The Oregon Ducks are set to take the road for the first time in nearly a month, following a bye week and consecutive games at Autzen Stadium. Oregon heads to Illinois to play the Fighting Illini for the first time since 2024.
It will be a unique matchup in the sense that both Big Ten programs will be without their starting quarterbacks. The Ducks’ first injury report revealed that Dante Moore would miss his third consecutive game with a concussion. Meanwhile, Illinois’ Katin Houser will miss the matchup after exiting in an overtime game against Michigan State prior to the Fighting Illini bye week.
Oregon will also be without key receivers Jeremiah McClellan and Evan Stewart. Defensive lineman Matthew Johnson and offensive lineman Immanuel Iheanacho were the Week 8 additions to the injury report. Offensive lineman Kawika Rogers is the latest addition to the list, with Oregon's available guards dwindling as he's listed as questionable.
Below are all of the players listed as out and questionable, with no one marked as probable or doubtful for the second availability report. This is the first of four required injury reports from the Big Ten, which start three days ahead of the game. Oregon’s next injury report is expected at 5 p.m. PT on Friday.
Oregon Ducks Injury Report vs. Illinois Fighting Illini
Out
Receiver Jeremiah McClellan
Quarterback Dante Moore
Receiver Evan Stewart
Defensive Back Aaron Flowers
Linebacker Brayden Platt
Defensive Lineman Matthew Johnson
Offensive Lineman Trent Ferguson
Offensive Lineman Immanuel Iheanacho
Questionable
Offensive Lineman Kawika Rogers
Oregon Ducks’ Experience Dealing With Injuries
Coach Dan Lanning’s program became more accustomed to handling injuries that they probably would’ve liked in 2025. Players like receiver Dakorien Moore and running back Jordon Davison missed different parts of 2025, while Stewart missed the entire season with a torn patellar injury.
Injuries like Davison’s came during the College Football Playoff, when the Ducks were already dealing with players in the transfer portal. Lanning spoke about how the experience last season helps the team now.
“Yeah, it's beneficial,” he said. “It's been beneficial for us too because it's looked different for the guys that we've had out there, and we've talked about it before, where if we need to be an 11-personnel team, we'll be an 11-personnel team.”
“If we need to be a 12-team, we'll be a 12-team; a 21-team, so we can change, we can adapt, right? Where that can become more of a challenge is as coaches. All right, we call it this formation when we want this guy here.”
“We call it this formation we want this guy here, and then how much parity and how do you practice that well based on what happens within the sequence of a game or an injury might happen, right? We've had injuries in pregame this year, where that totally kind of changes what you prepared for and how you plan it,” he added.
In addition to Moore, Stewart and McClellan’s injuries, Oregon has already dealt with other starting players listed as out. Trent Ferguson sustained a knee injury in the second game of the season after starting on the offensive line. Aaron Flowers was one of Oregon’s starting safeties before missing the last couple of games.
Lanning and the coaching staff have, in turn, gone to a mix of rising underclassmen and veterans with ample experience.
“So, you got to make sure that guys have enough reps at certain positions, and it's that balance of carrying volume that has answers, right? Versus what can you execute at a really high level well,” he said.
Illinois Also Without Its Starting Quarterback
Oregon, Illinois, UCLA and Ohio State are among the teams in the Big Ten with injuries to their starting quarterbacks. Oregon saw Bruins signal caller Nico Iamaleava exit with an injury during their 17-54 loss in Week 6. The Ducks will play Ohio State on Nov. 7, likely with quarterback Julian Sayin.
Oregon has an experienced Dylan Raiola at backup, as well as Brock Thomas, who has multiple collegiate games of tape in the past two seasons. Unlike the Ducks, that’s not the situation many Big Ten teams find themselves in.
Illinois backup Michael Clayton II finished the game against the Spartans in place of Houser, which was his first collegiate game. Clayton threw for two touchdowns and 88 yards on 6-for-8 passing, but that’s all of the collegiate film Lanning and the Ducks can look at.
“Yeah, it's harder with how the body of work that you can actually evaluate,” Lanning said. “You watch high school film, right? You get an idea of, again, I don't think very rarely there might be wrinkles, but very rarely do people change like the identity of their offense based on a change in a position.”
“So, you prepare, and then you make sure you have answers for what you think that skill set is, and you kind of plug, pull and figure out what fits based on the scheme,” he added. “All of a sudden, when they run six-man protection, right, the six-man protection is still going to be different. The question is, how do you control the guy that's back there?”
“When you when you're attacking certain runs, the point of attack of the run doesn't change. Unless maybe the quarterback's carrying it. That changes things. So, there's some things you prepare for slightly different,” he continued. “You try to evaluate the player and what what's his best skill set, but you have to really go a little bit more off the system than the player.”
Clayton was a three-star recruit in the 2026 cycle, according to 247Sports. The 18-year-old was a top-150 recruit in the state of Florida, where he competed for Miami Edison.
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