Because of the circumstances surrounding the Big Ten championship game earlier this month — No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. Indiana; both teams unbeaten; top overall seed in the College Football Playoff at stake — it was easy to overlook the conference’s third high-level team that had hovered in the upper tier of the national rankings all season: Oregon.
Head coach Dan Lanning and his team entered the playoff at 11-1 overall and 8-1 in the league, with their only defeat coming against the eventual-champion Hoosiers. The Ducks had beaten everyone else on their schedule and won nine of those games by double figures. Everything about Oregon’s résumé suggested it was a legitimate national championship contender.
Somehow, though, the No. 5 Ducks kicked off against No. 12 James Madison on Saturday night having largely flown under the radar in recent weeks, overshadowed by the Hoosiers, the Buckeyes and two other conference champions ahead of them in the final rankings. But the 51-34 hurting Oregon inflicted at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon offered everyone in college football a reminder of just how dangerous Lanning’s team really is, how real the Ducks’ dreams of winning a national title really are.
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Listed here are my takeaways from the Oregon-James Madison CFP first-round recreation:
1. This model of Dante Moore can lead the Geese to a nationwide title
EUGENE, OR: Oregon Geese quarterback Dante Moore drops again to move through the Faculty Soccer Playoff first-round recreation between the Oregon Geese and James Madison Dukes on December 20, 2025 at Autzen Stadium.(Photograph by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire through Getty Pictures)
Again in late September, when the rating went remaining at Beaver Stadium and then-No. 6 Oregon upset then-No. 3 Penn State in double additional time, quarterback Dante Moore was within the thick of the Heisman Trophy race. He led the Geese to 5 straight wins to start the yr and accounted for 14 landing passes and just one interception throughout that span — all in his first season as Oregon’s starter after spending the 2024 marketing campaign studying behind Dillon Gabriel.
However Moore’s sizzling begin gave technique to an unlucky mid-season wobble towards then-No. 7 Indiana, whose protection harassed and tormented him right into a multi-interception efficiency that value Oregon, the defending Large Ten champion, management of its personal future within the convention race. Two video games later, Moore solely accomplished 9 of 15 passes for 86 yards and no touchdowns in an unconvincing win over struggling Wisconsin. Two weeks after that, Iowa restricted Moore to simply 112 passing yards in a second consecutive outing with out a landing. Any dialogue of the Heisman Trophy fizzled.
What Moore has finished since then, although, is reclaim the white-hot kind he displayed early within the season, the extent vital for Oregon to make a deep postseason run. He performed near-flawless soccer in comfy wins towards Minnesota, then-No. 15 USC and Washington to finish the common season — six complete touchdowns, one interception — to make sure the Geese would earn an at-large berth within the CFP area. After which on Saturday night time towards James Madison, an overmatched opponent from the Solar Belt, he sizzled in a way that can strike worry into each defensive coordinator remaining.
Moore performed brilliantly in Oregon’s one-sided demolition of James Madison, finishing his first eight passes and 10 of his first 11 on an evening the Geese scored 5 consecutive touchdowns to start the sport. He unfold the ball to eight completely different targets total, together with 4 who completed with at the least 40 receiving yards, and produced three touchdowns of greater than 40 yards. Moore completed having accomplished 19 of 27 passes for 313 yards and 4 touchdowns, tying a season excessive.
He was the perfect participant on the sector for both staff. And that bodes very nicely for Oregon’s nationwide championship pursuit.
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2. Blended outcomes from Oregon coordinators juggling a number of jobs
Oregon Geese Defensive Coordinator Tosh Lupoi (Photograph by Tom Hauck/Getty Pictures)
In a showdown between two applications with decidedly little in frequent, there was a shred of shared territory among the many respective teaching staffs, due to the crowded calendar in trendy school soccer.
The exceptional success engineered by James Madison head coach Bob Chesney throughout the final two seasons meant that he arrived at Autzen Stadium having already been employed to take over at UCLA as soon as the Dukes’ playoff run ended. And the same situation is unfolding at Oregon, the place offensive coordinator Will Stein has already been named the following head coach at Kentucky and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi the following head coach at Cal. They, too, will stay with the Geese by the postseason.
