Big Ten football has long been defined by two things: 1) running the football, and 2) defending the run. When the great conference shift occurred a little over a year ago, it was certain that the scope of college football would be forever changed. With that, there were questions about how Oregon would fare in a new conference, no longer being exclusively grouped with fellow Pacific Coast schools that varied wildly in scheme.
Joining the Big Ten, Oregon entered a new scene of gritty, tenacious, and stout opponents that prided themselves on winning in the trenches and running teams into oblivion. No more representative of this identity are the Wisconsin Badgers, who have been part of the conference for 129 years and are one of its seven founding institutions. The Badgers (2-5, 0-4 Big Ten) made the trip to take on the No. 6 Oregon Ducks (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) on Saturday, Oct. 25th, with the intentions of playing exactly that way, just as they did a year ago in a near upset of the Ducks in Madison, Wis. On top of that, the whipping rainfall supplied a setting that would require both offenses to pound the ball on the ground.
This year, though, Oregon’s depth at running back is tremendous, housing four separate tailbacks with 240+ rushing yards, the only team in the Big Ten to do so.
“That running back room is insane,” said redshirt sophomore and backup quarterback Brock Thomas, who went 4-for-4 on passing attempts after relieving an injured Dante Moore. “Handing the ball to those guys, and the work that they do… it was a true team effort out there.”
Jordon Davison led all backs with 102 yards on the ground, breaking out in the midst of a 99-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter that propelled the Ducks to their first lead, in which he carried the ball nine times for 49 yards and the score, while the usual starter, redshirt senior Noah Whittington, rested.
“That was all the O-line,” Davison said of the drive. “I’m just running behind them.”
Many of Davison’s runs went between the tackles, requiring the Ducks’ frontline to win in the trenches, again, a key factor in playing Big Ten football. And that’s exactly what they did, allowing the freshman to gash the Wisconsin front en route to his team-leading ninth touchdown of the season.
Oregon’s RB1, Whittington, also played a role in the win, going for 97 yards on 14 carries. It was the opening of the second half that unlocked Whittington’s production, as it became clear Oregon was winning the war of attrition up front, spelling danger for the Badgers in the frigid conditions. On top of that, true freshman Dierre Hill Jr. got active, going for 28 yards on just two carries, including a 27-yarder behind a monstrous block by Davison.
Playing in the Big Ten and having the confidence in this many backs is a true winning formula, and the way they’ve done it is unique to this year’s team, as last year the Ducks only had two backs go for 240+ yards all season. Now-49er Jordan James led the way, averaging 5.4 yards per carry with Whittington behind him at 4.6 per carry, totals that are commendable, but do not compare to the production from the running back room this year.
All of Whittington, Hill, and Davison are averaging at least 6.9 per carry, with Jayden Limar right behind them at 5.9. To have this type of production from so many guys is an incredible advantage, especially in a typical Big Ten-style game like this one, putting Oregon’s depth on full display.
“We just had to settle in and figure out what runs were gonna be able to work,” head coach Dan Lanning said, showing no doubt of the game plan going in. “We ran it 45 times tonight. We said we weren’t gonna give up on the run, no matter what.”
And they never did, logging their second-highest rush attempt total of the year. The Oregon backfield is showcasing a kind of depth the program has not seen in a long time, and no better time than now as they continue to establish themselves as a true Big Ten team, merely 10 months after winning the conference last year.
Equally punishing has been the defense against the run, landing in the top-30 in the NCAA by allowing only 3.28 yards per carry.
“Yeah, it’s definitely fun,” junior transfer safety Dillon Thieneman said about playing in a rainy environment that demanded a heavy dose of runs. “Playing in the rain is something you dream about as a kid; you know, coming down, ready to hit.”
Thieneman knows a thing or two about Big Ten play, spending his first two seasons at Purdue. However, in his move to Oregon, the wins have come his way, and if the defense continues to support the offense in the run game, the 2025 Oregon Ducks will cement themselves as the pinnacle of Big Ten football, just as Wisconsin and the other seven founders have been for 130 years.