Former Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy, who hit the transfer portal after the regular season, announced his next school on Thursday.
Former Duke quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] announced his commitment to the Oregon State Beavers on Thursday, as first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Murphy, who started his collegiate career with the Texas Longhorns, transferred to the Blue Devils ahead of the 2024 season. He started all 12 regular-season games for the program, helping lead four fourth-quarter comebacks in a 9-3 campaign.
He set a school record with 26 passing touchdowns, including a 39-yarder to senior star Jordan Moore on the final play against Wake Forest in the finale. The score put the finishing touches on a 14-point comeback, helping the Blue Devils sweep their in-state rivals for the first time since 2013.
Murphy ended the year with 2,933 passing yards, the seventh-most of any ACC quarterback, and he averaged 286.4 yards per game with 14 total touchdowns over his final five starts.
The Blue Devils already landed Tulane’s Darian Mensah from the portal, but he won’t be eligible for next month’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Ole Miss. With sophomore Grayson Loftis also in the portal, Henry Belin IV should get the majority of the work at quarterback for the Blue Devils.
Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad led the second half rally to propel the Ducks past the Beavers 78-75 in Corvallis.
It took a couple of Oregon natives to dispatch the Beavers on this Thursday night in Corvallis.
Nate Bittle led all scorers with 23 points and 14 rebounds and Jackson Shelstad added 15 points as Oregon went up to OSU and captured a 78-75 non-conference win to go to 5-0 on the season.
If the Ducks were honest with themselves, they would have to say the Beavers outplayed them for most of the contest. Bittle was the catalyst for a 20-5 second half run that gave the Ducks their first lead after halftime with less than three minutes to go. Shelstad also hit a trio of threes and a leaping leaner from the baseline with 29 seconds left for the 76-73 lead.
Jadrian Tracey hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left to ice the game.
Oregon vs. Oregon State Keys to the Game
The Beavers killed the Ducks on the boards in the first half to the tune of a 20-13 advantage.
Points in the paint were going the Beavers’ way also in the early going. They had a 28-16 lead inside the key at halftime.
Partly because they were down and partly because the Ducks needed to speed the game up, Oregon started to press in the backcourt and it worked somewhat in the first half.
Everything changed after halftime. Oregon ran the offense through Bittle and he came up big with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the second half alone.
Oregon also ratched up the defense effort, allowing the Beavers just 28 points after the break.
The Ducks also shut down Oregon State’s Micheal Rataj in the second half. He had 15 points at halftime and finished with 20 for the night.
Oregon vs. Oregon State Players of the Game
Nate Bittle: 23 points, 14 rebounds
Jackson Shelstad: 15 points, 6 assists
Keeshawn Barthelemy: 10 points
Jadrian Tracey: 10 poitns, 4 assists
Michael Rataj (OSU): 20 points
Oregon vs. Oregon State Notable Stats
Oregon: 30-of-61 FG (49 percent), OSU 25-of-62 FG (40 percent)
Points in the paint: Oregon 34, OSU 30
Assists: Oregon 21, OSU 12
What’s Next for Oregon Ducks
Nov. 26 — vs. Texas A&M Aggies (Las Vegas, Player’s Era Festival)
Nov. 27 — vs. San Diego State (Las Vegas, Player’s Era Festival)
Nov. 28 — TBD (Las Vegas, Player’s Era Festival)
Dec. 5 — at USC
Dec. 8 — UCLA
Oregon will now get a nice break before heading down to Las Vegas to open the Player’s Era Festival with Texas A&M. It will be a good test for the Ducks as Big Ten play is right around the corner, a road game at USC Dec. 8.
The remaining Pac-12 members prior to the recent expansion will face off twice in a home-and-home series in November of 2025.
On Wednesday the Oregon State Beavers announced its 2025 college football schedule. The schedule includes two bye weeks as well as a home and home series against fellow Pac-12 member, Washington State.
Both matchups will take place in November with the first coming on Nov. 1 in Corvallis. The return matchup will close out the 2025 regular season against the Cougars in Pullman, Washington, at Martin Stadium.
The season will begin on Aug. 30 against the California Golden Bears at Reser Stadium. The first road game comes on Sept. 13 when the Beavers head to Lubbock, Texas, to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium. The annual in-state rivalry game will be played at Autzen Stadium the following week.
Check out the full schedule released on Wednesday afternoon.
