Senior night shine for Whittington, Boettcher and Oregon’s veterans: “Something you dream about”

EUGENE, Ore. — Before he ever took a snap Saturday, Bryce Boettcher had already played the moment out in his head.

“Obviously this week I was like laying in bed every night,” the former South Eugene High School quarterback and longtime Oregon walk-on said. “I was visualizing myself holding the ball, two hands, getting in the end zone.”

On senior night, in what he called his last regular season game at Autzen “for reals, for reals,” the visualization became reality. Oregon’s linebacker-turned-utility man took a goal-line snap, followed a convoy of defensive linemen and powered in for a touchdown that felt like a reward for years of work — and a symbol of what this senior class has meant to Dan Lanning’s program.

“That's something you dream about,” Boettcher said. “Then going over the sideline, I saw my family in the stands. So that was a pretty special moment to share obviously with, you know, them and my teammates. So I'm just blessed to be this opportunity. There’s not a lot of people that you know can say they score a touchdown on senior night.”

Lanning: “We all wanted to put it on the line for the seniors”

For Lanning, the 42–27 win over USC was as much about honoring the seniors as it was about playoff positioning.

“Yeah, it's just special,” he said. “Again, this will be a day, I think all of us, as we play, we remember our last time getting to play, and especially at the stadium… we all wanted to put it on the line for the seniors today, and the guys did that.”

The head coach admitted he was hunting them down on the field afterward.

“Just for those guys to have that moment, to be able to enjoy that moment,” Lanning said. “You probably just added another opportunity if we continue to do our job that you get to play here again.”

Senior running back Noah Whittington felt that attention firsthand. After a late touchdown that helped seal the game, he had to navigate both a swarm of teammates and the crowd on the field.

“For starters, you know, I was I was excited. You know, we got a very big win on senior day,” Whittington said. “I was a little upset because, you know, they kept pulling my face mask after the game. You know, that that didn't feel too good.”

What did feel good, he said, was knowing how much his head coach has invested in him.

“As far as my relationship with Coach Lanning, man, you know, I put him on a pedestal,” Whittington said. “Just to see how he operates and to see how much he pours into us and how much he cares about us as people, you know, it's unique. I came from a college before this and, you know, I didn't have a relationship with my head coach at all… So to come here and, you know, play for somebody who has been successful before they got here and for him to just, you know, pour in and trust me and just give me an opportunity to come here, you know, I'm very thankful for that… yeah man I'm thankful.”

Lanning sees that relationship the same way — and made sure to highlight Whittington’s late-season surge.

“You got a bunch of guys on this team that have unbelievable heart,” the coach said. “Noah Whittington showed up the last four weeks in a big way for us. The way he's run the ball, the way he works.”

From walk-ons to anchors: Boettcher and Pickard

No senior-night storyline captured the “strength in numbers” ethos more than Boettcher and center Charlie Pickard — both former walk-ons, both central to the game’s defining moments.

Lanning admitted Boettcher had been lobbying for the ball “for a year,” but said the call was about more than a sentimental moment.

“No, not really. I love Bryce, but I like our backs too,” Lanning said with a grin. “We got some pretty good backs back there, but I love Bryce. And I'll tell you this, he's going to remind me that he's probably 100% every time he carries the ball getting a touchdown, so you might see it again… Unbelievable job by him, great job by our offensive staff, coming up with some creativity that we knew that they hadn't prepared for.”

Boettcher, who once played linebacker full time, was ready for anything.

“I've been asking for uh maybe like a double pass, a sweep or something like that for some while now,” he said. “So, it was pretty cool that they put it in this week for uh for senior night… short yardage. They called my number and you know, the whole line up front did a good job blocking.”

Having defensive linemen Amari Washington and transfer Bear Alexander in front of him didn’t hurt either.

“I mean, it was scary,” Boettcher joked. “I saw Amari, I saw Bear, and I was like, I'm just going to follow them. You know, no one's going to touch me with those guys in front of me… if we want to run it again, I'd say those are some good blockers to be behind.”

His story — Eugene kid, two-sport athlete, walk-on turned Mr. Everything — has become part of the fabric of the program.

