Oregon minus two of their best weapons on offense, requiring shuffling

Defending Big Ten Champion Oregon plays Iowa at 12:30 p.m. PT on CBS, and the Ducks are wounded, reeling from some late-developing injury news.

It leaked out overnight that five-star wide receiver Dakorien Moore suffered a knee injury, out for this game and possibly longer. Worse yet, dynamic tight end Kenyon Sadiq is listed as questionable, absent as the Oregon tight ends take the field for warmups.

That takes two of the Will Stein's most potent weapons out of the offense, Without Sadiq to run seam routes and lead block on outside runs, the Ducks will have to rely on transfer Jamari Johnson and sophomore Roger Saleapaga, a 6-4, 245 sophomore from Orem, Utah who has appeared in 18 games with zero career catches.

Saleapaga had a touchdown taken off the board against Wisconsin, catching a pass from punter James Ferguson-Reynolds on a trick play and zooming up the left sideline for a 46-yard touchdown but a holding penalty in the protection shield nullified the play.

Johnson, the 6-5, 257 sophomore from Louisville has caught 12 passes for 158 yards, including a 59-yard catch against Rutgers and an inside screen against the Badgers that went for 29.

Some of the lead-blocking assignments can be handled by tweaks in the play design, bringing in 236-pound running back Jordon Davison or fullback/H-back/tight end Zach Grisham to lead the way.

Sadiq may try to play, making it the dreaded "gametime decision." The next question is how effective he can be.