With multiple meet records, Oregon wins and overall Hayward magic, the final day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships proved everything it cracked up to be.

Going into the final event the Ducks’ women’s squad held a narrow, one point lead over USC, and their triple crown title was in jeopardy going into the 4x400m relay. Unfortunately for Oregon, the Women of Troy were just too much to keep quiet, and their dominant relay performance secured a Big Ten team title for USC. 

The Ducks’ men’s team finished first in the conference with 110 points after entering the day with a three point lead over Nebraska while the Women of Oregon placed second with 113 points after entering Sunday in fourth. 

Early in the day, Oregon remained quiet with results such as Safin Wills’ second place in the men’s triple jump with a 15.60, Emily Fitzsimmons’ NH in pole vault and heptathlon winner Annika Williams’ NH in high jump. 

While expected to take a win in the 1500m, Silan Ayyildiz and Mia Barnett placed second and third behind Washington’s Sophie O’Sullivan, which came as a slight disappointment to the duo, but securing those points for the team victory proved crucial for the Ducks. 

As the only sub-13 hurdler in the women’s 100m hurdles, Aaliyah McCormick dominated the competition all weekend and took home the conference championship with a season best 12.86. 

“I haven’t gone under 13 until right now, so it definitely reassures me that I’m in the right position and it’s so exciting honestly. I love being under 13 seconds,” McCormick said. 

McCormick’s win put the Ducks ahead in the women’s team title race, which continued to be a major motivator for the junior. 

“It is amazing because I had been hearing that we are up for a triple crown, which is awesome,” McCormick said. “Just to know that my points are putting us in the lead is awesome. This is our first year in this conference and it’s very important to all of us to win at home.”

Oregon’s men’s team jumped to a 20 point lead going into the final seven events, which the Ducks wouldn’t relent. 

After a photo-finish in the men’s 800m, Matthew Erickson missed out on the Big Ten individual title by one-thousandth of a second to Penn State’s Allon Clay, each scoring a 1:47.93. Koitatoi Kidali placed third with a 1:47.94 to secure 14 team points in the event for Oregon, but was disqualified and the team only gained eight. 

“I thought about diving,” Erickson said about the finish. “I really wanted this in front of the home crowd.”

Shortly after, Ryann Porter won the women’s triple jump with a personal best 13.55 and was closely followed by Oregon freshman Cassandra Atkins’ personal best 13.39 — each achieved it on their final jump. 

“I knew all the other girls were jumping far, so I had to match that and jump even further,” Porter said. “For us to both get (personal bests) was so exciting for us, we knew we needed some more points on the women’s side.”

Klaudia Kazimierska eased to a win in the women’s 800m, and the Poland-native beat the rest of the competition by almost two whole seconds with her 2:02.92. Kazimierska took an early lead which only grew as she continued running.

“I feel like today was a different plan (than usual),” Kazimierska said. “I was supposed to just observe what was happening and depending if it’s a slow race, I was supposed to go for it after 400. I have to make these decisions during the race.”

Going into the 5000m races, the Oregon men’s squad practically wrapped up the team title, but the Women of Oregon still hung behind the USC Women of Troy by 14 points. 

Simeon Birnbaum bounced back from a disappointing 1500m race where he placed third to win the 5000m with a meet record time of 13:31.87. Birnbaum hung back behind the top five most of the race and then sprung himself to victory in the final two laps to win by less than a second. 

“I got out-kicked in the 1500, so I got really fired up and ready to go for this race,” Birnbaum said. “I wanted to go out there and ice this meet for us.”

Ayyildiz also made up for her lackluster 1500m by racing a meet record 5000m with a 15:37.11, which gave her the win by less than half a second. Oregon freshman Diana Cherotich held a large lead going into the final few laps, and it looked like she would take an easy win, but the competition caught up. 

Luckily for the Ducks, it was Ayyildiz who came out on top, and Cherotich finished sixth, along with freshman Ella Thorsett in seventh. 

“Simeon (Birnbaum) really inspired me,” Ayyildiz said. “I tried to go with (Cherotich), but it was kinda early and I waited a little bit. In the last 600, I was just counting the laps in my mind. I was just like ‘I can do just the last 200 or last 100.’”

Ayyildiz did just that and carried her momentum into a phenomenal last stretch which pushed her to a massive win in the 5000m. That gave Oregon enough points to take a one point lead going into the 4x400m, which was the closing event of the weekend. 

