This one's a first: Nebraska and Oregon have never met as Big Ten conference foes, and the Huskers are walking into a buzzsaw at Autzen Stadium against a Ducks team still stinging from a playoff blowout.
Bush’s Picks
NEBORE
NEBORE
OverUnder
Best BetOregon
Oregon is the deeper, more talented roster top to bottom, and a home crowd at Autzen against a team still finding its identity under a new quarterback and defensive coordinator makes the Ducks the clear play here. Nebraska has the pieces to be competitive, but this is a big step up in competition for a program still searching for consistency under Rhule.
Nebraska
+Colandrea, reigning Mountain West OPOY, adds mobility and juice
+Revamped O-line with veteran additions from LSU, Iowa State
+New DC Aurich fixed a top-11 defense at SDSU
−Rhule just 19-19 through three seasons, pressure mounting
−Finished 100th nationally against the run last year
−First-ever Big Ten road trip to a top-5 FPI team
Oregon
+Dante Moore returns off 3,565 yards, 30 TDs in 2025
+13-2 finish, CFP semifinalist, Tier 1 title contender per CBS
+Loaded four-man front with Alexander, Uiagalelei up front
−Blew a 56-22 Peach Bowl loss with 3 first-half turnovers
−Breaking in new coordinators on both sides of the ball
−Back-to-back losses to Indiana still lingering
Matt Rhule brings a new quarterback and a new outlook to Eugene. Anthony Colandrea, the reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, transferred in from UNLV to try to give Nebraska the explosiveness it's lacked, while Dante Moore returns for Oregon after passing for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2025. Moore could've bolted for the NFL Draft. He stayed, and Dan Lanning built a roster around him that ESPN's preseason FPI ranks 4th in the country.
Nebraska isn't walking in unarmed. Rhule added veteran guards Paul Mubenga and Brendan Black plus tackle Tree Babalade to a line that returns starting center Justin Evans and left tackle Elijah Pritchett, and new defensive coordinator Rob Aurich arrives from San Diego State to fix a run defense that finished 100th nationally last year. Oregon, meanwhile, might have the best four-man front in the country with Bear Alexander and A'Mauri Washington clogging the middle and Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti off the edges — a group that should give a retooled Nebraska line all it can handle.
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Total
NEB Nebraska
ORE Oregon
Both programs are carrying baggage into this one. Oregon's magical 13-2 season ended in disaster: a 56-22 Peach Bowl beatdown by Indiana, capped by three first-half turnovers including a pick-six on the opening play. Nebraska closed out 7-6 with a Pinstripe Bowl win over Boston College, a fine finish but nowhere near enough to quiet the noise around Rhule, who's 19-19 through three years in Lincoln. Whichever team looks more like its ceiling and less like its worst tape shows up will have the edge here.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Oct 9?vs Indiana—
Oct 2?vs Maryland—
Sep 25?@ Michigan State—
Sep 19?vs North Dakota—
Sep 12?vs Bowling Green—
Sep 5?vs Ohio—
Oregon Ducks
Oct 9?vs UCLA—
Sep 25?@ USC—
Sep 18?vs Portland State—
Sep 12?@ Oklahoma State—
Sep 5?vs Boise State—
Recent form.
This is also just the first-ever Big Ten matchup between these two, which adds a layer of intrigue no amount of preseason polling can quantify. Oregon enters as one of the sport's clear national title favorites — CBS Sports has them in Tier 1 of its playoff contender rankings, and sportsbooks list them near the top of the championship odds board. Nebraska is the team trying to prove it belongs in that same conversation, and a trip to Autzen against a squad with this much returning talent is about as tough a measuring stick as it gets.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Oregon Ducks
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
The growing pains flag is real for both sides — Oregon is breaking in new coordinators on offense and defense, and Nebraska is trusting a portal quarterback and a defense installing a new scheme under Aurich. Whichever staff gets its new pieces humming faster figures to control how competitive this actually is on the ground in Eugene.
