The play was dubbed “Trojan.”
It was senior night for Oregon, which was facing Southern California in the final regular-season home game at Autzen Stadium. The Ducks were up 21-14 late in the first half.
This was senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher’s moment. A football walk-on who originally came to Oregon on a baseball scholarship, the Eugene native had been begging for his chance to carry the ball on offense all season. The team had practiced the Trojan play the previous week, and Boettcher had even workshopped a TD celebration.
Ducks coach Dan Lanning relented. With the ball on the USC 1-yard line, quarterback Dante Moore handed off to Boettcher, who easily scored in front of a sizeable group of friends and family at Autzen Stadium. He celebrated by mimicking a baseball swing. Oregon would go on to win 42-27.
“I don’t know if anybody could keep Bryce out of that end zone when we gave him that opportunity,” Lanning said.
Boettcher, one of the most poised players on the team, couldn’t stop smiling afterward.
“That’s something you dream about. Going over to the sideline, I saw my family in the stands, so that was a pretty special moment to share with them and my teammates.” he said.
Now Boettcher is a game away from capping his senior season with an appearance in the national championship game. Oregon plays Indiana on Friday night in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl.
“It means everything. It’s a pretty rare opportunity. There’s four teams left. Pretty cool. Surreal. But, you know, I’ll be be happy once we get this win. Honestly, I’m head down, focused on the task at hand, but it’s a cool opportunity,” he said.
Boettcher is certainly unique, and not just because he’s a linebacker with a offensive touchdown. He’s also an outfielder in the Houston Astros organization.
Boettcher signed with the Astros in 2024 after he was selected by the team in the 13th round of the baseball draft. But following last year’s Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State, Boettcher was granted another year of football eligibility, so he decided to stick with the Ducks for one more season with the permission of the Astros, who have retained his rights for 2026.
Given his production this season, he may have another decision: Whether to choose the NFL or baseball.
Boettcher leads the Big Ten with 125 total tackles, most for a Duck since Mark Kearns had 131 in 1989.
He had 12 tackles and forced a fumble in the Ducks’ 23-0 smothering of Texas Tech in the CFP quarterfinals. He’s led Oregon in tackles in 10 of 14 games this season. Earlier in the year against Northwestern, he had an interception.
In 2024 as a centerfielder with the baseball team, he hit .276 with a career-best 12 home runs and 35 RBIs, winning a Gold Glove.
Boettcher started his football career at Oregon in 2022 as a safety, but was moved to linebacker the next year and Lanning gave him a football scholarship. In 2024, he won the Burlsworth Trophy for the nation’s best player who started his career as a walk-on.
Turned out the USC game wasn’t Boettcher’s finale at Autzen. The Ducks hosted James Madison in a CFP first-round game, coming away with a 51-34 win to set up the quarterfinal against Texas Tech. Now it’s top-seeded and undefeated Indiana, a team that beat Oregon 30-20 back in October — the Ducks’ lone blemish on the season.
“I mean, I’ve played a lot of big games in my year here, whether it be football or baseball. I feel like I do a pretty good job at handling the magnitude of the game,” Boettcher said. “At the end of the day, it’s a football game. We play the game every day in practice. It’s just another game, but it’s obviously win or go home, so I’m pumped for that aspect.”
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