Lanning keeps Evan Stewart DUII arrest in-house

The news broke Monday morning, and police shot down the wilder rumors in the same report.

Here are the basics. Police say an officer pulled Stewart over around 5 a.m. PT on Sunday, October 18, on Highway 126 near Mohawk Boulevard. The officer suspected impairment, ran a DUI investigation and arrested him. He was booked into Springfield Municipal Jail around 7 a.m. and released about an hour later to fellow Oregon receiver Dakorien Moore. Oregon's first public word was a spokesman saying the school was aware and gathering more information.

Then there's the street racing story, which was all over social media by Sunday. By Monday afternoon Springfield PD had put out a media release that dealt with the DUII arrest and a separate report of speeding vehicles, and it says plainly that Stewart wasn't part of the second one.

Adam Rittenberg

@ESPNRittenberg

From the Springfield (Ore.) police department, on the DUII arrest of Oregon WR Evan Stewart and the other report of speeding vehicles (Stewart not implicated).

According to The Oregonian's updated reporting, police say Oregon players weren't street racing. Officers did make contact with some of them because they were in the area of a separate pursuit. Springfield PD called that pursuit off, later found an abandoned vehicle, and is still investigating. So the scariest version of the rumor is dead. The DUII charge is not.

Lanning was asked about both on Monday night, and he didn't give much. He'd already said Sunday evening that there was "an incident that didn't match our standard" and that it "overshadowed the success we had Saturday," per ESPN. On Monday he said it would be handled internally, and when asked about the speeding rumor he treated it as the same situation.

That's a coach shutting the door, and it means no one outside the building knows yet what discipline looks like. This is a big deal for the field. Stewart has been Oregon's best receiver, with team highs of 27 catches, 352 yards and 4 touchdowns through 5 games. He already missed Saturday's home win over Nebraska with an undisclosed injury, so the offense has just played a game without him.

Next up is the trip to Illinois, and the question is simple: does Stewart play? If he's healthy and Lanning keeps the punishment quiet, the first real clue will be whether No. 7 shows up on the travel roster and in warmups. If he sits, Oregon will have played 2 straight weeks without its top target, for 2 very different reasons.