Peach Bowl Primer – No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 5 Oregon Ducks

Written by: TJ Inman

What: #1 Indiana Hoosiers (14-0) vs. #5 Oregon Ducks (13-1)

When: Friday, January 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on ESPN and can be heard on the IU Radio Network.

Spread and Total: IU -3.5 | Total of 46.5

Series History: The Hoosiers and Ducks have only met on the gridiron four times previously with Oregon winning the first two in 1963 and 1964 and then the Hoosiers knocking off the Ducks in Eugene in both 2004 and earlier this season (2025).

What’s at Stake: There is one goal remaining for each of the four teams still playing: win a national title. The Hoosiers are 14-0 and in every previous era of college football, they would already be crowned unanimous champions. In the current 12-team College Football Playoff era though, Indiana needs to knock off two more foes. The Oregon Ducks have continuously knocked on the door but have yet to breakthrough and many would consider Oregon the top program yet to win a title with Dan Lanning among the top coaches not to win the sport’s ultimate prize. There will be a first-time winner, no matter which coach ends up hoisting the hardware: Dan Lanning, Curt Cignetti, Pete Golding or Mario Cristobal.

A FEW THINGS TO LOOK FOR

Scoring at Will (Stein)

Offensive coordinator Will Stein is one of the premier minds in college football and he has a fantastic offense in Eugene, once again. The main question surrounding the Oregon Ducks entering the 2025 season was how prepared Dante Moore was to take over control of the attack. The former five-star prospect began his career at UCLA, started briefly and then left for Oregon and served as the understudy to Dillon Gabriel in 2024.

Dan Lanning chose not to pursue anyone in the transfer portal, indicating a lot of confidence in Dante Moore’s ability to lead his team’s attack and keep the offense humming at a high standard. It is fair to say that Moore has exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations. The redshirt sophomore is completing nearly 75 percent of his passes and has 29 touchdowns, despite missing some of the players expected to be his key weapons for chunks of the season. Dante Moore is now getting buzz as a competitor to Fernando Mendoza for the number one pick in the upcoming NFL Draft (if he chooses to declare).

There continues to be whispers that receiver Evan Stewart is “close” to returning to action but he’s yet to make an appearance this season. Nonetheless, the Ducks have a bunch of weapons and they spread the ball around. Malik Benson leads the team in yards but tight end Kenyon Sadiq has the most receptions (46) and is as physically-gifted as any player at that position in the country. Jeremiah McClellan, Dakorien Moore, Jamari Johnson, Gary Bryant Jr., Dierre Hill Jr., Noah Whittington, Jayden Limar and Jordon Davison all have double-digit receptions on the season. The Ducks excel in getting the ball into the hands of their playmakers in space and picking up yards after the catch.

Much like Alabama, the Oregon offense will challenge IU’s ability to tackle in space. The Hoosiers have passed that test all season and they’ll need to do so again on Friday evening. Indiana limited the Ducks to just 267 yards earlier this season including only 81 yards on 30 rushes and just 3-14 on third down. Of note, Jayden Limar has entered the transfer portal and will not play in this contest and big back Jordon Davison reportedly broke his clavicle late in the Orange Bowl and is out. That leaves the Ducks with just two regular rotation running backs (Noah Whittington and Dierre Hill Jr.) remaining. Dan Lanning will be aggressive on fourth down as they go for it as much as anyone in the country (3-4 in the first meeting and 4-8 last week).

2. Dan Lanning’s Defense

Most of the attention paid to the Oregon program centers around the high-flying offense and the multitude of flashy uniform combinations from Phil Knight’s favorite place to give his money. Dan Lanning is, at his core, a defensive coach and he has built his roster with elite recruiting on both sides of the ball. The Ducks are only allowing 3.31 yards per rush and just 4.29 yards per play while allowing only 15.1 points per game. That includes a dominant shutout in the Orange Bowl against Texas Tech as they forced the Red Raiders into four turnovers.

The defense is designed to make life difficult on opposing quarterbacks and they are allowing only 49.87% of passes to be completed, the third-best mark in the nation. Oregon’s young secondary is better than it was when these two met in Eugene earlier this season and Brandon Finney Jr. and Aaron Flowers have developed into a terrific freshmen tandem. The Hoosiers will need to locate linebackers Teitum Tuioti and Matayo Uiagalelei as they lead the Ducks in sacks and have combined for 15.5 with no other Oregon player exceeding two on the season.

3. Familiar Foe

These two teams know each other but it would be foolish to assume this matchup will have all that much in common with the regular season game back in game number five. Both Oregon and Indiana have changed a lot since that time and both coaching staffs will be looking to surprise their opponent with new wrinkles. Two potential speed bumps for Oregon in this game: travel and the time available to their coaching staff. The Ducks traveled from Eugene to Miami to play in the Orange Bowl last week.

They headed back West and are now returning to the Eastern time zone to play in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Will that travel cause some fatigue for the Ducks? The second issue involves their coordinators and their divided attention. Offensive coordinator Will Stein is the new head coach for Kentucky and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi is now the head coach for the Cal Golden Bears. Those two will do everything they can to be prepared for this game but they have to build a staff and try to assemble a roster at their new positions. In a game that could be decided in the very fine margins, that could make a difference.