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Oregon football running back Makhi Hughes ‘can do it all,’ former Tulane teammates say

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Oregon football running back Makhi Hughes ‘can do it all,’ former Tulane teammates say


MOBILE, Ala. — Oregon needed a new lead running back to replace Jordan James and landed arguably the top back available via the transfer portal in Makhi Hughes.

Coming off back-to-back seasons with over 1,300 rushing yards at Tulane, Hughes immediately becomes RB1 for the Ducks in 2025. He had seven 100-yard games last season on his way to 1,401 yards with 15 touchdowns and 19 catches for 176 yards and two scores for the Green Wave.

“He ain’t no little back,” former Tulane safety Caleb Ransaw said. “He’s more so like a versatile back. He can run and he worked on his long speed; he’s a long runner as well. He’s powerful, he can do some juke moves as well.

“Some people they’re more power backs and there’s receiving backs and just running backs. He can do it all.”

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At 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds Hughes is effectively the same stature of James, who declared for the NFL draft.

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Hughes, who also ran for 1,378 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023, has similar situational splits to James, averaging nearly five yards per carry on first, second and third down.

“He’s a workhorse, so you can depend on him first down, second down and third down,” former Tulane defensive back Johnathan Edwards said. “He came to work every day, same guy Day 1 as Day 365. I got a lot of respect for Makhi and he’s going to do great things at Oregon.”

Edwards said Hughes’ power was regularly on display in practice as well as games and running through contact is among his traits.

“He’s not going down on the first tackle,” Edwards said. “I remember in fall camp one of our starting safeties, he blew him up real good and Makhi ran straight through him. It was crazy.”

James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.

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Oregon

Deadspin | Oregon pulls away from fading Rutgers

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Deadspin | Oregon pulls away from fading Rutgers


Feb 16, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks forward Supreme Cook (7) drives to the basket around Rutgers Scarlet Knights center Lathan Sommerville (24) during the first half at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Jackson Shelstad’s 19 points led Oregon to a 75-57 win over Rutgers on Sunday afternoon in Eugene, Ore.

Shelstad, the Ducks’ leading scorer this season, made three of his team’s season high 13 3-pointers as Oregon (18-8, 7-8 Big Ten) won its second straight game after five consecutive losses.

Center Nate Bittle swished three-ball No. 13 with 4:41 to play, off an offensive rebound from the top of the arc. Bittle had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Ducks, and T.J. Bamba added 11 with six assists.

Lathan Sommerville’s 14 points led Rutgers (12-14, 5-10) and Dylan Harper added 13. But the Scarlet Knights lost their third straight game and fourth of the past five.

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The difference in the game was Oregon’s 3-point shooting, 59.1 percent, to Rutgers’ 21.1 percent. The Ducks also played tough defense against the Scarlet Knights’ star freshman duo of Harper and Ace Bailey, who scored just eight points on 4-of-13 shooting in 29 minutes.

Bailey, Rutgers’ leading scorer going into the game, missed all four of his 3-point tries and was held 11 points under his season per-game average.

Rutgers led by as many as seven in the first half, 21-14, on a Harper jumper with 11:08 to go. But the Ducks turned it around for a five-point lead at halftime, 38-33.

Rutgers got as close as one point down in the second half, then Shelstad got hot. He hit three 3-pointers over a roughly five-minute span, his third one giving Oregon a 62-48 lead with 9:29 to play.

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Then, a 7-0 run gave the Ducks a 69-50 lead, which was insurmountable for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights didn’t make a basket for most of the last three minutes of the game, and Oregon held them to 24 points in the second half after the Ducks had given up 50 second-half points in each of their previous two games.

–Field Level Media



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Oregon to hire Syracuse’s Ross Douglas as receivers coach

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Oregon to hire Syracuse’s Ross Douglas as receivers coach


Oregon appears to have found its next wide receivers coach.

Ross Douglas, who spent the past season as the receivers coach and pass game coordinator at Syracuse, is expected to join UO’s staff, according to 247Sports.

Syracuse, which added Ohio State quarterback transfer Kyle McCord last winter, led the country in passing yards in 2024 and ranked sixth in passing touchdowns and 25th in passing efficiency.

The Orange lost two of its top three receivers from 2023 and had three players with over 900 receiving yards in Douglas’ lone season, including Georgia transfer Jackson Meeks (1,021 yards, seven touchdowns). Fifth-year junior Trebor Pena had by far the best season of his career and sophomore Darrell Gill Jr. had a breakout year.

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Douglas, 30, spent three seasons on the New England Patriots coaching staff before going to Syracuse, with prior stints at Richmond and Rutgers.

He replaces Junior Adams, who left UO for the same position with the Dallas Cowboys.

Douglas began with the Patriots as a defensive assistant in2021 and was promoted to receivers coach in 2022, becoming the youngest position coach in the NFL at that time.

A former defensive back at Michigan (2013-15) and Rutgers (16-17), Douglas began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Rutgers from 2018-20, working primarily with the secondary.

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James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.



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Oregon reports sharp increase in tips about ‘sextortion’ of minors

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Oregon reports sharp increase in tips about ‘sextortion’ of minors


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The Oregon Department of Justice reported a sharp uptick in tips about “sextortion” of minors since 2020 and shared updated guidance on keeping kids safe online for Safer Internet Day on Feb. 11.

The state’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force receives cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Tips related to sextortion, categorized as “online enticement of children for sexual acts,” have increased by 857%, from nearly 200 in 2020 to nearly 2,000 last year, the DOJ said.

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The FBI said sextortion “occurs when someone threatens to distribute your private and sensitive material if you don’t provide them images of a sexual nature, sexual favors, or money.”

“As a parent myself, these cases and the numbers we’re seeing in Oregon alone are deeply troubling,” said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. “Our investigators are dedicated to combating online threats. They are working with investigators across the country, and around (the) world in some cases, to get justice for these kids and their families.”

Oregon’s task force has received a total of 46,205 cybertips since it began in 2004, a spokesperson said. Tips have led to 353 arrests and 2,070 investigations, according to the DOJ’s 2025-2027 budget request.

There are 61 task forces throughout the country. NCMEC receives tips about sextortion and other child exploitation online and sends them to task forces.

Mark Williamson, assistant chief criminal investigator for Oregon’s ICAC, said sextortion is the “biggest issue that we’re dealing with right now when it comes to kids.”

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Oregon’s task force was expanded last year after legislators approved nearly $2.7 million in additional funding for 14 additional positions to what was previously a staff of five. In addition to investigating tips, the ICAC gives education and prevention presentations and trains law enforcement on how to respond.

“That is a big component of what we’re doing — trying to prevent these incidents from happening, and educating everyone, from the kids to their families to law enforcement — so they know what to look out for and who to turn to,” said Williamson.

Anastasia Mason covers state government for the Statesman Journal. Reach her at acmason@statesmanjournal.com or 971-208-5615.



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