The Women of Troy took first place in the relay, while Oregon placed eighth. The dream of a Big Ten triple crown was squashed in that final event. 

The Oregon men’s squad took home the Big Ten crown, which added a silver lining, however. The Ducks will return to Hayward Field for an NCAA regional.

The post Oregon men secure Big Ten outdoor title, Women of Oregon place second appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Athletes Annika Williams and Koby Kessler entered Saturday’s second day of the Big Ten Outdoor Track Championships with leads in the heptathlon and decathlon, respectively. The day turned out dramatically different for each. 

As of the beginning of both the men’s and women’s steeplechase, Oregon men posted 49 points through the eight of 21 scored events so far, which is second and 13 points behind Nebraska. Oregon women accumulated 20 points through three of the 21 scored events, which is second and four points behind leaders Minnesota. 

Williams entered with a commanding lead of the event and the sixth-year senior knew she had what it took to complete a victory. 

“I told myself ‘You’ve been in this position before, you always go into day two either in the lead or second and anything can happen to anyone…especially recovery wise,’” Williams said. “I just told myself ‘do what you have to do, trust yourself, trust your coach, trust your training, and everything will flow as it’s supposed to.’”

Williams remained in the lead for the day after placing third in high jump with a 6.00 and posting a season best 41.45 in javelin, which also placed her third. 

Going into the 800m, Williams was ahead by 210 points overall. 

“Everybody knows the 800 is the seventh event, our legs are dead, my mind was racing, anxiety was through the roof,” Williams said. “I was like ‘stay with the people you know that run the same times and they’ll pace you all the way through.’ I came in way faster than I was supposed to, and I just kept going.”  

Despite her 15th place finish in the final event, Williams secured a 63 point victory in the heptathlon with a personal best 5914 cumulative score. 

“Being that close to 6000 points is great, I would love to get to 6000,” Williams said. “Like I said, I didn’t (personal best) in anything this weekend. Anything could have been a little bit better for me to get to that 6000.”

The Ducks didn’t get the most points from that event as a team due to them only having Williams competing. 

Kessler faltered from the start and didn’t place higher than seventh in the first three events — 110m hurdles (seventh), discus (11th) and the pole vault (10th) — which placed him in fifth overall going into the last two events. 

Eighth place in Javelin dropped Kessler to sixth before the 1500m, but his second place, 4:23.93 time jumped him up to fourth place in the overall standings. 

The freshman decathlete posted a personal best 7303 score for the weekend, which added points to Oregon men’s team total. 

“It’s not my best day two, but that was everything I had,” Kessler said. “I’m not sad about it, I’m not mad about it. There was nothing in the tank, so nothing to be regretful about.”

Aiden Carter placed eighth with a 7058 and Arthur Katahdin finished in 12th with a 6341. 

Former Oregon athlete Rafael Rapp won the decathlon for Illinois with a 7572 score. 

“(Rapp’s) day two’s are really good,” Kessler said. “I know his throws are really good and so is his vault. He weighs quite a bit more than me, so it’s a little bit of an opposite from me. I knew I was really gonna have to fight for it if I wanted a chance to get on the upper end of the podium.”

Two Ducks Cheikh M’Baye and Safin Wells finished in fifth and sixth in the long jump. Shaun Miller, Jr. posted a 2.06 high jump to tie for sixth in the conference. 

Freshman thrower Kobe Lawrence tossed an exceptional 19.42 in the shot put to take third place in the competition. During the women’s 100m hurdles qualifying, Oregon junior Aaliyah McCormick clocked the only sub-13 second time with a 12.94, which was also a season best for her. 

Going into day three of the conference championship, Oregon has a concrete opportunity to secure titles on both the men’s and women’s sides. It will take incredible efforts from all the athletes as each event wraps up on Sunday. 

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Both Annika Williams and Koby Kessler took leads of the Heptathlon and Decathlon during the opening day of the Big Ten Outdoor Track Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene. 

Williams placed eighth in the 100m hurdles and ninth in the 200m, but a second place finish in the shot put and a tie for first in the high jump had her in the lead going into the second day. Williams scored a 3635 on Friday, which put her in the lead by 99 points over Illinois’ Melissa Wullschleger. 

Williams’ strengths don’t lie in the sprints, but she set a season best of 14.02 in the hurdles. She also posted a 1.78 season best in the high jump. 