“It's obviously been quite a journey. A lot of hard work and early mornings and late nights,” Boettcher said. “But, you know, it's obviously way greater than me… I've had great coaches to put me in good situations and great teammates, too. I've worked hard for it, but you know, it's way greater than me. So, I'm just blessed.”

That walk-on mentality isn’t limited to him. Late in the game, after starting center Jackson Powers-Johnson (“Poncho”) exited, Pickard — another former walk-on and in-state senior — was thrown into the middle of a playoff race.

“Charlie's been doing a great job,” Moore said. “Even though he's a second guy, he's just making sure he's communicating and in the film room… He's in there calling out protections as well. So, Charlie's always a guy that's going to, you know, practice and prepare like he's getting ready to play.”

When Pickard stepped into the huddle, Moore made sure the message was clear.

“I looked at Charlie dead in his eyes, ‘Charlie, all these 10 players in this huddle has 100% confidence in you,’” the quarterback said. “He looked at me, he was like, ‘I appreciate you guys. I love you guys.’ And senior night's a big night for him.”

Sadiq, who called Pickard “probably the most selfless human being on the team,” said watching him seize the moment meant everything.

“Him kind of getting his moment, just shining and you know, I'm really happy he's going there and make an impact on the team,” Sadiq said.

Boettcher, another walk-on who knows the grind, said he wasn’t surprised.

“No, I'm unbelievably proud of that guy,” he said. “He shows up to work every single day. Selfless human being and I knew once Poncho went down that there was no better guy, especially on senior night, to fill that role… there was no way he wasn't going to, you know, ball out like he did.”

Malik’s full-circle moment

Senior receiver Malik Benson’s night was less about a single snap and more about the arc of his journey. His punt-return touchdown was the highlight, but the emotion went deeper.

“Uh so I was getting recruited by Oregon you know in junior college and the reason why I didn't come cuz I thought it was, you know, kind of far,” he said. “But, you know, for a full circle moment to be able to come out here and just to get another opportunity to, you know, just be able to play for Oregon. It was just nothing but a blessing. And then, you know, just stay patient, waited for my number to be called and just knew that, you know, I had to trust my training and things like that.”

He admitted the touchdown itself felt surreal.

“It didn't even feel real,” Benson said. “So, when I got to the sideline, like I was just in a loss of words. I just didn't know what to say. It was just, you know, just very exciting to, you know, be able to put my team ahead.”

Moore, who forged a connection with Benson in just a few months, said the chemistry grew from everything but football.

“Yeah, I mean Malik, that's my brother,” Moore said. “It's kind of been like we've been knowing each other for years, but it's only been a couple months… we're in Dallas with me training, you know, we're doing taking trips together, we in Cabo together… so many times where we just had a time of bond outside the football field.”

Now, that bond shows up on Saturdays.

“He's a hungry kid and I for sure just appreciate the way he just works,” Moore said. “Spring ball wasn't his best spring ball. Fall camp wasn't his best fall camp, but when his number's called, he's going to make a play.”

A senior class that changed the standard

For Lanning, this group of seniors is tied to more than one game, one season or one trick play. They’re tied to the culture he keeps referencing — the one that allowed Oregon to win a rivalry-level game while playing 60-plus guys.

“Yeah, it probably started early in the season,” he said of the “strength in numbers” motto. “We were playing some of those games, and we're playing 70 guys in a game. We're playing 80 guys in a game… If you're good enough, you're old enough. If you can play winning football, you deserve an opportunity to be on the field. And those moments are starting to pay off for us.”

Boettcher believes that’s exactly what this senior class will leave behind.

“Strength in numbers is incredible,” he said. “There's a lot of selflessness on this team and, you know, that's what makes teams great, especially in this era of football. So, I'm proud of our guys.”

For Whittington, Benson, Boettcher, Pickard and the rest of the seniors, Saturday night was both a goodbye and a promise — a last regular-season run out of the Autzen tunnel, and maybe, if they keep winning, not the last time.

As Lanning put it: “Somebody gave me this opportunity; not everybody gets that… What a privilege that is for me. That's something I'll never take for granted, and I want to be able to see it through.”

And on a cold November night, his seniors made sure their last scheduled chapter at Autzen was worthy of the story.