It may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but the Oregon Ducks got back up on the horse, if nothing else, on Friday night.
The scoreboard read 84-0 after the final whistle, a dominant showing by Dan Lanning's Ducks over the Portland State Vikings, an FCS program that happily accepted a $590,000 check to withstand this punishment. While it's hard to have any concrete opinions about this game other than "Oregon did what it was supposed to do with a talent disparity as wide as this," we still come away from the gameimpressed with many of the players.
In particular, it was the young guys and backups who showed out the most, taking advantage of their first big opportunity this season and putting their talents on display.
In the weekly stock
report, we typically go through which players impressed the most, and who didn't do enough to increase their proverbial stock going forward. On a night like this, it's hard to find many negatives, so we kept things light. Here's a look at the guys who most improved their stock in our eyes on Friday night:
Stock Up: QB Dylan Raiola
In his Oregon debut, quarterback Dylan Raiola was just about as good as you could have asked. He completed 11-of-11 passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns, finding a trio of different receivers for every score. He was only on the field for three drives in the fourth quarter, but that was enough to give a ton of confidence to Oregon fans who are thinking about the future. While Dante Moore is the undisputed guy for the 2026 season, Raiola stated his case to be the QB1 in 2027, and there seems to be quite a bit of confidence and excitement about that in Eugene right now.
Stock Up: WR Messiah Hampton
We saw a small sample size of it in the Week 2 game against Oklahoma State, but true freshman wide receiver Messiah Hampton proved that he was for real on Friday night against the Vikings. With six catches for 71 yards and two touchdowns, Hampton proved to be one of the most talented WRs on the field for the Ducks, making some incredible catches and laying out in the end zone to grab one from Raiola in the second half. Oregon has a talented and deep WR room, but with Jalen Lott still out and Jeremiah McClellan potentially missing time going forward, the emergence of Hampton has been huge.
Stock Up: The Young RB Trio
You could argue that each one of these players deserves their own breakout section, but for brevity's sake, I'm going to group them here together. The depth of the running back room looked great on Friday night, with Brandon Smith leading the way, racking up 71 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries and showing some of the burst that we heard tell of during fall camp. Da'Jaun Riggs also looked explosive and smooth through the line, rushing nine times for 70 yards, while Tradarian Ball looked incredibly versatile out of the backfield, rushing seven times for 47 yards and a touchdown, while also grabbing two passes for 21 yards. Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill are undoubtedly at the top of the depth chart, but the future appears to be bright in Oregon's RB room.
Stock Up: The TE Depth
There was some concern about the depth of the TE room behind Jamari Johnson going into this season, but so far through the last two games with him sidelined, the position has held up. Andrew Olesh and Kendre Harrison have stepped up in both the passing and rushing game, working hard to stay on their blocks and act as receiving outlets for Dante Moore. Both players got their first career catches and touchdowns on Friday, with Harrison grabbing four passes for 53 yards and a TD, while Olesh hauled in two catches for 23 yards and a TD.
Stock Up: S Jett Washington
Jett Washington was a name that just about every Oregon fan knew coming into this season, since he was the 5-star safety with familial ties to the late Kobe Bryant. He finally got a chance to have an impact on Friday night, and he ran away with the opportunity. In the first quarter, Washington forced a fumble on a kick return for Portland State, and he later picked off a pair of passes on consecutive drives for the defense. It was a dominant showing from one of the bright young stars in this secondary.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon stock report: Messiah Hampton, Dylan Raiola take major leap