It isn’t common to see teams play each other twice in the regular season but it has occurred twice in a season with the last meeting coming in a conference championship game. This will be the first time in this series that the two teams will meet twice during the regular season.
Washington State vs Oregon State History
The Cougars lead the all-time series 57-48-3 according to Winsipedia. Since 2014 the series has been dominated by Wazzu going 9-1 over the last decade to extend their lead. It was flipped from 2004 to 2013 when the Beavers won eight of 10 matchups in that span.
The three most important things for the Oregon Ducks to do to beat the UCLA Bruins
The Oregon Ducks’ hiatus is almost over. After their bye in Week 4, the Ducks take on the UCLA Bruins this Saturday. They’ll seek to carry the momentum they generated two weeks ago against Oregon State into this week’s game.
The Bruins are 1-2 and one of the bottom teams in the Big Ten. Still, they were talented enough to walk into halftime against LSU tied on the road last week, so they’re talented enough to run with Oregon if the Ducks don’t execute.
Oregon has nine games to go in the regular season, and while this week’s likely will not be their toughest, it’s still an important chapter in the Ducks’ season. To be at their best against Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois and whoever else poses a threat, Oregon needs to execute well this weekend.
Below are my three keys to victory for the Ducks. This week, they’re all execution based. If Oregon can do these three things against UCLA, they’ll, hopefully, walk out a better team.
Activate the Passing Game
The improvement of Oregon’s run game was one of the big stories coming out of the Ducks’ win in Corvallis. However, Oregon’s passing game looked the best it has all year in Week 3. Now, Dillon Gabriel and the rest of the Oregon offense should be focused on recreating and building on the passing success they’ve had. UCLA is last in the Big Ten in pass defense, allowing 295.3 passing yards per game, so an air raid should be no problem for Oregon.
A dominant front seven
Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
Every facet of the Ducks’ play against Oregon State looked improved from Oregon’s first two games, but the area I still felt was lacking was the Ducks’ run defense. The Beavers have solid running backs, and the week before, the Ducks’ defense was tasked with stopping Ashton Jeanty (perhaps the best RB in college football), so allowing a higher clip per carry is understandable. Still, this week, I want to see the Ducks front seven take a jump. UCLA hasn’t had a strong run game to start the year, averaging 60.3 ground yards per game, so stopping their run game shouldn’t be too hard.
No big mistakes
Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images
A football team is bound to make a million mistakes throughout any football game. The key is avoiding the big ones. This is something Oregon has done a decent job of this year, staying relatively clear of turnovers and preventing the opposing team from creating big momentum-swinging plays. This week, I want to see that trend continue, with the Ducks protecting the ball and not turning it over, as well as allowing no plays of 30 yards or more on defense.
Oregon Duck place kicker Atticus Sappington has been named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.
It would be natural for Oregon place kicker Atticus Sappington to circle September 14 on the Duck schedule.
That was the Civil War and Corvallis was his old stomping grounds, so of course he wanted to play well in front of some former fans of his.
Despite getting booed every time he stepped on the Reser Stadium turf, Sappington made all of his kicks, including two field goals in Oregon’s 49-14 win over the Beavers.
His efforts earned Sappington the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors. He also made all five of his extra-point attempts.
This makes it two straight weeks where an Oregon Duck has been the Special Teams Player of the Week. Kick returner Tez Johnson was honored last week in the 37-34 win over Boise State thanks to his 84-yard punt return for a touchdown.
So far this year, Sappington has been solid for the Ducks, hitting 4-of-5 field goals, and 13-of-14 extra points through the first three weeks.
Photo Gallery: The Oregon Ducks dominated the Beavers in a rare, early, non-conference Civil War battle.
On a partly cloudy, but pleasant afternoon in Corvallis, the Ducks and Beavers met in Reser Stadium for a non-conference matchup.
Nearly everything in that sentence is foreign for both fanbases. What’s not foreign, however, is Oregon controlling the line of scrimmage and having its way with the in-state rivals coming out on top 49-14.
The Ducks are now 3-0 as they head into the bye week before beginning Big Ten play for the first time in history.
Oregon was facing many questions after two sub-par performances, but the Ducks put a lot of those questions to rest. The biggest concern was the offensive line, but with the way they played against the Beavers, the Oregon coaching staff couldn’t have asked for a better game from that unit.
