The Oregon Ducks entered Week 7 with an undefeated record and on a crash course for another Big Ten Conference title and perhaps another No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
However, Oregon suffered a stunning loss to No. 7 Indiana in Eugene, 30-20. ESPN’s “College GameDay” was in town for the top-10 Big Ten showdown, but Indiana was too much as head coach Curt Cignetti continues to make headlines.
The Ducks entered as the No. 3 team in the nation, but the loss dropped them to No. 8 in the newest Associated Press poll, with Indiana climbing to No. 3.
As Oregon tries to recover from the loss, wide receiver Malik Benson admitted it was “heartbreaking.”
“It’s a long season, and luckily we’re not in the era where it’s a four-team playoff,” Benson said, via Erik Skopil of 247Sports. “One loss doesn’t define the season, and it’s just going to make us more hungry… It was a heartbreaking loss, but we’re all focused and have our heads on to get the corrections to do what we need to do to bounce back.”
Benson began his career at Alabama, then spent last season at Florida State before coming to Oregon.
In the game against Indiana, he had one catch for 44 yards and a touchdown, which was the only offensive score of the game for the Ducks.
Bear Alexander Also Trying to Move on From Tough Loss
Oregon defensive lineman Bear Alexander also weighed in on the loss and said they just need to move on.
“We’re back to work. It’s a work week. We’ve got to grow from it, learn from it and continue to get better as the season goes on,” Alexander said, via Skopil. “It’s just something that we can’t let linger. We can’t doubt ourselves. Indiana is obviously a good team. They played a cleaner game than us. Just something we’ve got to shake back from, improve, get better as a group and come out ready to kick a**.”
Oregon didn’t lose a regular-season game all of last season, and it marked the first loss in Eugene since 2022.
Oregon’s only lead came at the five-minute mark of the first quarter when a Dante Moore touchdown pass put the Ducks up, 7-3. After that, Indiana took the lead, Oregon would tie, and Indiana would steal the lead right back.
Indiana scored a touchdown with just over six minutes left in the game to get the 27-20 lead, and a 22-yard field goal just before the two-minute mark seemingly put the game to bed.
Can Oregon Finish the Year Without a Loss?
Oregon went undefeated in 2024, won the Big Ten Conference title game, and had the top seed in the Playoff before losing to No. 8 Ohio State.
After the Week 7 loss to Indiana, Oregon faces a somewhat easy schedule, so the chances of the Ducks finishing with just one loss are very likely.
Here is the future schedule for Oregon:
- at Rutgers
- vs. Wisconsin
- at Iowa
- vs. Minnesota
- vs. No. 20 USC
- at Washington
Currently, just one of the remaining teams is ranked in the top 25, and Oregon plays two straight games at home, including hosting USC.
So, even with the loss to Indiana, Oregon’s path to the College Football Playoff is there, although Penn State‘s downfall doesn’t boost the Ducks’ resume.
Oregon WR Sends Message After ‘Heartbreaking’ Loss to Indiana