Hi, hello, welcome to the runway.
I'm Nix Wyatt-Aldana. I design sneakers and uniforms here in Eugene, and I review jerseys and route trees with exactly the same ferocity. I've followed the Ducks to every game this season from the stands, and before I say one word about football, I rate the uniforms. It's the law. My law. In my house.
So, let's start with the scoreboard, because that's the one accessory that always matches: Oregon 17, Nebraska 14. We're 4-2. And, darling, we earned every stitch of it.
Part 1: Nebraska, a Thriller in Three Acts
Saturday night, Oct. 17, at Autzen Stadium. Oregon 17, Nebraska 14.
I'm going to be honest with you, because honesty is the foundation of good tailoring. For three quarters, our offense was a sweater with one sleeve. The Ducks had 91 yards, according to the AP, when coach Dan Lanning made a change at quarterback. Brock Thomas, our third-stringer, made the start, and he gave it everything. Dante Moore, our starter, is still out with a concussion from the USC game on Sept. 26. Healing vibes, always.
Nebraska led 7-0 at halftime on a touchdown pass with four seconds left in the half. Gage Hurych kicked field goals of 36 and 36 yards in the third quarter, and it was 7-6. Then Nebraska's quarterback scrambled six yards and dove for the pylon with seven seconds left in the quarter. 14-6. I set down my sketchbook. I picked it back up. I'm a professional.
Then: costume change. Dylan Raiola came off the bench in the fourth quarter. His first drive ended in a 37-yard field goal from Hurych. 14-9. His last drive was couture. He found Dakorien Moore for what looked like a 4-yard touchdown with 33 seconds left, and it was overturned on review. So he threw another one, to Jamari Johnson, in the back of the end zone, from four yards out, with 28 seconds left. Then Raiola threw the two-point conversion to Hudson Lewis. 17-14.
Raiola, by the way, played two seasons for Nebraska before he came to Eugene. You can't write that. Well, you can. I just did.
The Look Book
Raiola completed 11 of 18 for 59 yards and the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. Moore caught seven passes. Dierre Hill Jr. ran for 67 yards on 14 carries. Hurych made all three field goals. And our defense held Nebraska to 78 rushing yards, 2.4 a carry, and 242 yards overall. We went 3 for 3 on fourth down, and we committed four penalties for 35 yards. Very tailored.
The Season So Far
We're 4-2 and 2-1 in the Big Ten. We beat Boise State 34-27, Portland State 84-0, and won 41-27 at USC. We lost at Oklahoma State, 39-31, and lost 17-15 to UCLA at home, which I've moved to the clearance rack and don't wish to discuss. Our defense allows 20.7 points a game, and it ranks third in FBS on third down, holding opponents to 25.9%, per the AP.
Part 2: Off to Champaign
Saturday, Oct. 24, at 3 p.m. Eastern, which is noon back home, the Ducks visit Illinois at Gies Memorial Stadium. BTN has it.
First, the respect, because a good designer always credits the inspiration. Illinois is 3-3, 1-2 in the Big Ten, and won 38-37 in overtime at Michigan State two weeks ago. Receiver Collin Dixon has 47 catches for 608 yards and nine touchdowns, and that's a stat sheet worth framing. Coach Bret Bielema's teams play hard, and the Illini commit just 38.8 penalty yards a game, ninth-best in FBS. Their starting quarterback, Katin Houser, broke a bone in his hand in that Michigan State game, and I hope he's back soon.
Now, the honest fit check. Illinois' red-zone defense ranks 137th in FBS, according to the AP. Opponents have scored on every single trip inside the 20. Every one. And Illinois' pass defense ranks 114th, allowing 248.3 yards a game. Meanwhile, our red-zone offense ranks 20th, scoring 92.9% of the time, and Matayo Uiagalelei has six sacks.
So the plan is simple, darling. Get to the red zone. Accessorize.
Who to Watch
Dylan Raiola, quarterback: the fourth-quarter comeback against his old team. Main character energy.
Jordon Davison, running back: 330 yards and six touchdowns.
Evan Stewart, receiver: our leader with 27 catches for 352 yards and four touchdowns.
Dakorien Moore and Jamari Johnson, receivers: seven catches for Moore, the game-winner for Johnson.
Matayo Uiagalelei, defensive end: six sacks. Stylish and disruptive.
Koi Perich, defensive back: 40 tackles, our leader.
Collin Dixon, Illinois receiver: nine touchdowns. Guard him like a garment bag in the rain.
Archive Collection
Oregon leads the series 3-1 and has won three straight, according to CollegeFootballDigest. The last meeting was 38-9 at Autzen in 2024, when the Ducks were No. 1. Illinois' only win came in Champaign in 1970, 20-16. The Ducks also won the other trip to Champaign, 13-7, in 1993.
The Runway: Two Towns
Eugene. Population 176,654, and the town calls itself "Track Town, USA." Nike got its start here, founded by Oregon runner Phil Knight and his coach, Bill Bowerman, and Nike has outfitted the Ducks since 1995. That's why our uniforms change practically every week, with new looks coordinated by Tinker Hatfield, an Oregon alum and a Nike executive, according to Wikipedia. Hayward Field, rebuilt from 2018 to 2020, hosted the 2022 World Athletics Championships, the first ever held in the United States. And Autzen Stadium, opened in 1967, seats 54,000 and plays "Shout" at the end of the third quarter while everyone dances. Uniform of the week? Ten out of ten. Every week.
Champaign. Champaign is a lovely city of 88,302 in the middle of the prairie, and Memorial Stadium, completed in 1923, is gorgeous: 200 columns, 183 of them carrying the name of an Illinois alum who died in World War I. That's architecture with a soul. Serious respect. There's also a 12-foot statue of Red Grange outside, dedicated in 2009, honoring the man who once scored five touchdowns in a single game there. A statue is the ultimate permanent collection, and I'd love to see one of a Duck someday, ideally in a reflective finish.
But I have a fashion note. On the Illinois campus, the undergraduate library was built underground so it wouldn't cast shadows on the Morrow Plots, the oldest continuously used experimental cornfields in the country, according to Wikipedia. Darling, they built the library in the basement for the corn. I love that for the corn. In Eugene, we'd have designed the corn a capsule collection.
And the Illini's colors are orange and blue. Classic. Timeless. You know what else is timeless? Wearing the same thing every Saturday. In Eugene, we call that a rough week. A tip of my hat to Illinois for owning its look, though. Consistency is a choice.
Closing
Here's my final fit. Our defense is elite on third down. Our quarterback just led a comeback against his old school. Illinois has a terrific receiver and a red-zone defense that hasn't kept anyone out. We'll need a cleaner first half than last week, and the offense knows it.
Pack the good jacket, Ducks. It's the prairie in late October.
Uniform of the week? Ten out of ten. Go Ducks.
My call: Oregon Ducks 33, Illinois Fighting Illini 23.