No one, perhaps not even the Ducks themselves, would believe this is possible after the first two weeks of the college football season.
But after a huge improvement and steady play for the remaining weeks of the season, the Ducks offensive line is in the finals for the Joe Moore Award, which is given out for the nation’s best offensive line.
Texas and Army are the other finalists.
It is the second year in a row and third time since 2019 that Oregon has been selected as a finalist for the award.
Oregon leads the nation in fewest total sacks allowed Oregon Ducks offensive stats ranked nationally after regular season since 2022 with 22, eight less than second-place Army (30). The Ducks led the nation in fewest sacks allowed in both 2022 and 2023.
Individually, left tackle Josh Conerly was named to the all-Big Ten first team by both the conference’s coaches and the media, and he leads the Ducks with an 80.3 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus while allowing just six total pressures in 404 opportunities.
Right tackle Ajani Cornelius was voted to the all-Big Ten second team by the media and the third team by the coaches, and guard Marcus Marper II was a third-team selection by the coaches.
The winner of the 2024 Joe Moore Award will be announced in a most unconventional way as representatives from the award committee will conduct a surprise visit to the winning university’s campus, likely in mid to late December.
