Is Oregon Physical Enough for the B1G?

Is Oregon physical enough for the B1G?

If you are reading this article you are probably a Duck fan, and your reaction is going to be an emphatic YES! I know our Mr. FishDuck took a break from his preference to bet on sports in AZ  to give me an earful of his thoughts, and I imagine many of you might feel the same.

What Oregon has done in nearly two seasons in the B1G should have put the issue to rest, as the Ducks are a psychical and tough team and are tough enough to go toe-to-toe with the Midwestern conference that prides itself on its corn-fed linemen. Last season alone the Ducks beat the eventual National Championship-winning Buckeyes in the regular season, silenced the crowd in the Big House against Michigan, jumped around on Wisconsin in Madison, and won a shootout against the Nittany Lions.

In 2025, the Ducks delivered a gut punch win against Penn State during a white out. It was a brutal defensive slug-fest for a majority of the game, and the west coast Ducks were giving the physical Nittany Lions everything and more than they could handle. That win, however, has lost a little of its shine as Penn State fell apart after that loss. Though it perhaps has gained some of its value back as Indiana struggled late against Penn State and only by the tips of a receiver’s toes managed to leave with a win.

The Ducks haven’t been flawless this season as they dropped one against Indiana. The 10-point loss on the box score doesn’t show how close the game actually was, and it was only in the last three minutes really that the Ducks came off the rails and Indiana built that 10-point lead. Indiana’s defensive front seven certainly caused Oregon some major problems, and they were the more physical team that day.

But then the last two games came around and Oregon’s physicality was again questioned. With rain coming down by the buckets and Oregon’s offense facing Top 25 rush defenses, could they run the ball in the pouring rain against the physical Badgers and Hawkeyes?

The Ducks have made top 25 rush defenses look average in past two games.
(Photo By: Gary Breedlove)

Against the Badgers the answer was YES!

The Ducks put up 203 rushing yards against a team that typically holds offenses to under 100 yards (after Oregon that average has increased to just above 100 yards). Furthermore, this Oregon team ran the ball right at the Badgers with a back-up quarterback in the pouring rain, so throwing the ball really wasn’t on the table.

Then this Saturday against Iowa, a team that is known for its defense and physical running game, the Ducks had to prove their physicality again. And again mother nature decided to step in and ramp up the difficulty with rain. It was clear on the first drive that the passing game was going to struggle, as the ball squirted out of receivers’ hands. Toward the end of the game it looked like players either adjusted or the rain relaxed a bit, as the passing game eventually opened up. With the onslaught of rain, the Ducks needed to run the ball into the teeth of Iowa, whose defense only gives up an average of 87.9 yards per game (a better rush defense than Wisconsin).

So were the Ducks physical enough? YES!

Noah Whittington seemed again to have read my article criticizing him and went out to prove me wrong, as he had perhaps his best overall game as a Duck. Whittington ran the ball 17 times for 118 yards — good enough for 6.9 yards per carry  — and unlike Whittington’s typical stats, that average was not boosted by one or two long runs. When he carried the ball it looked like he was hitting that average on every single carry. Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill both also had solid days, with Hill scoring the Ducks’ only touchdown.

This was all done with some key injuries to the Ducks. Receiver Dakorien Moore may be out for the year and TE Kenyon Sadiq was out with what sounded like many minor injuries that finally hit a tipping point for the coaching staff, and they wanted him to heal. Then there was right tackle Alex Harkey out with an ankle injury. All three are big time blockers for the running backs and play an important role in the run game, with Moore and Sadiq being important receiving targets for the offense as well.

Noah Whittington had one of his best performances in an Oregon uniform against Iowa.
(Photo By: Brad Repplinger)

Between the weather and the injuries, the Ducks found themselves in a must-run situation, and they ran it right at Iowa with incredible efficiency, racking up 261 total rushing yards. That is three times more rushing yards than the Hawkeyes give up on average.

On the other side of the ball, the defense stood up against the Hawkeyes, who average 175.9 yards per game with 4.5 yards per carry. The Ducks’ defense shut that rushing attack down, holding Iowa to 101 total rushing yards and only 2.3 yards per carry, with a rushing team long of just 16 yards. The Ducks dared the Hawkeyes to pass the ball, and if it wasn’t for three key explosive passing plays, Iowa would have been shut down completely. Oregon owned the trenches on both sides of the ball against a team that is the embodiment of B1G physicality.

So the Ducks are absolutely physical enough for the B1G, right?

Based on the resume, yes, but in the minds of our new B1G conference members and their respective media, we are still that fast, lightweight program from the west coast that is all offense and no defense that gained relevance under Chip Kelly. We were invited to this conference because we were an exciting brand to add to Fox, CBS and NBC’s football broadcasting. We add value to their bottom line in terms of media money but not in terms of conference prestige. We are a disruption to the B1G ecosystem, nothing more.

Which means every game the Ducks play against a “physical” team, we will be questioned — and when we inevitably drop a game, our physicality will be immediately questioned. We may sport a “B1G” badge on our uniforms, but make no mistake, we are interlopers in this conference and we are not welcome here. Oregon’s physicality isn’t being questioned. The real question is whether or not Oregon is B1G enough?

The answer to that is no.

David Marsh 
Portland, Oregon
Top Photo By Brad Repplinger

Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in financial technology in SLC, Utah.

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David Marsh

David Marsh is a high school social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher he is known for telling puns to his students who sometimes laugh out of sympathy, and being both eccentric about history and the Ducks.

David graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with Majors in: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. David began following Ducks Football after being in a car accident in 2012; finding football something new and exciting to learn about during this difficult time in his life. Now, he cannot see life without Oregon football.