Oregon is 3-2 and hosting a 5-1 Nebraska team on Saturday night. The Ducks do not know who is playing quarterback and may not have their best receiver.
Evan Stewart was questionable on Wednesday’s Big Ten availability report and was downgraded to doubtful on Thursday’s. Oregon has not disclosed the nature of the injury, so nobody should be guessing at a body part.
What Oregon loses if he sits
Stewart, a fifth-year receiver, has 27 catches for 352 yards and four touchdowns in five games. He has caught a touchdown in each of his last four, including a 44-yard score against UCLA on five catches for 74 yards.
He also missed the entire 2025 season following an injury, which makes this doubly frustrating for a player who had finally gotten back to being the focal point of a passing game.
The problem is that Oregon cannot absorb it. Receiver Jeremiah McClellan is already out. So are quarterback Dante Moore, safety Aaron Flowers, running back Simeon Price, linebacker Brayden Platt and offensive lineman Trent Ferguson. Lineman Dave Iuli is probable.
That is six players out and the leading receiver doubtful, in a game Oregon has to win.
The quarterback situation is unresolved
Moore is out with a head injury and Dan Lanning has not named a starter. Dylan Raiola, Brock Thomas and Akili Smith Jr. are all under consideration, and Lanning has suggested more than one could play.
Lanning has not said anything publicly about Stewart’s status specifically. What he has talked about is getting other people involved. On receiver Jamari Johnson: “Jamari’s a guy that needs to be touching the ball, right?”
On the UCLA loss, his explanation was about possessions rather than personnel. “We had a lot less plays on offense than we had on defense because we turned the ball over,” he said.
Oregon’s season is on a narrow ledge
The Ducks beat USC 41-27 and then lost 17-15 at home to UCLA, which is the kind of two-week stretch that tells you a team has a real offense and no margin. At 3-2 in the current 12-team playoff format, a third loss is close to disqualifying.
Nebraska arrives at 5-1 and 2-1 in the Big Ten, coming off a 20-17 loss to defending champion Indiana. Matt Rhule’s team has been better than most people expected and is capable of winning a low-scoring road game against a shorthanded offense.
Kickoff is 11 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. local, at Autzen Stadium on FOX. Oregon is favored by 6.5 with a total of 51.5, which feels generous for a team starting an unnamed quarterback and possibly missing two of its top three receivers.
Friday’s final availability report could still move Stewart in either direction. Either way, Lanning is going to find out on Saturday night what his offense looks like with the parts he has left.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.