EUGENE — Whether any of Oregon’s several injured players will return for Friday’s game with Minnesota is unclear.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning was optimistic about the outlooks for receiver Dakorien Moore, tight end Kenyon Sadiq, right tackle Alex Harkey and inside linebacker Devon Jackson following last week’s win at Iowa and didn’t have an update on receiver Gary Bryant Jr.’s apparent foot injury at the time.

Lanning was less forthcoming when asked for an update on those players Monday night.

“If they’re ready,” Lanning said, “they’ll play.”

UO’s leading receiver, Moore suffered a non-contact knee injury during practice last week.

Sadiq has been dealing with an unspecified injury dating back to before the Indiana game. Harkey rolled his ankle last week and Jackson was dealing with a similar issue, Lanning said. Each of those three traveled to Iowa, were listed as questionable, were in full pads but did not play.

With only four scholarship receivers available following Bryant’s injury, Oregon used a greater share of players with two running backs and two tight ends. That has already been a greater part of the offense this season, especially multiple backs, but became a greater necessity when the receiving corps was further depleted.

That could be the case again against Minnesota.

“I think we’ve probably had more (two backs) personnel sets than any other team in the conference this year and that goes back to trying to utilize the personnel that we have,” Lanning said. “I feel really confident about our guys in (two back sets) and really like our guys in (one back sets) too. … We’ll continue to be creative. I’m sure we’ll see some stuff out there that’s different.”

Gernorris Wilson made his first career start in place of Harkey. He committed a false start penalty, but was part of a group that paved the way for 261 rushing yards without allowing a sack.

Lanning felt Wilson played a “complete game” and had areas to improve.

“To be able to keep our quarterback clean in the game was good,” Lanning said. “We obviously didn’t throw it as much, but I thought Gernorris did a good job.”

A lot of conclusions could be drawn from Oregon’s big win over Iowa on Saturday. Calling them a “paper tiger” is not one of them.

There is a bizarre opinion among some members of the national media and opposing fanbases that the Ducks haven’t played anyone. Apparently, September 27^th was so long ago that it has completely left their memories.

Oregon has faced three ranked opponents so far this season. They have come away with two wins and a close loss to the #2 ranked Indiana Hoosiers at Autzen. They have faced injuries, torrential downpours, and nationally recognized hostile crowds… but I guess that’s not enough.

Oregon is a Paper Tiger?

They are if you believe Will Brackus of CBS Sports. He wrote, “Oregon will be exposed when it has to match up against one of the 12 best teams in the nation.” This is an interesting opinion. Was Oregon “exposed” against Indiana?

Offensively the Ducks certainly struggled in that game. Defensively they held the Hoosiers to 111 rushing yards and 215 passing yards. This is a team that’s currently averaging 232 yards on the ground and 255 yards for the air. They are 6^th in the nation with 487 total yards of offense per game. Exposed?

Brackus continued, “The Ducks don’t have the best résumé thus far. Their admittedly gritty win on the road against No. 20 Iowa Saturday was their first triumph against a ranked team all season.”

I guess in an alternate universe the Ducks faced the #3 ranked Nittany Lions in a white-out at Beaver Stadium. They pulled off a massive win, in overtime, over a top 5 team on the road. They did it in an environment that everyone said was arguably the toughest in college football. That means nothing now, apparently.

His final statement was, “Oregon has done nothing to show that it will compete well on a national stage.”

This Team has Shown Nothing?

We could debate if you think the Ducks haven’t shown enough to prove they’re a true contender this season. To think that they have done nothing to show that they would compete well on a national stage is ludicrous.  

Right now the Ducks are the 13^th best offense, averaging 471 yards per game. Their passing has fallen off a bit because of weather and injuries to key positions. Their run game, however, is 6^th in the nation averaging 240 yards per game.

Against the Iowa Hawkeyes, they put up 261 yards on the ground, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. This was the most total yardage that Iowa has given up since 2022. More impressively, it was the most yards per carry since 2014.

The Hawkeyes entered the game as the 3^rd best defense in the nation in total yards allowed per game. They were 5^th in passing yards allowed and 4^th in total yards allowed. They had the 10^th best run defense as well. This team was no pushover and it was on the road in the rain.

The Ducks are a physical, run first offense right now. They’re grinding out opponents and imposing their will in the trenches. This is not the Oregon Ducks of 15 years ago. The rest of college football has not woken up to that fact yet.

The Ducks have an Elite Defense

Even if you’re not ready to concede that Oregon has a solid offense, their defense is truly elite.

The Ducks are currently ranked 3^rd in overall yards per game. They are #1 in passing defense, allowing only 126 yards through the air. Oregon is also 6^th in points allowed per game at 14. They absolutely have a defense that could win a national championship right now.

PFF grades them as the 15^th best defense but gives them the 4^th best coverage grade in the nation (92.1). They are just barely behind Ohio State (92.2) and Alabama (92.3) on the season. The Ducks have been a no-fly zone for most of the season. They had a couple lapses against Iowa but overall teams have had a very difficult time throwing the ball.

This is not going to be an easy out for any team… regardless of their ranking.

AP Voters Still Doubt Them

Despite beating one of the best defenses in the country, Oregon fell in the AP poll on Sunday. It was clearly much more impressive that Ole Miss defeated The Citadel Bulldogs 49-0 at home. Those late season FCS opponents are always a good litmus test for how legitimate a team is in the rankings.

Oregon dropped to 7^th in the AP, but at this juncture this ranking is completely irrelevant. The only ranking that matters are the playoff rankings and we won’t know those for a couple days. Funny enough, the coaches poll kept the Ducks at 6^th.

With #7 BYU losing to #8 Texas Tech, and Oregon defeating the #20 ranked Hawkeyes, it’s likely that the Ducks will move up into the top 8. This is a good spot, as it would secure Oregon a home playoff game as long as they win out.

One thing to keep an eye on is USC for the rest of the season. The Ducks play the Trojans at home in a couple weeks whicch will most likely will be the final ranked team on their schedule. Washington dropped to Wisconsin at home on Saturday and will assuredly fall out of the rankings.