EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Dylan Raiola threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns, and No. 18 Oregon kept its slim chances for a spot in the College Football Playoff alive with a 31-7 victory over struggling Michigan on Saturday.
Jeremiah McClellan caught four passes for 105 yards and a score for the Ducks (7-3, 5-2 Big Ten), who are No. 16 in the CFP rankings. Oregon has won three straight games.
“Everyone’s aware of what could happen. But none of that happens
if we don’t handle our business,” Raiola said. “So we just try to take it a week at a time and let everything else play itself out and not worry about other people’s results, but really (focus) on our process and our results.”
Michigan (5-5, 2-5) is still seeking a sixth win to become bowl-eligible in the Wolverines' first season under coach Kyle Whittingham. Michigan was coming off a 15-6 loss at home to rival Michigan State, and a day later the team fired first-year offensive coordinator Jason Beck.
Whittingham was familiar with the Ducks and Autzen Stadium because of his long tenure at Utah in the Pac-12 before the conference collapsed in the summer of 2023.
Whittingham shook things up against Oregon by using both Tommy Carr and Bryce Underwood at quarterback after Carr had been the starter for the past three games. But the two QBs combined for just 71 yards passing against the Ducks.
“There’s very few weeks when, in a football game, we don’t have some adversity or we don't get presented with adversity. And so all you can do is continue to coach it and talk about it and instill a mindset that you don’t flinch, you don’t waver when adversity hits, just keep playing right through it," Whittingham said. "And it’s the same thing when things are going good. You can’t be on a roller coaster; you just have to play steady, and that’s part of it — playing through adversity.”
Oregon was coming off a pair of wins against ranked teams, including last weekend's 41-28 victory at then-No. 12 Ohio State. Despite three losses, the Ducks could theoretically still make the Big Ten title game and the CFP, but they'll need to win their final two games and get help.
“We made a decision on Monday when we came in that we weren’t going to let last week’s game be our high of the season. And we just knew there was a lot of growth in the last game and even this game," Raiola said. "Like as good as it looks on paper, there’s a lot of holes that we need to fix.”
The Ducks went into the season ranked No. 2 in the nation and were considered an early contender for a national championship. But those hopes faded with losses to Oklahoma State, UCLA and Illinois.
“They’ve been hit in the mouth a couple of times and they’ve done a great job of getting up and throwing punches back,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said.
Oregon also lost star quarterback Dante Moore to a concussion and he was ruled out for the season, paving the way for Raiola to take over.
Michigan was hurt in the first half when top receiver JJ Buchanan left the game with an apparent shoulder injury. There was no update on his condition, but he did not return.
The Ducks pounced early with Raiola's 60-yard pass play to McClellan on the opening series. Oregon extended the lead with Raiola's 2-yard pass to Da'Jaun Diggs. Raiola finished the first quarter 8 of 8 for 133 yards and two scores.
Michigan trimmed the deficit on Davion Hiter's 70-yard dash for a touchdown early in the second.
In the final moments of the first half, Raiola scrambled under pressure before throwing a deep ball down the right sideline to Dakorien Moore, who ran into the end zone untouched for a 59-yard TD to put the Ducks up 21-7.
Michigan went for it on fourth-and-3 on the Ducks 3 but Carr's pass was dropped by Andrew Marsh after pressure by defender Jett Washington.
Oregon closed out the scoring with Raiola's 49-yard touchdown pass to Dierre Hill Jr. and a 21-yard field goal from Gage Hurych.
The Ducks have won four straight over Michigan, including a 38-17 victory at the Big House in 2024.
Oregon visits Michigan State on Friday.
Michigan hosts No. 4 UCLA next Saturday.
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