on Thursday.
“It’s been competitive as ever. And we literally just said that right now when we just left off the field right now. And it was cool because Dave is watching and he’s like, man, Trent (Ferguson’s) getting better. And I’m like, all right, now I hope everybody pays attention to that, right?” Terry said. “There’s a culture amongst our room that’s really elite. And I love it because it allows everybody to play at the highest level. And it brings out a competitive energy every single day.”
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