2026 NFL Draft: College Game Recaps – Week 7

Indiana 30, Oregon 20

  • Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has been one of the most dominating players in college football this season and has put himself on the map as a pro prospect. He has been producing huge point totals on a weekly basis, but that changed when he took on a tough Indiana team. The Hoosiers shocked the Ducks and Moore looked overwhelmed by the Indiana defense.

    On the opening play of the game, Moore hesitated in the pocket when he needed to get rid of the ball, but he held it too long and took a sack. Midway through the first quarter, Moore got the Ducks on the board, finding a wide-open receiver in busted coverage to loft in a 44-yard touchdown pass. Midway through the first half, Moore scrambled and used his legs to convert a third down, but a holding penalty took it away. To end the drive, Moore rolled out and took a bad sack when he should have thrown the ball away. Taking that negative play led to a harder field goal for his kicker. Late in the first half, Moore started throwing some darts, including an impressive throw flat-footed because of the pass rush, but got an 18-yard gain. But overall, the Indiana defense played well, Moore took some bad sacks, and Oregon was really struggling on third down.

    The second half was more of the same, including early in the fourth quarter, where Moore took another bad sack. Midway through the fourth quarter, Moore took a sack and then threw an interception. Moore had some bad luck as a blitzing Hoosier tipped the pass up in the air, and it was easily picked off from the deflection. With just over two minutes remaining, Moore telegraphed a pass, and it was jumped by a Hoosiers defender for an interception. Moore finished completing 21-of-34 passes for 186 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

    Overall, this tape will hurt Moore, but maybe not that significantly. Other top prospects have had much worse games during their final seasons. He showed his good skill set for the NFL with his arm talent and some mobility. Moore is an accurate passer who throws a very catchable ball with good location. He also has some mobility to move around and use his feet to make some plays. However, Moore needs to get faster at processing; he needs to get the ball out faster and needs to avoid negative plays by taking bad sacks. This tape will illustrate that Moore is talented, but he needs development for the next level.

  • Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has been superb for the Hoosiers this season after transferring from Cal, and he contributed to a legendary win for his program by winning at Oregon. Mendoza was not prolific, but he managed the game well and made some clutch plays to help produce the road win.

    On his first attempt after getting good field position, Mendoza fired a bullet on a deep out to move the ball inside the Oregon 30. Late in the first quarter, Mendoza had a nice drive, throwing some short and intermediate passes before using his legs on a quarterback draw to rip off a chunk run that set up a first-and-goal, which turned into a short rushing touchdown. In the second quarter, Mendoza had a rusher bearing down on him, but threw an accurate out route while taking a hard hit to move the chains. Throughout the first half, Mendoza managed the game well, but the Ducks’ defense did a good job of taking away big plays downfield.

    In the third quarter, Mendoza contributed some more short passes to help produce yardage for a rushing touchdown. However, Mendoza made a terrible decision to get Oregon back in the game. While pressured, Mendoza threw a floater off his back foot to the flat, and it was easily intercepted. The defensive back ran 35 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 20. Mendoza should have thrown the ball away instead of all his momentum taking him the other way and throwing a poor pass across his body.

    Mendoza came back to help move the ball with some short completions, and then he got the Hoosiers the lead with a back-shoulder touchdown pass to Elijah Surratt from about eight yards out. Mendoza finished completing 20-of-31 passes for 215 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

    Overall, this tape will help Mendoza. While the pick-six was a bad play, Mendoza managed the game well, taking what the defense gave him. He was smart and read the field well. Mendoza threw accurately with good timing and anticipation. This tape will help Mendoza get a starter’s grade from NFL teams.

  • Oregon defensive tackle A’Mauri Washington had some impressive plays in this game. Early in the first quarter, Washington was active with a run-stuff and showed his power at the point of attack. On the second Indiana possession, Washington had an amazing play, bull rushing through the right guard and sacking the quarterback by using the guard to knock down Mendoza. In the third quarter, Washington had a great play, exploding past the left guard to blow up a run in the backfield. Washington is a physical nose tackle who shows impressive power, quickness, and athleticism. He could be an early-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Texas 23, Oklahoma 6

  • Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer looked poised to become a high first-round candidate for the 2026 NFL Draft. Mateer played really well with Washington State in 2024 and was off to a great start in 2025 before a thumb injury he sustained in a win over Auburn led to thumb surgery. Mateer was expected to be out for about a month, but shockingly, Mateer was out only 17 days, making the start against Texas. Mateer looked like he was doing okay physically, but he had many bad decisions and terrible ball security in an upset loss to the Longhorns.

