Ranking Oregon’s First Season in the Big 10
Was it a success or failure? That has been the question on how the University of Oregon Football program did in their inaugural season in the Big Ten Conference. I do not write a lot about college football, so forgive me if I may be mistaken on some things here.
On August 2, 2024, the Big Ten sent shockwaves throughout the whole country when they announced its expansion to 18 teams when they grabbed a few teams from the dissolving Pac 12 Conference. Some of these schools included Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC. Previously they had added teams such as Maryland and Rutgers. You would think that such news could distort a program’s vision on how the year would play out. Not the case for Oregon.
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The team dominated the college football year and just obliterated the teams in their conference in 2024, going 13–1 overall and finishing the regular season undefeated. They were first in the country in terms of coaching, AP, and CFP. They would even start the season 7–0 for the first time since 2013. Their season eventually came to an end in the 2025 Rose Bowl game where they were defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes. But before I get into that loss, let me talk about the student athletes that helped make this a historic season even more special.
Led by quarterback Dillon Gabriel, the team had so much talent on the offensive side of the football. While the Ducks averaged 279.5 passing yards a game, they averaged 158 yards on the ground. But Gabriel had a passing percentage of 72.9% while throwing for 3,851 yards, 30 touchdowns and six interceptions. He had weapons on the outside to get the ball to including receivers like Tez Johnson, Evan Stewart, and Traeston Holden. Although none of the receivers had over 1,000 yards, the team did its damage on the ground running the football. Gabriel also did a thorough job of spreading the ball to many different receivers. But the attention was also in the backfield with running backs Jordan Hames and Noah Whittington, who were a real headache for opposing college defenses. James erupted for 1267 yards and 15 touchdowns, while Whittington added 540 yards and 6 touchdowns.
The defense was vulnerable and suspect. While they were not the worst defense in the country and only allowed 185.9 yards through the air, they allowed 130 yards rushing on the ground and it kind of showed in the Rose Bowl game against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes jumped to a 34–0 lead and the Ducks allowed Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Sutton to run free all over the field. The receiver grabbed seven passes for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns en route to Offensive MVP in the game. Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson ran for 94 yards, but that was on eight carries. The Oregon offense failed to show up as Dillon Gabriel was sacked eight times and the vaunted running attack of the Ducks registered -23 yards. The Ducks lost 41–21. Although the loss was disappointing, I would not consider this team’s season a failure at all.
Unless your team name is the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL, many teams that move to different cities or conferences typically do not do well, but the fact that Oregon succeeded the way they did in their first season in a dominating and challenging conference to win in was amazing to see. This group is going to be a force, but also look at other schools like Penn State, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio State (Michigan as well). They look to give the Ducks a real run for their money and are going to give us as fans a real tough call to see who will come out on top in the Big Ten during the next season.
