The recruiting trail has been understandably quiet over the past several weeks as the college football season began, but Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks made a major splash on Thursday morning.
As many Oregon fans were waking up and getting their coffee, Lanning sent out his famous duck emoji on X, formerly Twitter, with the words “Good morning.”
His team had just landed a massive commitment from four-star offensive lineman Douglas Utu, flipping him from the Tennessee Volunteers. Utu is rated on the 247Sports composite as the No. 69 overall player in the 2025 class and the No. 2 interior offensive lineman. He stands 6 feet, 4 inches and 317 pounds, and he projects to play tackle at the college level.
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With the addition of Utu, the Ducks jumped back into the top 10 of the 2025 national recruiting rankings: No. 8. Oregon has three five-star commitments: wide receiver Dakorien Moore, wide receiver Dallas Wilson and safety Trey McNutt.
Utu is the fifth-highest-rated player in the class for the Ducks, behind the trio of five-stars and four-star cornerback Dorian Brew. Oregon has several other prospects remaining on the board they hope to get committed before the early signing period in December, so don’t expect the duck emojis to stop rolling from coach Lanning.
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