For more than a month, the Oregon Ducks have been perched atop the college football world as the No. 1 team in the country, piling up wins week after week as the teams below them jockey for College Football Playoff positioning. And one of the many reasons Oregon is sitting pretty as the only undefeated team remaining in the FBS at 12-0 has been the play of 6-foot-5, 255-pound senior tight end Terrance Ferguson.
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Ferguson has accumulated 35 receptions (third-most on the team) for 490 yards and two touchdowns this fall, including one on Saturday in a 49-21 blowout win against rival Washington while being honored during Senior Night.
15th career receiving TD for Terrance Ferguson, tying the UO all-time record among tight ends 👏#GoDuckspic.twitter.com/4W70IGMOEy
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) December 1, 2024
Ferguson’s production throughout his four years with the Ducks has landed the Littleton, Colorado, native in a conversation as perhaps the greatest tight end in program history.
His TD grab against Washington tied him with Josh Wilcox (1993-96) for the most career touchdown catches by a tight end in Oregon history with 15, just hours after having broken the record for most career catches by a tight end earlier in the game. He finished with four receptions, giving him a record-setting 126 for his career. Ed Dickson (2006-09) still holds the record for most career receiving yards amongst Oregon tight ends with 1,557, but Ferguson is not far behind with 1,436; a deep run in the CFP could give Ferguson a chance to set that record as well.
The durable Ferguson may have already been in sole possession of all of Oregon’s tight end records if he had not missed two games in October, against Purdue and Illinois, due to an emergency appendectomy.
“[Ferguson] is a real tough guy,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning told the media after the matchup with Purdue, according to 247Sports.com. “In the middle of the week, he started to feel his appendix. He actually had to have his appendix removed. … He’s a tough kid, you know, this guy’s played with a lot of injuries. This is not one that you can really go play with when you have your appendix removed.”
In his first game back after the surgery, against Michigan on Nov. 2, Ferguson caught two passes for 34 yards in the 38-17 win. Afterward, he told The Oregonian that he saw God at work through the experience.
“Honestly it was a God thing,” he said, “because there was no other symptoms and we decided to get a CT scan and it showed up on there. I’m just blessed that I didn’t get on the plane to even go to Purdue.”
Ferguson’s veteran leadership has been a boon for an Oregon team positioning itself for a run at the program’s first-ever national championship, and Ferguson’s faith has characterized his own football journey.
He was originally recruited to Eugene by head coach Mario Cristobal, who coached Oregon from 2018 through 2021, Ferguson’s freshman year. Cristobal then took over at Miami, while Lanning left his defensive coordinator’s role at Georgia to take the helm at Oregon. That left Ferguson with a choice: play for a coach who didn’t recruit him, or transfer to another school.
“A new coach comes in and a lot of things go through a young player’s head,” Ferguson told the media last week. “I prayed about it and, honestly, God has led me to Eugene year after year after year; I’ve stayed here and it’s for good reason. Looking back at it, it was a great decision and God’s never wrong. He’s really guided that decision to always come back to Eugene. So it’s just been a blessing to be with Coach Lanning, this team, and just see how the program has grown.”
Prior to his senior season, Ferguson shared about his faith in a video posted by Ducks of a Feather, a brand for Oregon athletes.
“It’s definitely been the biggest part of why I’m the person I am and where I am today,” he said in the video. “I think it’s made me a way better football player and person.”
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Ferguson says he grew up attending church. He prays with his mom and fiancee before every game, either on the phone or in person on the field, and he draws crosses on his wrist tape to wear during games. Ferguson is also very vocal about his faith on Instagram, declaring that “Jesus is king” in his bio and often sharing Bible verses.
View this post on Instagram
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“Every time I’ve been closest with God,” Ferguson said in the video, “I feel like my life off the field and on the field have been the best. I think [the Bible] just teaches you a lot of valuable lessons in life.”
With a spot in the CFP seemingly already secured, Ferguson and his teammates would claim the No. 1 overall seed with a win against No. 3 Penn State (11-1) in the Big Ten Championship Game in Oregon’s first season in the league. Kickoff from Indianapolis is set for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
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