Over the last few weeks, the overwhelming concern for the Oregon Ducks has been the struggles of the starting offense. Without Dante Moore, both Dylan Raiola and Brock Thomas have each started games, and have been benched, leading to the team splitting games against UCLA and Nebraska. Given the play of the quarterbacks, Oregon's offense needs every possible weapon available to help take pressure off whoever starts, but even that's been an issue.
Leading WR Evan Stewart missed last week's game with an injury, and with his arrest over the weekend, he was quickly ruled out for the Illinois game, putting a damper on the offense's potential. While the news about Stewart was bad, the Ducks shared some news on Friday Night that isn't going to inspire confidence in anyone ahead of Saturday's game.
Jalen Lott and Messiah Hampton will suddenly miss Saturday's game
When the injury reports were released on Wednesday and Thursday, there was no sign of the freshman duo of Jalen Lott and Messiah Hampton, seemingly giving them a chance to continue shining. Instead, on Friday Night, the Ducks' availability report was released, and suddenly the duo along with Kawika Rogers were listed as out.
The OUT list continues to grow, especially at WR.
— Oregon Updates (@oregon__updates) October 24, 2026
Jalen Lott and Messiah Hampton are now OUT as well pic.twitter.com/c023Ngfnfn
Given all the discourse and rumors leaving the weekend, the sudden move likely won't calm any of the speculation and rumors, even if they're stemming from unknown sources online. There likely won't be any explanation for the decision until after the game when Dan Lanning speaks to the media, unless there's some reporting released speaking to the issue.
With the injury to Jeremiah McClellan, and some of the struggles of the rest of the room, Messiah Hampton was one of the breakout stars of the first half of the season, while Jalen Lott returned from injury, and was quickly making a strong impression.
Dan Lanning will eventually speak on the duo, but for now all we know is that they will both miss the Illinois game. Heading into Saturday's game, the Ducks will be without wide receivers 2-5, with Evan Stewart, Jeremiah McClellan, Messiah Hampton, and Jalen Lott all listed as out.
Heading into Saturday's game, Oregon will have just 5 scholarship wide receivers available in Dakorien Moore, Gatlin Bair, Hudson Lewis, Iverson Hooks, and Jack Ressler. Takeaway Moore, and the other 4 receivers have combined for just 7 catches for 54 yards on the season.
The gameplan for this weekend's game will likely mirror the one we saw Dan Lanning and the Ducks deploy last weekend, "Calling players, not plays". The offense will have to try to get Dakorien Moore and Jamari Johnson the ball as often as possible while hoping to get a great showing out of the rushing attack.
The offense will likely deploy a ton of 12 and 13 personnel, leaning on the strength of the tight end room rather than depth wide receivers. The added presence in the box could help with Oregon's blocking troubles, but it may end up turning this into another rock fight for the Ducks.
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