They protected quarterback Dillon Gabriel and gave him a ton of time to throw and they opened up huge holes in the running game. It was an incredible improvement and the Ducks are excited moving forward.
Here are the best pictures after the big Civil War victory.
Although the Ducks are still No. 6 in the poll, they received more votes, barely holding back Tennessee at No. 7. Oregon answered a lot of questions on Saturday and the perception of the Ducks have changed from “what’s wrong with the Ducks,” to “Oregon is a playoff contender once again.”
The big story is Texas, who leapfrogged Ohio State after the Buckeyes were enjoying a bye week. The Longhorns also received 10 first-place votes after Georgia escaped Kentucky with a 13-12 win.
Oregon will be in Ohio State’s spot this week as the Ducks will be on a bye week. Without playing, it’s entirely possible to move down in the poll depending on what other do around them in next week’s games.
Illinois 75; Washington State 38; Arizona 37; Northern Illinois 34; Syracuse 32; UCF 27; Pittsburgh 17; Iowa 17; Boise State 17; Arizona State 15; North Carolina 14; North Carolina State 12; California 10; Indiana 7; Michigan State 6; Liberty 6; Boston College 6; BYU 3; Washington 2; Toledo 1; South Florida 1; San Jose State 1; James Madison 1;
One of the Ducks’ biggest issues so far this season has been poor offensive line play. It’s prevented Oregon from developing a run game, and Dillon Gabriel hasn’t had much time in the pocket. But this weekend against the Beavers, the Ducks’ O-line played fantastic, allowing Oregon to run and pass the ball with ease.
When the clock hit zeros, the Oregon O-line had allowed zero sacks, after allowing seven in the Ducks’ first two games. Oregon’s rushers also combined for 306 yards on the ground, which is due in large part to the offensive line’s superb blocking.
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The Ducks’ strong run game this week was also a large improvement from Oregon’s first two games. Against Idaho and Boise State, the Ducks averaged 3.19 yards per carry, and on Saturday, they averaged 7.5 yards per carry.
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This week’s game was also quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s best. The Heisman hopeful finished Saturday’s game with 20/24 passes completed for 291 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 64 yards and a TD on four carries.
Looking forward, the play of Oregon’s offensive line against the Beavers is encouraging and relieving. To achieve the goals expected of them this year, the Ducks need consistent blocking, and if the O-line plays like it did this weekend, the sky is Oregon’s limit.
Ducks vs. Beavers for the 128th time. ESPN “College GameDay’s” crew made their picks on Saturday.
It isn’t rivalry week as we’ve traditionally come to know it at the end of November over the years, but we’ve what can be described as a pseudo-rivalry week in the middle of September.
The Oregon Ducks will travel to Corvallis to face the Oregon State Beavers in the Civil War, and the Washington Huskies will meet the Washington State Cougars in Seattle for the Apple Cup. While it may be strange that these matchups are taking place in September, they will still have all of the fiery passion we’re used to.
Along with that passion and hype, we get to see some notable attention from ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday morning. The GameDay Crew made its picks for Saturday’s winner in the Civil War. Here’s how they selected:
Desmond Howard: Oregon Pat McAfee: Oregon Nick Saban: Oregon Guest Picker Dawn Staley: Oregon Lee Corso: Oregon Kirk Herbstreit: Oregon
RIP color rush vs. color rush in the Civil War. You will be missed.
The Oregon Ducks vs. Oregon State Beavers game will look pretty unusual on Saturday, for more reasons than one.
When the 128th Civil War takes place at Reser Stadium this weekend, it will be played in September for the first time ever, and will not feature conference stakes after the Ducks’ move to the Big Ten.
On top of that, the actual visuals of this matchup will be different from what we’ve grown accustomed to. The Ducks unveiled on Wednesday that they will be bucking the trend of “color vs. color” that has been established over the past few years and wearing a traditional white uniform on the road.
The Beavers followed that up by announcing that they will wear all-black at home on Saturday.
This will be the first time since 2019 that “color vs. color” will not be observed, and the first time that the Ducks wear white in Corvallis since 2016.
Uniforms for the 128th Civil War are set!
– 1st meeting that’s not color v. color since 2019
– 1st time the Beavs are wearing black vs. the Ducks since ‘18
– 1st time the Ducks are wearing white in Corvallis since ‘16
Though the stakes for this game are different than we are used to, it still projects to be an entertaining clash on the field between undefeated teams who have a mutual disdain of one another.