Kessler surprised many and took a narrow, 34-point lead over Purdue’s Andreas Hantson going into the second day of the decathlon. In Friday’s opening event, Kessler secured a personal best time of 10.69 in the 100m sprint. None of the other runners posted personal or season bests, which propelled Kessler to an early lead. 

“It was awesome (to have the crowd behind me),” Kessler said. “We have another day tomorrow, and it’s gonna be a battle, but I’m a warrior and I can push through.” 

Kessler tied for first in the long jump with his 7.37, and posted a personal best 2.02 in the high jump, which placed him second. Kessler battled a knee injury throughout the competition, which prevented what could have been an even larger lead.

“Shoutout to my trainers for keeping me healthy. I’ve been fighting a knee injury since indoor at Arkansas, a little bit of tendonitis in my knee, but I’ve been pushing through. It’s definitely a rewarding feeling when you have something to push through,” Kessler said. 

Kessler placed 10th in the shot put, but still managed a personal best of 12.41. His knee injury held him back in the 400m, which forced him into a 12th place time of 51.62. 

“I love the pressure, I perform well under pressure,” Kessler said. “The moment’s not bigger than me and I can push through the pain.”

Kessler totaled 4028 points on the day and was the only athlete to score over 4000. 

Kessler was joined by Aiden Carter and Arthur Katahdin in the decathlon, who placed eighth and 14th, respectively.  

Pole vaulter Kyle Gibbs, who won the Twilight Meet at Hayward Field with a 5.37m vault, could not clear 5.19m today after being cleared through the first several stages. He was the only Oregon vaulter competing and his personal best still sits at 5.51m. 

While Williams and Kessler continue their conference championship journeys tomorrow, a whole new swath of athletes will shine in what should be an exciting Saturday. 

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Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to watch the University of Oregon’s football practice? 

Well, look no further than the 2025 Spring Game. 

For those not familiar with the concept, each college football program has to trot out their entire team and showcase what everyone has been working on during the offseason as well as showcase the newcomers and how they fit in. It is done through what would, in normal context, be called a team scrimmage. 

The two teams are split in half and go against each other as if it were a normal game during the fall. 

Spoiler alert: it isn’t.

The concept of spring games has bugged me for quite some time. I simply cannot find any other reason they would be forced on schools other than to raise money for the programs — Big Ten Network bought the rights for Oregon’s game — and allow students an opportunity to run through the tailgating motions while football isn’t actually going on. 

Nobody gains anything from this aside from the media members covering the Ducks, as each practice so far this spring has been closed off to those outlets. That isn’t a normal thing either, as many major programs leave certain spring practices open to the media.

Which is why it’s surprising that Oregon even does this in the first place; it’s anti-Dan Lanning at its core to show what’s been going on behind closed doors to the media and now the general public as well. 

Also, teams such as the University of Colorado Buffaloes and the Syracuse University Orange tried to petition the NCAA to do a joint practice, which is effectively a scrimmage between two different rosters. 

The NCAA denied this motion, however. 

According to ESPN, 19 power four programs cancelled their 2025 spring game for reasons ranging from stadium construction in the University of Missouri’s case to just the need for a break for the University of Texas Longhorns. 

University of Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule mentioned how certain players that performed well at its spring game immediately received offers to transfer to programs offering more money. 

Arizona State University, coached by former Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, will hold a fanfest and a practice open to the media. 

That’s what these games have become anyways: just public practices. 

There’s no need to market this team to the city of Eugene as the Ducks are coming off winning the Big Ten Championship, and the team actively goes against Lanning’s desire to go to great lengths to keep information about his team close to his chest. 

For Oregon, their bench players are now promoted to starters, but these players saw ample playing time in the Ducks’ various blowouts during the 2024 season. Simply put, there aren’t many players that fans will be seeing for the first time. 

These players also risk injury — albeit from what would be a freak accident. 

All things considered, Oregon doesn’t need a spring game. It adds no benefit to the sustained success the Ducks have had under Coach Lanning, especially considering how much Oregon has benefited from keeping information from getting to the general public. 

The game has a noted positive impact on recruiting as it gives recruits the opportunity to experience a low-pressure, gameday atmosphere, but that’s about it. 

Well, that and Matt Kearny is playing — I wonder if he’ll play that one song? — so it can’t all be bad. 

