There were two hurdles, eight touchdowns and zero negative plays (except for the final two kneel-downs) for Oregon in a season-opening 59-13 bashing of Montana State. Simply put, it was a pretty good opening week of football, leaving fans and pundits no choice but to overreact after 60 minutes of action. 

Besides, if you aren’t going to overanalyze a season-opening game between a national championship contender and an FCS team, are you even into sports?

With that being said, I’ve created a very serious list of five bold(ish) statements revolving around the Oregon stratosphere after one game.

Dante Moore is winning the Heisman Trophy.

Yep, it’s got to be No. 1. With none of the top three Heisman favorites (Cade Klubnik, Arch Manning and Jeremiah Smith) having remarkable starts to the season, there’s no better time for Oregon fans to start Moore’s Heisman campaign than now. 

Sure, it was just one game, but Moore did everything he could with his 2.5 quarters of action, completing 18 of 23 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns, looking just like Oregon quarterbacks past. 

“He was sharp; He knew where to go with the ball, was decisive with his reads (and) was able to make some checks. I thought we had a simple plan and a plan we could execute at a high level, and he went out there and executed it really well,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said after the game. 

Will Stein is going to be the crown jewel of the next coaching carousel.

It’s remarkable how easy Stein — now on his third quarterback at Oregon — can make running a college offense look. The former University of Louisville quarterback has really done everything possible as an offensive coordinator thus far for the Ducks and is sure to be a hot name on next year’s coaching carousel. 

The hierarchy in the Big Ten is bigger than ever.

After Week 1, it feels like 2025 will be another year of the expected powerhouses — Michigan, Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State — dominating the Big Ten. Outside of Indiana and Illinois — both of which are unproven against elite competition — most other teams in the conference don’t seem like significant contenders. 

Dakorien Moore will be an Oregon legend.  

A highlight-reel block is a great way to earn fans’ admiration and teammates’ respect. Moore sure had a great one, stifling a defender and clearing a path for Gary Bryant Jr. on a third quarter touchdown. When he had the ball, Moore looked elusive, explosive and all the other things you’d want to see from Oregon’s highest-ranked recruit of the Lanning era. 

“I’m really proud of that play,” Lanning said. “He was blocking the wrong guy, but he’s blocking his ass off. That’s what’s exciting: we can make full-speed mistakes and then we can make them full-speed and do an unbelievable job for our team, that’s huge.”

The Ducks will have four first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Not a flaming hot take here, but Dillon Thieneman, Matayo Uiagalelei, Isaiah World and Kenyon Sadiq all have real shots at being selected in the first round of the NFL draft. All four players looked solid in their 2025 debuts and should receive ample opportunity to excel going forward.

Overall, does a Week 1 win against Montana State really mean anything? No, not really. Still, everyone who was supposed to look good did, and the Ducks left the game relatively healthy. 

“I think a lot of things went right and our way today,” Lanning said. “I think there’s still a lot for us to be able to go out there and clean up and still give ourselves an opportunity to still assess exactly where we’re at. But overall, (I’m) proud of the competition, proud of the guys never looking at the scoreboard, continuing to just work and focus and overall, proud of the product.”