Oregon
Oregon Ducks’ Evan Stewart Surging As Deep Ball Threat For Quarterback Dillon Gabriel
The Oregon Ducks are starting to see transfer wide receiver Evan Stewart gel with quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
Stewart had his first breakout game of the 2024 season in the Ducks’ upset win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in Eugene last Saturday. The transfer from Texas A&M picked up right where he left off in Friday night’s matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers.
Oregon cruised to a 35-0 victory vs. Purdue with much thanks to its electric offense and stout defense.
Evan Stewart Making Strides
Oregon Ducks wide receiver Evan Stewart has started to turn into a star for the high-powered Duck offense. Stewart had a breakout performance against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Stewart hauled in a season-high seven catches for a career-high149 yards and a touchdown. Stewart provided major highlights, including a career-long 69-yard reception, his second 50-plus yard reception of the season and the sixth for the Ducks.
Long story short, Stewart is emerging as an ever-present deep threat.
Building off this performance against Ohio State, Stewart made his presence felt early against the Purdue Boilermakers. On the Ducks’ opening drive, Stewart caught a beautiful 49-yard pass from Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel down the right sideline to set up a Jordan James touchdown.
Stewart went into the half as the Ducks leading receiver with three catches and 79 receiving yards. He finished with 96 yards and four receptions.
Stewart, second on the team in receptions to Tez Johnson, has made an immediate impact at Oregon. He is tied for the Big Ten lead with two 60-plus-yard receptions.
Ducks’ Elite Wide Receiver Room
The Oregon Ducks have an elite wide-receiving core. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel has an abundance of weapons with receivers Tez Johnson, Evan Stewart, and Traeshon Holden. Add in tight end Terrance Ferguson and running backs Jordan James and Noah Whittington, and you have arguable the best set of playmakers in college football.
Stewart finding his way makes this offense nearly unstoppable. They put up 32 points against the vaunted Ohio State defense. The Buckeyes were allowing only six points per game until they rolled into Eugene.
The Ducks hung 32 on them and now they look to continue that success for the remainder of the season.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning praised Stewart’s patience, after the win over the Buckeyes.
“Sometimes you don’t know when your number’s gonna be called,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said after the victory. “Not every play is designed to go to just one person. But I think Evan did a great job of taking advantage of the opportunities when the ball did get put in his direction, and he had opportunities to go make plays on the ball. There’s been some other moments this year where he probably could have had those opportunities, and maybe the ball just didn’t go his way. So he took advantage of those opportunities, and I certainly expect him to do that in the future.”
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The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.
Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.
However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.
Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.
“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”
Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.
“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”
Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.
The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.
Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.
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‘Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,’ a Wine Enthusiast contributor said of an Oregon wine
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Wine Enthusiast released a list of the top 40 sparkling wines around the world in 2026 – highlighting two bottles of bubbly from Oregon.
“While it can seem like you need a fortune to enjoy high quality sparkling wine, you honestly don’t. Excellent affordable bubbles are being produced around the world, often in places you might not expect. Each of the selections on our inaugural Top 40 Sparkling Wines list delivers personality, freshness, and celebration for under $75,” Wine Enthusiast wrote.
Wine Enthusiast divided its list into separate sparkling categories including, Champagne, Italian Bollicine, American sparkling and bottles $25 and under.
Snagging a spot on the American sparkling list: Corollary Wines in McMinnville.
Corollarly’s 2021 Momtazi Carbonic Rosé Pinot Noir scored 96 points from Wine Enthusiast.
“This is a Peter Max print of a wine, with vivid aromas and flavors to match the wine’s electric Kool-Aid color. It is filled to the brim with aromas and flavors of macerated strawberries, candied rose petals, apricots, and a bitter note similar to watermelon rind. Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,” wrote Wine Enthusiast contributor Michael Alberty.
The second Oregon winery to earn a spot on the list: Lytle-Barnett in Dundee.
Wine Enthusiast also gave Lytle-Barnett’s 2018 Brut Rosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay 96 points.
“Bubbles as persistent as an eight-year-old with a question deliver aromas of dried rose petals, macerated strawberries, and a touch of fresh hay and talc. This 70/30 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend is packed with flavors of lemon zest, Honeycrisp apple slices drizzled in caramel, and a dollop of raspberry,” Alberty wrote.
The nods to Corollary and Lytle-Barnett come as the wineries recently helped launch Method Oregon, a nonprofit made up of 50 Oregon wineries aiming to turn Oregon into a global sparkling wine destination.
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