Ducks welcome back K Gage Hurych for 2026 season

When the transfer portal opened on Jan. 2, Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks acted swiftly to fill positions at kicker, punter and long snapper that were vacated by outgoing seniors as evidenced by the commitments of Keaton Emmett ( Nevada , kicker), Bailey Ettridge (Nevada, punter) and RJ Todd (Western Michigan, long snapper).

Now, they've filled the place kicker position for the 2026 season. Per On3's Steve Wiltfong, Oregon has resigned Gage Hurych , who handled place kicking duties for the Ducks in 2025. He also attempted and converted 16 extra points as the backup to Atticus Sappington .

But Hurych's speciality was on kickoffs, as his 64.3 yards per kickoff is the highest mark among returning kickers in the Big Ten.

Hurych was a five-star prospect coming out of West Linn High School in West Linn, Ore. He was the No. 24 special teams player in the 2024 class, per Chris Sailer Kicking.

With Sappington's departure and Emmett also specializing in place kicking at Nevada, Hurych will presumably have a chance to compete for the starting job in terms of field goal and PAT kicking.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks K Gage Hurych resigns for 2026 season