One of the big questions entering the Oregon Ducks’ season, where they earned a No. 2 preseason ranking, had to do with special teams.
The Ducks lost key punt returners, kickoff returners, their punter, long snapper and placekicker. The kicker position has been an area that’s sparked concern over the years for Oregon, leading fans to wonder about the future of the position amid turnover.
Oregon’s tumbled all the way out of the top 25 rankings over seven weeks with two losses. With the program underperforming its preseason expectations, the impressive success of placekicker Gage Hurych has almost flown under the radar.
Dan Lanning on Gage Hurych’s Success
Hurych won Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the 17-14 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Week 7. He went 3-for-3 on his field goal attempts in that game, making up nine of the Ducks’ 17 points.
“Yeah, it's what we thought Gage would be, and it's a great example of the development there in the special teams room of putting him in situations he's going to have success and him taking advantage of it,” coach Dan Lanning said.
“Nobody ever recognizes specialists unless it doesn't go right. But (long snapper RJ Todd’s) been outstanding, (punter Bailey Ettridge’s) been outstanding, Gage has been outstanding in those areas, and then there's still areas for growth, right? We can be better when it comes to our kickoffs,” he added. “And the locations that go, those go in. So, we're just looking for every guy to continue to grow. But Gage has done a good job.”
Hurych is a perfect 9-for-9 on field goals through his first six games, along with 19-for-19 on extra points. He is one of seven FBS kickers to remain perfect on field goals and extra points (minimum of nine field goal attempts), per Oregon Athletics.
Gage Hurych is Playing Like Everything Oregon Expected Him to Be
Hurych is a third-year kicker out of West Linn, Oregon. He earned the No. 13 kicking ranking by 247Sports in the 2024 cycle. Hurych made his Oregon debut in the rivalry game against Washington in 2024, where he drilled the extra point on the Ducks’ final touchdown.
The kicker played in nine games in 2025, in which he went 16-for-16 on extra points and 0-for-1 on field goal attempts. But Hurych took over the starting role this season after playing behind Atticus Sappington for the last two seasons.
Sappington’s 2025 season left Hurych with big shoes to fill. He went 79.2 percent on field goals (19-for-24) and 51-for-51 on extra points. Sappington’s long was 51 yards.
But Hurych is someone that Ducks have been prepping to take over for multiple seasons, according to Lanning and special teams coordinator Joe Lorig.
“They were calling him ‘Ice Man’ like the first week he was here,” Lorig said during fall camp. “Like he just has a – he never really gets too high, never really gets too low. He's just always the same whether it's a miss kick or a made kick, and that mental piece is the hardest.”
Lorig said the team has tried to replicate pressure situations in practice with Hurych, but it’s not the same as in front of 50,000-plus fans at Autzen Stadium. Lorig’s coached NFL kickers in the past, such as Philadelphia Eagles’ Jake Elliott and the Miami Dolphins’ Zane Gonzalez. He compared Hurych’s mental makeup to those players.
“There's only so much you can do to prepare a kid for being in the kind of stadiums that we're going to play in,” Lorig said. “It's very unique. I think I've talked about this before, but if you think about it, like when a kicker goes out there, it's the only position in football that I can think of that like all eyes are on you.”
The Ducks might not have entered the season expecting they’d have a difficult time getting into the red zone and scoring against teams like UCLA and Nebraska in mid-October. Even as the offense is still trying to find its footing and keep the program’s College Football Playoff hopes alive, Hurych has kept the points coming steadily with his reliable kicking.
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