The post Lazarus: what’s the point of a spring game? appeared first on Daily Emerald.

The Ducks remain stacked on the defensive line coming into the 2025 season. 

After losing some of the team’s most prolific producers up front, Oregon reloads with a healthy mix of young talent and returning leaders. 

In 2024, Oregon’s defensive line was led by highly touted NFL prospects such as Derrick Harmon, Jamaree Caldwell and Jordan Burch, and all played a major role in leading the team emotionally as well. 

The Ducks finished third in the Big Ten in sacks with 40.0 in 2024 behind just Penn State and Ohio State, who each played two more games than Oregon. 

Defensive line coach Tony Tuioti does not worry about this 2025 D-line’s ability to take on the challenge of matching that. 

“Pressure is a privilege and all our guys come to Oregon because of that. We don’t shy away from pressure,” Tuioti said to GoDucks. “We understand that to be great we have to work hard and every single day we strive to do that in practice.”

The leader of the group this season will be a familiar face. 

The Ducks have one of the finest defensive ends in the country returning for his junior season in Matayo Uiagalelei. Uiagalelei finished the season with 10.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss, which ranked him as third and eighth in the Big Ten, respectively. 

Uiagalelei will step into a new role as a team leader, and one which he has never had to take on in his career. 

“Leadership is new for me. I was never a vocal guy in high school; I always just led by example, but I’ve definitely been pushed outside my comfort zone this year to talk more and express more to the team,” Uiagalelei said to GoDucks. “It started in (the defensive line) room and we got some young guys in there, so it’s kind of easy to lead and that transfers over to the defense and in the team.”

Alongside Uiagalelei, Oregon added one of the most sought-after defensive players in the transfer portal, which was made much sweeter by the fact that he left the USC Trojans. 

Bear Alexander — who is aptly named — adds power and size that the Ducks desperately needed to replace with the loss of Harmon and Caldwell. 

“Adding Bear, he’s so twitchy, he’s powerful, he’s strong and he adds another layer for us to be able to have a player that can create havoc,” Tuioti said. “You want to have big bodies that can take on double teams and be able to play combination blocks” 

Alexander redshirted last season, but returns to the field with a reinvigorated energy in Eugene. 

Along with experience, the Ducks hope to gain much needed production from underclassmen. Elijah Rushing, a former five-star recruit and the No. 26 ranked prospect in the class of 2024, will see more opportunities this season, according to Tuioti. 

Tuioti also mentioned another class of 2024 prospect as a key player going into the 2025 season. 

“By the end of the season, Aydin Breland was our best interior pass rusher. He’s really coming along and I’m excited about what he’s able to do for us,” Tuioti said.

Breland was a four-star recruit, and created chaos in his own right as a big 6’5” 295-pound wrecking ball in the middle. The redshirt freshman didn’t fill up the stat sheet in his limited number of snaps last season, but Breland will have the opportunity to make his presence felt in 2025. 

The Ducks lost a good portion of one of their best units in 2024, but going into 2025, they show no signs of slowing down. As per usual, head coach Dan Lanning and his staff simply need to reload and continue the great work this unit has demonstrated over the past few seasons. 

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Conference tournaments provide incredible opportunities beyond the game of basketball. While I relish getting to talk hustle stats with Oregon head coach Dana Altman, the Big Ten also sports some of the best coaches in the nation. 

For years, I had seen Michigan State’s legendary head coach Tom Izzo go after reporters with his gruff voice, but this time it was me. 

For years, I had seen UCLA’s puppetmaster head coach Mick Cronin pop off at reporters asking about his future, but this time I was there.

The Big Ten Tournament became the first time I had been truly starstruck entering a room full of journalists. After riding three planes, just  being able to sit in that room should have made me feel as if I deserved to be there, but it didn’t. 

Everything I experienced felt surreal — both as a sports fan and reporter. 

Checking into a hotel directly across the street from the Indianapolis Colts’ monstrous Lucas Oil Stadium would have felt like a dream in any normal sense. But, when I checked in at midnight after 10 hours of traveling, the bright red lights bearing the stadium’s namesake made the sky light up. 

The next morning, the short walk to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Indiana Pacers, checked off a part of a long-term bucket list item of mine — going to all 30 NBA arenas.