Nonetheless, it was truthful to surprise simply how sharp the respective models overseen by Stein and Lupoi would look towards James Madison after a number of hectic, sleep-deprived weeks that included loads of hours on personal jets and much more on cell telephones and Zoom. An extremely explosive begin from the Geese’ offense recommended Stein’s group was completely unaffected by any division of consideration. Oregon tore by the Dukes to provide touchdowns on its opening 5 possessions, all of which required 5 performs or fewer and by no means drained greater than 2:37 off the clock. The Geese had been nonetheless averaging 14.4 yards per play by the point quarterback Dante Moore knelt to finish the second quarter and had amassed 360 yards of complete offense whereas solely going through a single third down.
Oregon’s protection, in the meantime, was considerably much less crisp — even when the scoreboard appeared to replicate a dominant, one-sided efficiency. Lupoi’s group surrendered 5 drives that gained at the least 50 yards and 6 scoring drives total in an effort that was significantly sloppy for giant chunks of the second half. The Dukes transformed all 4 of their makes an attempt on fourth down and burned Oregon with a number of trick performs, together with a 50-yard double move and a 2-yard toss-reverse run for a landing. They racked up 197 yards by halftime towards a Geese’ protection that solely surrenders 251.6 yards per recreation complete — fourth-best within the nation this season — and by recreation’s finish, James Madison had amassed 509 complete yards.
Oregon actually deserves credit score for tightening up its operation in and across the purple zone, blocking the Dukes’ second area objective try to empty any hope James Madison had of hanging shut past the opening minutes. However there shall be loads for Lupoi to repair earlier than the quarterfinals, the place a much more proficient Texas Tech offense awaits.
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3. The Geese are lastly getting more healthy at large receiver
EUGENE, OR: James Madison Dukes cornerback Elijah Culp (2) tackles Oregon Geese large receiver Dakorien Moore (1) after a reception through the Faculty Soccer Playoff first-round recreation between the Oregon Geese and James Madison Dukes on December 20, 2025 at Autzen Stadium.(Photograph by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire through Getty Pictures)
Although Oregon loved a wire-to-wire victory towards Washington within the common season finale late final month, assuring the Geese of an at-large playoff berth, the offense navigated that recreation with out a appreciable quantity of firepower at large receiver as a result of harm. True freshman Dakorien Moore, the highest-ranked wideout within the nation popping out of highschool, was sidelined for a fourth straight contest with a knee harm he suffered earlier in November. Plus, receiver Gary Bryant Jr., who was second on the staff with 4 receiving touchdowns, wanted a 3rd straight week to get better from an ankle downside.
With out them, Dante Moore related with veteran receiver Malik Benson 5 instances for 102 yards and a rating in Oregon’s managed, 26-14 win over the Huskies. However Benson, who entered this weekend main the Geese’ receivers with 31 catches and 526 yards, was the one wideout who caught greater than three passes that afternoon. There wasn’t as a lot selection in an offense that sometimes thrives on widespread distribution.
However the additional week off earlier than Saturday’s date with James Madison afforded Bryant and Dakorien Moore sufficient time to return. They had been each listed as questionable on the ultimate availability report and joined the remainder of Oregon’s receivers in pre-game warmups. Whereas their involvement in such a one-sided recreation was pretty minimal — each gamers rotated into the lineup through the first half, although solely Dakorien Moore caught a move — it signified fairly a lift to the Geese’ nationwide championship aspirations.
It may very well be argued, nonetheless, that essentially the most encouraging information for Oregon had arrived earlier within the week when a report from CBS Sports activities recommended that wideout Evan Stewart may probably make his season debut within the quarterfinals. A former Texas A&M switch, Stewart suffered a knee harm over the summer time that required surgical procedure and has sidelined him ever since, forcing the youthful Dakorien Moore into a bigger function virtually instantly. Stewart had beforehand established himself as a dynamic, speedy weapon for the Geese by catching 48 passes for 613 yards and 5 touchdowns final yr.
