On an unassuming Friday night at Autzen Stadium, the Oregon Ducks seemed destined for a bounce-back win over Portland State after falling short on the road against Oklahoma State the week prior.
As expected, the Ducks rolled to an 84-0 victory, but the biggest moment of the night took place in the hours leading up to the opening kickoff. Jeremiah McClellan went through his typical pregame routine, running routes and catching passes, when suddenly he felt a familiar pain in his foot.
McClellan said he "felt a pop" in his foot while releasing on a route. After breaking his foot in high school, the junior receiver knew fairly quickly the extent of his injury, and watched the game from the sideline with a walking boot and crutches.
After breaking out
in the second half of the 2025 season, McClellan was destined for a larger role this year. Early on, he was Oregon's leading receiver with seven catches for 170 yards and a touchdown in the first two games. After going down, it didn't take long for McClellan to become a voice of support in a young and talented room.
"I knew I just had to be the biggest cheerleader for my teammates, coach up the younger guys like Jalen Lott and Messiah Hampton," McClellan said. "Coach up the guys, give them mini tips, help them see what I can see on the sideline and on the iPads. ... Tell them like, 'Hey, you can do this a little better,' or 'Hey, you can run this like this, or the DB's playing like this, so this release will work,' things like that. Just trying to help out as much as I can on the sideline."
Six missed games later, McClellan returned to play for the Ducks on the road against Ohio State, a program he was once committed to before flipping to Oregon on signing day. A key figure behind the flip was Dan Lanning, who didn't break contact with the St. Louis receiver and worked hard to bring him out west.
Known for his unbelievable hands and catches that throw opposing fans into the surrender cobra pose, McClellan's attitude toward recovery came as a delight to his head coach. Although McClellan only made one catch for five yards against the Buckeyes in his return, the bigger picture was never lost.
Dante Moore and Jeremiah McClellan connect for a BIG play for the Ducks. pic.twitter.com/HN4KdtvJpS
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) September 5, 2026
"Just unbelievable resilience to return as fast as he could," Lanning said. "It's always hard to level expectations because he wanted more than anything to be in as much as he could. He worked really, really hard to put himself in a position to get back, but I knew early in the week, like, 'Hey man, we need you not just for one, we need you for several.' This is a build-up process, and you don't go from not playing any football at all to going to play at a really high level for a lot of snaps.
"When he was in there, he did a really good job," Lanning continued. "Sometimes he's open. I wish we could have been able to find him, but I think his leadership continues to show up. His work ethic continues to show up, and obviously he's a big piece of our offense and a dynamic piece. So, excited to have him back out there."
It was a long time coming for McClellan, and even though he remained around the team as he recovered, it was a very different offense that he stepped back into. The last time McClellan wore an Oregon uniform, Drew Mehringer was calling plays, and Dante Moore was slinging the ball to him downfield.
Now, Jay Johnson has the Ducks rolling, and Dylan Raiola is playing some of his best football. It can take time to adjust to a new arm throwing the ball, but McClellan has worked with Raiola long before either of them ever suited up in Eugene.
"Me and Dylan, we've had a connection going all the way back to high school," McClellan said. "It was a camp in Atlanta, so we had a connection since high school. So just actually being out there on the field with Dylan is amazing. He's a great quarterback; a gutsy quarterback."
Defensive tackle A'Mauri Washington has gotten an up-close look at Oregon's turnaround on offense in recent weeks under Johnson's leadership and Raiola's command under center. No longer are the Ducks solely reliant on the defense keeping games low-scoring and giving the offense a chance to score on short fields. The Ducks have some explosiveness once again and are taking chances.
Washington dubbed the offensive overhaul as "Operation Swagger Back," which made McClellan chuckle. The swagger hasn't just come from some of the changes, but more from a fundamental approach and a trust in elite playmakers to make elite plays.
"Everybody is doing their job. That's the biggest thing," McClellan said. "Everybody is just honing in on doing their job, not being superheroes like coach Lanning talked about, and everybody is being an assassin and doing their one-eleventh. How can I do my job the best and trust in our brothers?"
As McClellan stepped back into the game for the Ducks last week, it was an opportunity for the junior to get his feet wet without taking on a massive role immediately. Part of that was to ease him back in, and part of it was for McClellan to build his own confidence again.
The Ducks could afford not to give McClellan a full workload against the Buckeyes because of the trust in the rest of the room, which he had a hand in building. Hampton scored a pair of touchdowns against Portland State after drawing the start in McClellan's place. A few weeks later, Lott was healthy enough to take the field and has since become a relied-upon piece on critical downs.
Oregon's depth out wide was a massive strength of the team coming into the season, and Lott, a five-star freshman, shined in fall camp. While Lott began his college career and McClellan sat on the sideline, the veteran took the young pass-catcher under his wing.
THIS JALEN LOTT GRAB 🤯 @oregonfootball
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 31, 2026
Watch on Peacock pic.twitter.com/6Y7E0taFv2
"He's a dog. He came in there and stepped up when his number was called," McClellan said of Lott. "Came in there, did his job in the run game, did his job in the pass game, head-tapped a couple people. He's a dog, so he's going to be really good for us."
The scheme has not changed, but working quickly to return after having surgery can shake one's confidence in their own ability. That, McClellan said, was his goal in his return last week.
"We run the same Oregon offense. It's going to be tough to learn plays when you're not out there," McClellan said. "But whenever I'm out there doing the walkthroughs and things like that, it's getting easier to learn. But I would say the biggest thing for me was just being able to be comfortable with myself and trusting myself out there again."
A week removed from his first taste of game action in nearly two months, McClellan's role in the offense is likely to continue to increase when Michigan comes to Eugene this weekend, giving Raiola another weapon to stretch the field with.
The only remaining obstacle for McClellan is himself, and judging by his infectious smile while speaking to the media on Tuesday and his tenacious recovery process to get back in the mix, one of Oregon's most fearsome targets could break out once again very soon.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon WR Jeremiah McClellan opens up on challenges of returning to play