Indiana is also known as the home of many of basketball’s greatest stars — from Larry Bird to Darius Garland — so the history of the sport bled through to the tournament. Nothing would describe that better than the breathtaking number of reporters sent to cover the Indiana Hoosiers’ second round matchup against Oregon. 

Indiana’s state-wide media coverage made up for well over 20 reporters, while Eugene-based media only accounted for two.  

The score didn’t reflect the ratio of each team’s respective media coverage, but that’s something that the Ducks have had to deal with in their first season in the Big Ten. Oregon won its second round matchup 72-59 over Indiana. 

“We knew their crowd was going to be involved with it being here in Indiana. I feel like we play good on the road, and with crowds involved. We’re kind of the away team,” Oregon point guard Jackson Shelstad said. 

The next day, the Ducks matched up against coach Izzo’s top-seeded Spartans and lost 74-64 in the quarterfinal. Losing to the highest seed in the program’s first Big Ten tournament can never be frowned upon, especially to a coach who’s been at it with the same team for the last 31 seasons. 

After the game, I knew I needed to take my opportunity to get his feelings on beating one of the loudest conference newcomers since realignment. 

When asked how it felt to beat up on one of the newest conference teams as a tenured Big Ten member, Izzo’s answer came as a memorable surprise. 

“There was no beat up. Were you drinking, or were you seeing a different game?” Izzo said. 

The Basketball Hall of Famer, who is lauded for his incredible resume in March, then went on to describe how Oregon would make a lot of noise in the NCAA Tournament, as if I had not been covering this team all season. 

The Ducks played in the first game, and once my work for the day commenced, there were still three more games to be played. 

What I couldn’t gather from the press box was the incredible atmosphere of a conference tournament’s early rounds. Fans representing every team, even those eliminated, came to enjoy two or even four games of Big Ten hoops. The one thread that connected everyone, myself included, was an intense love for basketball. 

I only felt that when on the concourse or in the seats — it was incredible. Fortunately, the majority of fans in Indianapolis didn’t have to make a similar trip that I, or the Ducks, had to make. I noticed a group of Ohio State fans who could not have looked happier to be watching some great college basketball — the Buckeyes lost two days prior.

The Ducks lost in the quarterfinals, but that result played second fiddle to my experience immersing myself in one of the capitals of the basketball world. My first experience at a conference tournament proved that these events are much less a competition than a celebration of basketball. 

The post Lazarus: the Big Ten’s celebration of basketball appeared first on Daily Emerald.

The No. 10 Oregon Ducks (11-1, 1-1 Big Ten) bounced back from their first loss with an emphatic win over Stephen F. Austin on Sunday, and furthered that momentum into a 76-61 victory over the Stanford Cardinal (9-3, 1-0 ACC) in the San Jose Tipoff at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. 

The Cardinal started the season strong, but in their nine wins to open the season, they only beat one power four opponent. 

Oregon’s track record of slow starts continued, but the Ducks were saved by Stanford’s own miscues, which saw it without a point until about four minutes in. During those opening four minutes, the two teams combined for just seven points on two field goals collectively. 

After the two squads locked at 11 just under eight minutes into the half, Oregon went on a 25-8 run in the final 12 minutes of the opening frame. 

The Ducks were fueled by some efficient three point shooting, but Oregon made only four out of its 13 attempts from deep in the first. Nate Bittle added seven of his nine total points and Keeshawn Barthelemy posted six, but only added two free throws in the second. 

The Cardinal combined for 10 minutes of scoring droughts to open the contest, which further contributed to Stanford’s hefty deficit at the break. Oregon finished the first half up 36-19, and the Ducks would not slow down for the rest of the duration. 

In the second half, Oregon’s defensive effort didn’t miss a beat, and the shooting improved. The Ducks finished the contest by making 6-22 from beyond the arc and 44% from the field overall. 

The offense was driven by the impressive ball movement and selfless play by the entire team, which often passed up open shots for more open shots, which scrambled the Stanford defense.

The Cardinal could not figure out consistency on offense throughout Saturday night and shot 37% total for the game. Stanford had just two players score in double digits — big man Maxime Raynaud finished with 20 — and the Cardinal failed to shoot well, get to the free throw line or generate bench scoring. 

In a sense, Oregon’s aggressive defense gave Stanford absolutely no way of scoring efficiently or consistently, which inevitably shut down the entire team. 

