Ducks Digest

Michigan Wolverines' Sherrone Moore Challenges Big Ten Officiating After Oregon Ducks Loss

No. 1 Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning has his undefeated, 9-0 men riding after the 38-17 road victory over the Michigan Wolverines. It partly has to do with Michigan coach Sherrone Moore deciding to call a challenge on tight end Colston Loveland's catch late in the fourth quarter.

Arden Cravalho

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore celebrates a touchdown against Michigan State during the second half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024.
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore celebrates a touchdown against Michigan State during the second half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Oregon Ducks beat Michigan in front of 110,576 fans in the "Big House," the largest crowd that the Oregon Ducks have ever played in before. Funny enough, that topped the previous Oregon record set at Michigan Stadium in the 39-7 victory way back in 2007 when Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon made his mark on college football with the "Statue of Liberty" play.

Back to today's Oregon statement in Ann Arbor, not a ton of weaknesses were shown by the No. 1 Ducks throughout the 38-17 victory over the Michigan Wolverines. Ducks coach Dan Lanning has a lot of love in his locker room and it's visible when you have that depth across the roster. Michigan's coach Sherrone Moore is feeling otherwise about his team's performance.

The Oregon Ducks might have caught a break when a touchdown "catch" from wide receiver Evan Stewart was called complete by the Big Ten Conference referees early in the first quarter. After the CBS television crew replayed the scoring play, it appeared as though the ball was not secured as Stewart attempted to make the catch. The touchdown call gave the Ducks took the lead, 7-0.

"Every touchdown is supposed to be reviewed. So I think that’s something we got to talk to the Big Ten about — just every touchdown is supposed to be reviewed. So that definitely should have been called and then looked at."

- Michigan coach Sherrone Moore

A major loss for the Ducks came when wide receiver Tez Johnson left the game on just the third offensive play of the game. He ended going to the locker room and coming back on the sidelines in street clothes plus his arm in a sling. At the best, this could be a minor shoulder injury for just a few weeks. At the worst, a collarbone injury would have the star out for a much longer period of time, implicating a College Football Playoff run.

Lanning made the decision to put out Ryan Pellum to replace Johnson for the punt return late in the first quarter and the freshman ended up muffing it. The Wolverines eventually scored their first touchdown of the afternoon on that possession. From then on, Stewart was called upon to return the punts.

The Oregon ground game then picked up the slack, specifically from the Heisman favorite quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the first half. His competition against Boise State's Ashton Jeanty, Colorado's Travis Hunter and Miami's Cam Ward is hard to differentiate but the voters do put Gabriel's undefeated record into factor throughout the tough Big Ten scheduling.

Back to Oregon-Michigan's latter part of the second half, coach Moore's decision to call a challenge on his tight end Colston Loveland's catch in the fourth quarter was questionable to say the least. Even the CBS broadcast crew didn't understand why Moore made the choice he made as it cost the Wolverines an invaluable timeout.

"Yeah, I just thought that he caught the ball, got it, got a knee down, and then went down, then he rolled out of bound, and then the ball came out. So the kids were fighting, and I was gonna fight. I was gonna fight with them all I could. Yeah, it looked to me like it was a catch. So that’s why I challenged it."

- Michigan coach Sherrone Moore

A couple of open to opinion calls from both the Big Ten officiating crew and Michigan coaching staff should not take away from what Lanning has done this season thus far. This group clearly loves playing for him as the Ducks move into a 9-0 overall record, 6-0 in Big Ten Conference play.

A trip to the conference title game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana on Dec. 7 as well as the No.1 seed in the College football Playoffs is in Oregon's full control. Only the Indiana Hoosiers now stay undefeated after the Ohio State Buckeyes went into Happy Valley and beat the Penn State Nittany Lions, 20-13.

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Arden Cravalho
ARDEN CRAVALHO

Arden Cravalho has been covering Oregon football and basketball for Sports Illustrated's Oregon site since June 2024. Arden has been writing extensively about college athletics beginning in 2018. His other work can be seen on "The Slipper Still Fits" at SB Nation. Arden is a graduate of Gonzaga University and brings a deep understanding of college sports to his writing. Residing in San Francisco, CA, Arden continues to follow his passion for college sports with a focus on the Ducks. His experience and dedication to covering Oregon's athletic programs are evident in his insightful articles and analysis

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