Oregon freshman WR Messiah Hampton arrested over Oct. 18 chase, out vs. Northwestern

Oregon freshman wide receiver Messiah Hampton was arrested Friday afternoon in connection with a high-speed chase in Springfield earlier this month. The arrest leaves the Ducks without another pass catcher as they host No. 20 Northwestern on Saturday.

ESPN reported that jail records list two felony counts of attempting to elude police and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving. Hampton was booked into Lane County Jail and released that evening. Police told The Oregonian that he was identified as one of two drivers who got away from Springfield officers at about 3:51 a.m. on Oct. 18, hours after Oregon's home win over Nebraska. "Mr. Hampton has been identified as the driver of one of the vehicles," Springfield deputy chief George Crolly told The Oregonian, as cited by On3. Police said they were still working to identify the second driver.

The same night produced more trouble for the program. One of the vehicles in the chase was found abandoned near where receiver Evan Stewart was arrested on a DUII charge about an hour later. ESPN reported that police have not named Stewart as a suspect in the chase. Records also show tight end Jamari Johnson got a speeding ticket that morning, and police have not tied him to the chase either. On Oct. 19, coach Dan Lanning referred to an incident that did not meet the team's standard and said the program would deal with it internally. He did not give details.

On3 reported that Hampton was a late addition to the availability report and is listed as out against Northwestern. That makes it two weeks in a row he has been scratched late; he also missed the loss at Illinois without explanation. He has 16 catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns, which ranks sixth on the team in receiving yards. Oregon was also without Stewart, Jalen Lott and the injured Jeremiah McClellan in Champaign, so the receiver group has been thin for two straight games.

What it means against Northwestern

Oregon opened the season No. 2 in the AP poll and is now 4-3 and unranked. The offense has stalled. After scoring 84 against Portland State and 41 at USC, the Ducks have put up 15, 17 and 10 points in their last three games: a two-point home loss to UCLA, a three-point win over Nebraska and an 11-point loss at Illinois. Losing receivers is part of that drop.

Even so, the market makes Oregon the favorite. Across the 11 venues on this site's board, the Ducks are favored by 3.5 points. Novig has Oregon at -167 on the moneyline, and the best price anywhere is FanDuel's -166. Northwestern is +160 at Novig and +161 at Pinnacle. Novig prices Oregon -3.5 at -111, against -110 at FanDuel. On the other side, theScore Bet has Northwestern at +4.5. The total is 47.5 at Novig and 46.5 at Hard Rock Bet. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.2% to 6.6% on the moneyline, so the venues are only a few cents apart on the main prices.

The game kicks off Saturday on Peacock.