Duck stars downplay All-American honors, remain focused on team goals
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Four Oregon Ducks were named as AP All-Americans. Fourteen Ducks were named to either the first, second or third All-Big Ten team. Three Ducks were honored as Walter Camp All-Americans. Quarterback Dante Moore was named a finalist for the Manning Award. Tight end Kenyon Sadiq was a finalist for the Mackey Award in addition to claiming the Big Ten Tight End of the Year award. Center Iapani Laloulu was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy.
The list goes on.
Long story short, a large number of 2025 Ducks have been honored in a number of different ways since the regular season came to a close on Nov. 29.
With three weeks in between that game and Oregon’s first-round College Football Playoff matchup with the 12th-seeded James Madison Dukes, it could be easy to bask in the individual accolades. After all, the Ducks went 11-1 with a number of players showcasing themselves as top talents in college football.
But for safety Dillon Thieneman, who was named an AP Second-Team All-American while collecting several other awards, the focus is still on the task at hand.
“It means a lot,” he said after Tuesday’s practice. “Being on a list like that, it was definitely a goal. But right now, just still focused on the season.”
Laloulu was named an AP Third Team All-American, revealing himself as one of the top centers in the country. But his standout play this season wasn’t just on his shoulders; it was as a collective unit.
“It also goes to my teammates,” he said. “You know, we’ve been putting in hard work since the moment we all got together since January. We talk about, you know, that iron fist is one of our themes this week, just how much time we’ve been practicing everything from winter, spring and into summer and into fall camp. So it’s not just me, it’s the entire team. You know, my accolades didn’t just come for myself. It’s all 11 guys on the field.”
The Ducks have been tremendous in all three phases of the game this season, backing up that sentiment. Each position group on both offense and defense has draft-able players who will soon play on Sundays. Outside of running back and wide receiver, every position group had at least one player reel in an honor over the past several weeks.
The irony of arguably the two most impressive positions this season for Oregon not being honored in postseason awards can’t be lost.
The running back room, headed by Noah Whittington and true freshman Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr., has been amongst the best in the country. It’s been a true three-headed monster, with Whittington serving in a bell-cow role, Davison as a short-yardage back while sharing early down reps with Whittington, and Hill acting as a change-of-pace scat back who has the ability to break one for a big gain on any touch, rushing or receiving game.
Injuries devastated the wide receiving unit — or so many pundits thought.
A preseason injury to Evan Stewart caused him to miss the entire regular season, thrusting true freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore into the No. 1 role. But when both he and then second-leading receiver Gary Bryant Jr. went down with injuries in the final month of the season, both Malik Benson and Jeremiah McClellan stepped into big roles and delivered in impressive fashion, keeping Oregon afloat and thriving in several must-win matchups.
Without the entirety of standout individual play, the Ducks wouldn’t be in the position that they’re in: with a path to win a national championship. As shown by a number of closely-contested games that came down to a handful of plays, every little contribution was needed and carried value.
Sadiq offered up his response on how to balance individual awards with team goals, perfectly encapsulating the sentiment that both Thieneman and Laloulu expressed — and exactly what head coach Dan Lanning would want to hear from one of the leaders of the team.
“I mean, obviously it’s great to get those accolades, awards and stuff, but we still have bigger things to go and accomplish as a team,” he said. “I think those are more important.”
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon stars downplay individual awards, keep focus on championship
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