Eugene, Ore, - The Wisconsin Badgers fell to the No. 6 Oregon Ducks on Saturday night at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, 21-7. For most of the evening, the match up turned out to be a defensive struggle in blustery and rainy conditions. 

Wisconsin held Oregon, the nation's No. 2 scoring offense, to only 125 yards and seven points in the first half, but the Ducks' offense got things rolling in the second stanza, finding the end zone twice to pull away. The Badger defense created disruption throughout, logging seven TFLs, UW's most in Big Ten play this season.

The Badgers started a pair of true freshmen at linebacker with Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano both making their first career starts. Posa finished with a team-high 13 tackles, the most for a Badger true freshman in a game since 2015 (Chris Orr). 

Redshirt freshman Gideon Ituka helped manufacture spurts of offense for the Badgers, finishing the game with 85 yards on 21 carries. His 85 yards were the most by a Badger freshman since Braelon Allen scampered for 159 yards in the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl. Ituka ran downhill all evening and came up with a pair of rushes of 10-plus yards.

Posa and Catalano were both roaming sideline-to-sideline early on as the Badgers held the Ducks to only 21 first-quarter yards. Sacks by Mason Reiger and Sebastian Cheeks terminated Oregon drives early on. Despite an strong effort from the defense, Oregon got on the board first with a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:07 remaining in the first half. 

The Ducks took the opening second half drive for a touchdown capped with a 20-yard run to extend Oregon's lead to 14-0. Wisconsin's offense was unable to spark a rally in the wet conditions that picked up in the game's second half. Oregon extended its lead with a fourth-quarter score to push the advantage to 21-0. 

Wisconsin manufactured a fourth-quarter touchdown drive thanks to a 42-yard connection from Hunter Simmons to Eugene Hilton Jr. The 12-play, 78-yard drive was finished off by a two-yard touchdown catch by tight end Lance Mason. 

UP NEXT

Wisconsin returns to Madison and enters a bye week. The Badgers will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 8, hosting the Washington Huskies at Camp Randall Stadium (tickets). Wisconsin will enter a November slate that features meetings with Washington, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota.