Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead has surgery

Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead underwent surgery on Saturday for a non-COVID related medical issue, according to Oregonian reporter John Canzano. Moorhead is in a Bay Area hospital recovering from the operation.

The coach missed Saturday’s game against Stanford, which beat the Ducks 31-24 in overtime. The Cardinal now has beaten a ranked Oregon team five times since 2009. This was the third time that Oregon (4-1, 1-1 in the Pac-12) was ranked in the top three.

The Ducks were the final remaining unbeaten team in the Pac-12 and looked to be the only league team to have a legit shot at a CFP berth. There obviously has been a lot of chaos this season, but it’s hard to imagine a Pac-12 team getting enough traction in the eventual CFP rankings by beating only other league teams.

Moorhead spent four years as the head coach of his alma mater, Fordham, from 2012-15. From there he went on to become the offensive coordinator at Penn State before accepting the head coaching position at Mississippi State in 2018.

He led the Bulldogs to an 8-4 finish in his inaugural season, which tied the school record for most wins by a first-year coach. Then, 10 players were suspended for eight games at the beginning of 2019 for allowing a tutor to take tests and do homework for them.

Mississippi State finished that season 6-7 and Moorhead was fired. He then took the offensive coordinator job at Oregon shortly after.

The Ducks are averaging 421.2 yards and 35.8 points per game (27th in the country) under his direction. Oregon will hope Joe Moorhead can make a speedy recovery from his surgery and rejoin them soon.

It seems unlikely he will be available when the Ducks take on California at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. They will have to continue their quest to a Pac-12 title without the coach for the time being, and pray there is still a chance at the CFP.