    In the early going, Mateer looked sharp, completing some passes, including a 23-yard play where he worked through progressions and then found his third option open for the chunk gain. Midway through the first half, Mateer took a hard hit to the thumb on a run, but he stayed in the game and continued to gut it out. Near the end of the first quarter, Mateer backpedaled and threw a floater to a receiver down the seam, and the pass was undercut by a Texas defensive back for an interception.

    Late in the second quarter, Mateer made an impressive play to climb in the pocket and throw a dart despite pressure for a first down conversion. He used his legs to run for 10. However, Mateer ended the half with a bad pass, thinking his receiver would break left when he ran straight into the end zone. Mateer threw a deep ball that was easily intercepted in the end zone by Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad to take away a field goal opportunity for the Sooners.

    To open the third quarter, Mateer made another bad decision, staring down a receiver and throwing into traffic. He was lucky the interception was dropped, as it would have gone for a pick-six. Two plays later, his receiver did not sit down in zone coverage and reached back to knock down the pass just in front of a Longhorns defender.

    Early in the fourth quarter, a holding penalty brought back a 33-yard run by Mateer, showing his impressive speed. However, a play later, Mateer had a pass behind his receiver, and it deflected off the hands of his receiver and floated to a defensive back for Mateer’s third interception of the game. After that, Mateer took a few drives, killing sacks to take away any chance of an Oklahoma comeback. Mateer finished completing 20-of-38 passes for 202 yards with three interceptions and took five sacks.

    This was an ugly tape for Mateer, and it will hurt him with NFL evaluators. Not only did Mateer have some bad interceptions, but he also had other turnover-worthy throws and decisions. Mateer has a good arm, mobility, and dangerous playmaking ability. But Mateer has a gunslinger style that leads to some gambling with poor decisions and ball security. Mateer needs to play better in the weeks to come.

Alabama 27, Missouri 24

  • There was an excellent draft matchup in this game with Alabama left tackle Kayden Proctor taking on the Missouri edge rush tandem of Zion Young and Damon Wilson. Young and Wilson have been superb this year and have combined to be extremely effective at pressuring the quarterback. The massive Proctor looks like a potential top-20 pick next April, so he would be a great test for the Tigers tandem.

    Early in the first quarter, Young made a stupid decision when a teammate of his made a tackle for a loss on a screen pass, and Young decided to get in the face of Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard to taunt him. That penalty took away a third-and-15 and gave the Crimson Tide a first down. Later in the drive, Young jumped offside, which gifted another first down. In the second quarter, Young pushed through the right tackle and right guard to get pressure on Ty Simpson while slapping down the pass.

    In the second quarter, Wilson made a huge play on a third down, fighting through the tight end and the right tackle to get a sack of Ty Simpson. It was a phenomenal rush showing power to fight off blocks, speed to close, and agility to get turned to the quarterback.

    At the very start of the third quarter, a teammate was sacking Simpson when Young joined in and punched the ball out from behind. Wilson was being blocked by Proctor, but Wilson saw the loose ball and dove on it for a huge turnover for Missouri. Shortly later, Proctor didn’t get into the chest of his rusher and allowed the defender to cut to the inside and hit Simpson. Later in the second quarter, Wilson pushed into the chest of Proctor before looping back to the inside to get a hit on Simpson. Midway through the fourth quarter, Wilson blew by the right tackle with a speed rush and ripped down Simpson for Wilson’s second sack of the game.

    This tape should help both Young and Wilson. Pro evaluators won’t like the penalties on Young and his lack of discipline, but Young showed speed and athleticism at the point of attack. Both Young and Wilson are fast to get upfield, agile to redirect, and have functional strength to shed blocks. This tape should help Young and Wilson be first- or second-round picks next April.

    Overall, this was not an impressive tape from Proctor. While he wasn’t abused or dominated, he allowed some hits on the quarterback, and he showed some technique flaws by not latching onto rushers and letting them break free to the inside on numerous occasions. Proctor looked better in the ground game. He pushed open some lanes in the ground game and got a push on the goal line to open a scoring lane that was called back. Proctor has starting ability, but this tape won’t be that helpful for his draft grade.

  • Alabama defensive lineman L.T. Overton played well against Missouri as he was consistently causing disruption in the Tigers’ backfield. Early in the first half, Overton pushed the right guard back for shedding the block and tripping up the quarterback for a sack. In the fourth quarter, Overton chased down a scrambling quarterback for a sack outside of the pocket. A couple of plays later, Overton pushed off the right tackle and chased the quarterback out of the pocket. Overton is a bit of a tweener end/tackle for the NFL, but this tape will help him show pro evaluators his ability to beat guards or tackles as a pass rusher.