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Matayo Uiagalelei looking to become better finisher in final year with Ducks
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- Matayo Uiagalelei looking to become better finisher in final year with Ducks
A stinging loss to end your season in the College Football Playoff can lead to lots of free time to think about what went wrong and what you could have done to be better.
For some, that might be a negative spiral. But, for Matayo Uiagalelei , it was ample time for him to both decide to return to the Oregon Ducks for his final season and diagnose what he needed to improve upon to get the Ducks over the hump in the postseason.
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Playing through the whistle.
Uiagalelei made 34 tackles, 9.5 for a loss, and six sacks last season. He also forced two fumbles. It was another impressive season for Uiagalelei, but his numbers were down from his 10-sack performance in 2024. Teitum Tuioti led the Ducks with 9.5 sacks in 2025, but Uiagalelei was still impactful in the backfield. Most notably, he stripped Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton in the Orange Bowl and nearly returned the ball for a touchdown.
That was a physical play in which Uiagalelei tore through the right tackle and bullied Morton in the backfield before shaking a tackle on the return. It was one huge play in Oregon's season, but that's what he and coach Dan Lanning want to see more of this fall.
"Just keep getting bigger, faster, stronger, and then just finishing plays on the football side," Uiagalelei said. "Being more physical in the run, and just a lot of plays that I left on the table, like missed tackles, and a lot of opportunities I kind of took advantage of, and I just didn't make a play."
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Uiagalelei said he wants to be around 265 pounds with more muscle once the season rolls around. The 6-foot-5 senior is a leader for Oregon's defense and has been a dominant edge rusher since he arrived in Eugene, but Lanning thinks he can take his game to the next level by being stout against the run as well. With some young and uncertain depth along the defensive line after a series of transfers from last season's unit, the new rotation up front could lead to Uiagalelei playing every down and needing to make a bigger impact against the run.
"That's a place that I know he wants to attack and improve," Lanning said. "He's always been a really intelligent player. Obviously has a special skill set, and he's done a lot of things in the weight room this offseason to attack places for him to get better."
Similar to how quarterback Dante Moore has taken on a more vocal leadership role this spring, the same could be said for Uiagalelei.
"I think he has that voice," Lanning said. "His ability to continue to share that voice with the team is gonna be something that can impact us."
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As a senior with plenty of big-game experience, it will be up to him and Tuioti to establish the standard for younger edge rushers like Nasir Wyatt, Anthony "Tank" Jones and Elijah Rushing, all of whom are next in line to be star pass rushers for the Ducks in the future.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Matayo Uiagalelei hoping for big improvement in final season at Oregon
