EUGENE, Ore. – For the second consecutive season, No. 6 Oregon (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) failed to find much offense against Wisconsin (2-6, 0-5 Big Ten) in its eighth-ever meeting against the Badgers. Nevertheless, behind a stifling defensive showing and another sold-out crowd at Autzen Stadium, the Ducks were able to overcome the rain and find the finish line on Saturday, improving to 5-3 all-time versus the men from Madison.
Harkening back to mid-November of last year, Oregon survived an upset bid from Wisconsin on the road at Camp-Randall Stadium, holding on to win 16-13. The 2025 edition of Ducks and Badgers saw more low-scoring football as Oregon, in its second season as a member of the Big Ten Conference, has only been able to muster 37 points (18.5 average) combined in the pair of meetings with the Badgers. Yet, against all other Big Ten opponents, the Ducks are averaging 36.3 points per game in their 11 regular-season contests.
“It became really apparent early in this game what kind of game it was going to be, and we had to figure out a way that we could run the ball effectively,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said following the win.
Both sides were plagued with a slow start on offense to begin the game as the first quarter ended without any points, but it wasn’t due to a lack of aggressiveness on the Oregon sideline. After winning the opening coin toss and deferring possession to the second half, Lanning’s team succeeded in an onside kick attempt to open the game, setting up the Ducks with tremendous field position at the Wisconsin 42-yard line.
“We felt like the look was there, something we checked,” Lanning said. “Coach Fickell has a history of deferring, so we thought there was a great chance that if they win the toss, we would be able to get the ball in the second half or vice-versa.”
The drive, however, stalled out four plays later when Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was sacked on a fourth-down throw. Wisconsin suffered a similar fate when, midway through the first frame, it botched a snap on a fourth-down and one play near the 50-yard line. The rest of the quarter contained a carousel of punts, leaving the first 15 minutes of football knotted up at 0-0.
It wasn’t until the Ducks’ first possession of the second quarter, with 9:31 remaining, that they were able to get their first points of the day. Through the swirling wind and rain, Oregon was pinned back at its own one-yard line, beginning what would become a 16-play, 99-yard touchdown drive in 8 minutes and 24 seconds of total possession. The full field journey concluded when freshman running back Jordon Davison scored from three yards out on third and goal to give Oregon a 7-0 lead that they would carry into the locker room at halftime. Davison carried the ball nine times on the drive for 49 yards.
“That was all the O-Line. I mean, I’m just running behind them,” Davison said.
The first-year tailback ended the game with 102 yards on 16 attempts and two touchdowns, with the pair of scores taking his touchdown tally to a team-leading 10 on the season.
Out of the break, the Ducks’ decision to defer paid dividends as they were able to score again on the first drive of the third quarter, thanks to a 20-yard Davison house call, his second, making the score 14-0 Oregon. More strangling defense by Oregon was in effect as it held the Badgers’ offense to their eleventh consecutive quarter without any points.
In light of that, Moore exited the game after suffering what looked to be a bloody nose caused by a hit he took on a scramble play up the middle. Moore would not return for the remainder of the game, finishing with a final stat line of nine completions on 15 attempts for 86 yards. The change under center would hand over the reins to backup quarterback and Eugene native, Brock Thomas.
With Oregon leading comfortably by two scores and the defense still pitching a shutout, Thomas marched the Ducks into the endzone for the third and final time when he found offensive lineman Gernorris Wilson wide open for the one-yard score that increased the lead to 21-0. It was the first touchdown of the sophomore Thomas’ Oregon career as well as the second career receiving touchdown for Wilson. He had famously caught former quarterback Dillion Gabriel’s record-breaking 179th for most passing touchdowns in a career last November against Maryland.
“You never know when your time's going to come, so just always prepare, and I feel like the conditions and the circumstances that happen, and just everybody was prepared and ready for whenever their moment was called,” Wilson said.
In the fourth quarter, Wisconsin was finally able to end its long scoring drought off a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Lance Mason from quarterback Hunter Simmons. Outside of the lone touchdown drive, the Oregon defense made the life of Simmons a nightmare as he threw for just 86 yards, 74 of which came in the final quarter, on seven completions in 21 attempts. Oregon was able to melt away the final minutes of the game using another time-consuming drive led by Thomas and the defense that forced an interception of Simmons by defensive back Daylen Austin to wrap things up with a final score of 21-7.
Thomas performed well despite the unexpected action at quarterback and the harsh elements out on the field.
“Just treat it all the same, I think, just going in there being confident, not getting too high, not getting too low, just being calm, doing my job,” Thomas said after going 4-for-4 on passing attempts, totalling 46 yards and the one touchdown.
Saturday’s win plants the Ducks still one game back of the undefeated conference leaders in No. 2 Indiana (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) and No. 1 Ohio State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten), respectively. Next week, Oregon is idle and on a bye, but will follow that with a pivotal trip to Iowa City on Nov. 8 to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten). Kickoff at Kinnick Stadium for that game is still to be announced.