This season, injuries have seemingly taken their toll on the college football landscape at a devastating level compared to most seasons. While injuries occur at a high rate on a yearly basis, this season it seems like top NFL Draft prospects and star quarterbacks have missed time at a crazy rate. The Oregon Ducks know this issue just as much, if not more than any other team.
Dante Moore was knocked out of the Ducks' Big Ten opener against USC and has missed the last two games recovering from the severe concussion. While the loss of Moore has dealt a massive blow to the Ducks' offense, they're far from the only team dealing with this issue, especially in the Big Ten.
Oregon's schedule outlook has changed drastically
Starting this weekend, Oregon enters a matchup with Illinois facing a different quarterback than the initial expectation of facing Katin Houser. The Illini starter underwent hand surgery, and will miss several weeks, including this weekend's game. Instead of the matchup between Dante Moore and Katin Houser, we'll likely see Dylan Raiola vs. Michael Clayton II, which is far less exciting than the two stellar passers.
Coming into the season, the Ducks' matchup with Ohio State was seen as potentially one of the biggest games of the year, but what the game looks like is now up in the air. During the Buckeyes' win over Indiana, Julian Sayin suffered an injury on his throwing arm that has him ruled out indefinitely. Instead of a matchup between two potential 1st round picks, the quarterback matchup is up in the air.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day said that QB Julian Sayin is out indefinitely. There’s a plan being put in place for Sayin not being available for both the regular season and postseason. He said there’s no specific timeline on the recovery. He’s dealing with an injury on his throwing… pic.twitter.com/b3AZ669S21
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 20, 2026
Coming into the season, all the hype around Michigan was about the potential that Bryce Underwood could take the next step and become a Heisman contender. Instead, the former No. 1 overall recruit has struggled, and the Wolverines have benched him for Tommy Carr. The Wolverines could eventually switch back, but now Oregon will likely be preparing for a new quarterback.
NEW: Michigan is set to start QB Tommy Carr over Bryce Underwood against Indiana, @PeteNakos reports. https://t.co/yGwNcoIE1p pic.twitter.com/el4XW8fvuT
— On3 (@On3) October 21, 2026
Even the Washington Huskies, who entered the season with so much excitement around Demond Williams Jr., have started to shift. Williams Jr. has missed time with injury while struggling, and with Elijah Brown's success, the two are splitting first team reps. Whether Washington moves off Williams or not remains up in the air, but there are questions that will be answered the rest of the way.
Given all the struggles Oregon has gone through without Dante Moore, all the changes around the Big Ten may end up having the same impact on everyone else. Coming into the season, the conference looked to be in a great position to win a 4th straight National Championship, but now as several teams are trying to weather the storm, it's hard to project what will happen the rest of the way.
Oregon will be focusing on a weekly basis as the Ducks look to preserve a season that started with so much promise. The Ducks' schedule now looks drastically different, and how each game plays out is almost impossible to predict.
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