Iowa football nearly pulled off the second top 10 upset on Saturday. Except Oregon booted a final field goal to swerve out of the Hawkeyes upset bid during Big Ten play.

The 18-16 Iowa lost left its fans in shambles — watching a potential shake up in the Big Ten rankings slip away. A Hawkeyes victory would've certainly boosted Iowa up the conference rankings.

Oregon stays in the race for the conference title game, though. And Iowa's loss sparked notable reactions — starting with former NFL linebacker Will Compton.

Yet vocal critics emerged online too — notably another ex-NFL player George Wrightster III.

“The refs in the Oregon vs Iowa game were awful. They completely favored Iowa,” Wrightster III posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter.

A Nebraska fan opted to troll the losing team. One Iowa fan, though, dropped this blunt take.

“We always say what if Iowa had an offense. Reality is no one that plays inside Kinnick Stadium has a good offense,” the fan posted.

Oregon gashed Iowa in key area

Iowa Hawkeyes running back Kamari Moulton (28) carries the ball Nov. 8, 2025 during a Big Ten Football game against the Oregon Ducks at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.
Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Oregon escaped despite not having Dakorien Moore due to an injury. Not having the dynamic freshman wide receiver put a damper on quarterback Dante Moore and the Ducks passing game.

Except the Ducks gashed Iowa in a key area.

Iowa walked into its own venue as one of the nation's best run defenses at surrendering 84 yards a game. Stopping the ground attack is a longtime staple of teams led by legendary head coach Kirk Ferentz.

But Oregon pummeled the host team with 261 rushing yards. Noah Whittington rumbled his way to 118 yards and averaged 6.9 yards per carry.

Oregon watched Jordon Davison hit an average of 6.5 yards per carry (eight carries for 52 yards). They handed Moore some relief — as the QB got bottled to 112 passing yards with one interception.

The Hawkeyes now takes its third loss of 2025.