Although he was formally listed as uncertain for Saturday’s recreation, Stewart additionally participated in pre-game warmups however didn’t see the sector. Any contributions he could make within the quarterfinals or past could be an added bonus for an already explosive offense.
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4. James Madison can face up to the lack of head coach Bob Chesney
EUGENE, OREGON: Head coach Bob Chesney and Wayne Knight #3 of the James Madison Dukes embrace previous to the sport towards the Oregon Geese through the 2025 Faculty Soccer Playoff first-round recreation at Autzen Stadium on December 20, 2025. (Photograph by Tom Hauck/Getty Pictures)
It’s simple to think about the conflicting feelings skilled by James Madison followers in recent times. This system has skilled a shocking stretch of wide-ranging success that it merely cannot cling onto head coaches for very lengthy.
First, there was Curt Cignetti, now the mastermind at Indiana, who assumed management of the Dukes in 2019 once they had been nonetheless competing within the FCS. Cignetti promptly guided James Madison to 1 nationwide championship recreation and two extra nationwide semifinal appearances earlier than the Dukes jumped to the Solar Belt. And so they by no means stopped successful, at the same time as newbies towards FBS competitors: eight victories in 2022 and 11 extra in 2023, till Cignetti had sufficient clout to take over the Hoosiers.
His alternative, Bob Chesney, previously the pinnacle coach at Holy Cross, maintained the usual with relative ease. Chesney received 9 video games in 2024 after which turned that into arguably the best season in program historical past with a visit to the Faculty Soccer Playoff this season. He parlayed these new heights right into a Energy 4 teaching alternative at UCLA.
The sustained success throughout a number of regimes makes James Madison one of the engaging jobs outdoors the ability conferences, which is why the Dukes had been in a position to land a alternative like Billy Napier, the previous head coach at Florida. Although Napier was fired by the Gators in mid-October — he solely received 22 video games in three-plus seasons — his historical past within the Solar Belt made him an interesting candidate. Napier went 40-12 as the pinnacle coach at Louisiana from 2018-21, together with three consecutive years with at the least 10 victories and back-to-back convention championships earlier than an ill-fated enterprise into the SEC. Now, Napier can have higher assets, infrastructure and expertise to work with at James Madison than he ever had with the Ragin’ Cajuns.
The Dukes needs to be simply advantageous.
4 ½. What’s subsequent?
ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Terrell Tilmon #18 of the Texas Tech Purple Raiders celebrates following the staff’s win over the BYU Cougars for the Large 12 championship recreation at AT&T Stadium on December 6, 2025. (Photograph by Ron Jenkins/Getty Pictures)
Oregon’s emphatic win towards James Madison units up a captivating quarterfinal between the No. 5 Geese and No. 4 Texas Tech within the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1. The victor will tackle whichever staff emerges from the Rose Bowl showdown between No. 1 Indiana and No. 9 Alabama later that very same day.
Although the monetary backing for the Geese and Purple Raiders comes from drastically completely different sources — the previous is closely underwritten by Nike co-founder Phil Knight; the latter leans on capital infusions from billionaire oil and gasoline tycoon Cody Campbell — each applications have leveraged these assets to succeed in the forefront of recent roster-building efforts. Oregon entered its 2025 marketing campaign with the fifth-best switch portal class within the nation, based on 247Sports, rating among the many high 10 for a 3rd consecutive season. Whereas Texas Tech, which hadn’t received a convention championship since 1994 till it knocked off BYU within the Large 12 title recreation earlier this month, spent large sums final winter to compile the second-best portal haul within the nation behind LSU.
The unflinching aggression from each colleges has carried over to the highschool recruiting ranks as nicely, the place each rank among the many top-20 lessons nationally in 2026. They’re two of simply eight applications across the nation to signal a number of five-star prospects forward of subsequent season, with Texas Tech being the one such staff from the Large 12. A quarterfinal between the Purple Raiders and the Geese represents trendy school soccer at its money-driven most interesting.
Michael Cohen covers school soccer and school basketball for FOX Sports activities. Comply with him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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