Once the Ducks found the required amount of offense to take a sizable advantage, the lack of Stanford offense present in San Jose proved sufficient for Oregon to string that lead into the rest of the game. 

Kwame Evans Jr., who exited last week’s matchup against SFA with a knee injury, added nine points in the second half to improve his total on the game to 13, which led the team. 

Otherwise, the Ducks had nine players score over five points, which is a testament to the blowout that this contest ended up as, but the team’s lack of high-scoring performances is a testament to the team effort required by a team built in this manner. 

Oregon doesn’t win games through one player, it wins them by committee, and despite rocky starts, the Ducks have found a variety of ways to win in this young season. 

The final score wrapped up at 76-61, and Oregon cruised to its second straight victory. 

The Ducks return home Next Sunday when they take on the Weber State University Wildcats.

It finally happened. 

The No. 12 Oregon Ducks (10-1, 1-1 Big Ten) took home its 10th victory of the year in a blow out over the Stephen F. Austin State University Lumberjacks (5-6, 0-2 Southland) in a game where the Ducks led the whole way. 

In a season that’s been characterized by Oregon’s innate ability to climb back into contests after finding itself down, a blow out win is incredibly welcome, especially at this point in the season. 

Helped by Brandon Angel’s 11 first half points on perfect 3-3 shooting, Oregon was able to jump out to a lead early, which it would never concede. Angel’s 11 turned to a team-high 15 by the end of the night, and the senior forward was aided by 14 point performances from Supreme Cook and Jadrian Tracey and 13 points from star center Nate Bittle in his 18 minutes before fouling out. 

The Ducks stuck to plan the whole way. 

Oregon has achieved the majority of its success through getting to the basket before trying to open up the game beyond the arc. In the previous few games, the Ducks’ early reliance on the three pointer came back to bite them, as this team cannot afford to always live and die by the three. 

Not with talent like Angel’s and Bittle’s. 

Angel’s play epitomized the first half for the Ducks. Four of his 11 points came from the free throw line, and Oregon took 16 before the opening frame ended — the Lumberjacks took just one. 

Overall, the Ducks shot 69% from the free throw line on Sunday night, and it fueled the victory for head coach Dana Altman’s squad who shot 32 shots from the charity stripe in total. All nine players that entered the game for the Lumberjacks registered a foul, and eight of those nine registered more than one foul. 

Oregon also displayed great discipline defensively, as the Ducks only gave up a total of 11 foul shots. Coupled with SFA’s 40% shooting from the field, the Lumberjacks were lethargic on offense while Oregon’s defense flourished. 

Once SFA started fouling enough, it backed off in the paint, which allowed Oregon to tally easy points. However, that caused the Lumberjacks’ defense to collapse as the ball went inside, which the Ducks responded to by finally kicking it out and attempting more threes. 

Oregon shot 4-10 from deep in the first half and 3-9 in the second, which was good for 37%. 

The Ducks did enough early on to pile on a sizable advantage, and once that lead packed on, Oregon’s experience helped it maintain control the rest of the way. 

One glaring issue remained apparent, however — the turnover margin. Even in an 18-point domination, Oregon almost lost the turnover battle after accruing 10 in the first compared to SFA’s nine. The only reason the Ducks stayed ahead despite this was the 11-2 margin that the Ducks had on points off those turnovers. 

At the end of the contest, Oregon finished with 19 turnovers, while SFA turned it over 22 times. 19 turnovers will, more often than not, become a primary reason why this team might lose a game down the road. 

As the Ducks enter conference play, they cannot afford to be this sloppy, but for tonight, it is significantly more than good enough. 

The 79-61 scoreline does tell a great deal of the story at the end of the day. 

Oregon moves on and faces Stanford on Saturday in the San Jose Tip-Off at the SAP Center in San Jose, CA.

This was my second year covering the Heisman trophy ceremony, and this year’s weekend with Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel proved every bit as magical as 2023. 

This time, however, I knew the route, I knew what time exactly I wanted to arrive at Grand Central Terminal and I knew how to carry myself. 

I guess that comes with the territory. 

A little about myself here, I was born and raised within 30 miles of Manhattan. The combination of Metro-North, the 42nd st Shuttle and a couple blocks of walking only took about an hour in total — it could have been shorter if not for SantaCon, but that discussion is not for here. 

