Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2025 Opponent Preview: Oregon Ducks

The difficult road for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights hits a new high with Oregon coming to town in the middle of the season.

The Ducks are coming off a Big Ten Championship in 2024 and have reloaded on both sides of the ball.

Dante Moore warms up against of a scrimmage. — Combat Ducks quarterback Dante Moore throws out a pass as the Fighting Ducks face off against Mighty Oregon in the Oregon Ducks spring game on April 26, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

2025 Oregon Football at a Glance

Name: Oregon Ducks

Stadium: Autzen Stadium (Cap.: 54,000)

Head Coach: Dan Lanning (4th season)

Offensive Coordinator: Will Stein

Defensive Coordinator: Tosh Lupoi

2024: 13-1 (9-0 Big Ten)

2024 Oregon Season-in-Review

It was one of the best seasons that Oregon has had and it happened in the Big Ten for the first time. The Ducks ran through the regular season undefeated before taking down Penn State in the Big Ten Championship.

Oregon entered the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 overall seed but was not done any favors by the seeding process. The Ducks took on Ohio State in the quarterfinals and got ran off the field early.

Key Returners: QB Dante Moore, WR Evan Stewart, WR Dakorien Moore, C Iapani Lalolulu, RB Noah Whittington, LB Matayo Uiagalelei, DL A'Mauri Washington, LB Teitum Tuioti, LB Bryce Boettcher, LB Devon Jackson

Transfer Additions: OL Isaiah World (Nevada), WR Malik Benson (Florida State), TE Jamari Johnson (Louisville), OL Alex Harkey (Texas State), OL Emmanuel Pregnon (USC), RB Makhi Hughes (Tulane), DL Bear Alexander (USC), S Dillon Thieneman (Purdue), CB Theran Johnson (Northwestern)

Key Losses: QB Dillon Gabriel, RB Jordan James, WR Tez Johnson, WR Traeshon Holden, TE Terrance Ferguson, DT Derrick Harmon, S Tysheem Johnson, DB Kobe Savage, LB Jeffrey Bassa

Strengths

The Ducks might have their next great under center with Dante Moore. After starting his career at UCLA, Moore came to Oregon last season and looks like the next in line taking over for Dillon Gabriel.

What Moore has to work with is an elite offensive line. It might be a rebuilt unit but it is among the best in the conference.

Isaiah World comes in from Nevada as one of the top overall players in the portal. World will take over at left tackle while Alex Harkey of Texas State comes in to play right tackle. Emmanuel Pregnon (USC) is an All-Big Ten guard who made the move to Oregon. The lone returner along the line was an honorable mention All-Conference cente in Iapani Lalolulu.

On the defensive side, the front seven is expected to be dominant once again. Matayo Uiagalelei is back after 10.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss last season. In the middle, linebacker Teitum Tuioti was third on the team last season with 5.5 sacks and 58 tackles.

Weaknesses

The Ducks will need to get more out of the ground game this season. In 2024, Jordan James was named All-Conference within an attack that averaged 4.4 yards per carry. This is a rather low number in such an explosive offense.

James is now in the NFL and Oregon will feature a new duo in the backfield.

Noah Whittington was second on the team with 540 rushing yards last season. He is likely to be the RB2 once again as Oregon went out to get Makhi Hughes from Tulane in the transfer portal. Hughes has close to 2,800 yards in his career but has to prove that he can do it in the Big Ten.