Hiding amongst the glaring billboards in Times Square, and after about a block of walking, I could finally make out the only sign that there may be something happening in sports today. Nestled into the corner of 7th ave and 45th st, I could finally make out the massive Marriott Marquis hotel, with its incredible video board running highlights for all four finalists. 

If you’ve ever seen a hotel lobby, double it, throw almost 20 elevators right in the middle and place four of the most giant escalators ever created on each side — that’s the hotel where the Heisman Trophy Ceremony is held every year. 

In the heart of Times Square no less, which, on a Saturday, required a great deal of fighting through crowds and jaywalking — an NYC classic. 

Once I arrived, however, I finally felt like I was a part of the historic moment that is the Heisman Trophy every year. The entire seventh floor was decked out in Heisman gear and filled with some of College Football’s most renowned journalists. 

It was incredibly surprising to find out, however, that I was the only Eugene-based media member in attendance, and, in a sense, I now had to represent the city on a grander stage. Not as much as Gabriel though.  

“I understand that I represent much more than myself, and I see it as a huge responsibility. The experience that I’ve had at UO has been a fun one, it hasn’t been a long one, but the people and experience you have had, at least for me thus far, has been amazing,” Gabriel said. 

Gabriel fields countless comparisons to Oregon’s only Heisman winner Marcus Mariota, and even though he placed third in voting, that’s not the mantle Gabriel’s chasing. He wants to do something Mariota never did — win the National Championship. 

Gabriel’s work so far, a 3,558 yard, 28 touchdown season where the sixth year senior completed over 73% of his passes, has been enough to rocket his Ducks to an undefeated 12-0 record, a Big Ten title and the top seed in the upcoming College Football Playoff. 

I had the opportunity to cover one of the best quarterbacks on the best team in the country in my home city. Furthermore, this wasn’t even my first time doing it. 

But the thing that instilled the most pride in me as a journalist covering the Ducks was not this success, it was what everyone had to say about Oregon’s star. There was a complete consensus around everyone that spoke to him: that he has an elite personability about him that makes him so easy to talk to as a media member. 

Upon my asking of his favorite moment this season as a Duck, before answering, he asked about mine — a testament to his noted ability to “make anyone in a room feel special” as Oregon head coach Dan Lanning put it in a video package made by ESPN. 

Covering the best team in the land has its perks, for sure, but the opportunity to cover Gabriel this season has been one of the easier tasks I’ve taken on as a journalist. Gabriel enjoys the spotlight and shows clear pride in how he’s gotten to this point in his career. 

“I’m happy to be a Duck, and that’s something that’s super special. When you look at what we’ve done so far, it puts a smile on my face,” Gabriel said. “There’s connections and relationships to last a lifetime. I love Eugene and everything the University of Oregon stands for.”

After his performance last week that gave the Ducks their first Big Ten title in as many seasons in the conference, the University of Oregon stands for winning, and I am tremendously grateful to be a part of it. 

And after the last two years, Oregon can now put its name in the upper echelon of talent producers, evidenced by the fact that they’ve sent me to the Marriott Marquis to talk to two different quarterbacks for this award. Thank you Ducks. 

Gabriel shares a similar sentiment. 

“Thank you, thank you for the trust and belief. Thank you for the patience, most importantly, you’re gonna love what the finish looks like,” Gabriel said in his message to Ducks’ fans everywhere. 

After a fantastic season as one of the nation’s finest players on both offense and defense, Colorado Buffaloes’ wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter took home the 2024 Heisman Trophy. 

“I haven’t let it soak in, but it felt great to hold that trophy. I don’t like to be out late, but I will be out late tonight,” Hunter said.

Hunter is the first two-way player to win the award since Michigan’s Charles Woodson in 1997 and is the first player from Colorado to win since the late Rashaan Salaam won in 1994. Hunter is one of two receivers this season to accrue over 90 receptions, 1000 yards and 10 touchdowns. 

Hunter also tallied career-highs on defense with 31 total tackles, 11 pass deflections, four interceptions and his only career forced fumble. 

Hunter finished first in voting in five out of the six regions, as runner-up Ashton Jeanty — running back from Boise State — won the far west region. 

Jeanty finished second with 2,017 total points, Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel finished third with 516 and Miami quarterback Cam Ward finished in fourth with 229. 

Hunter becomes the sixth transfer to win the award in the last eight years, and he is the first player to win the Heisman who began his career in FCS — Hunter played his freshman season at Jackson State University.