Dan Lanning has made a point of building a family-first culture at Oregon, and Week 1 gives that idea a very real test. When the No. 2 Ducks open against Boise State, defensive line coach Tony Tuioti and his son, senior edge rusher Teitum Tuioti, will be on one sideline while another family member is lined up across from them.
That’s because Boise State linebacker Mana Tuioti is set to play in the opener. Mana is the fifth of seven Tuioti children, and the matchup turns the season’s first game into a family meeting with plenty on the line.
“I’ve been playing with my brother pretty much all my life,” Teitum said in a video posted by CBS Sports College Football. “He’d come work out with me all the time.
But, you know, I gotta do what big brother does, you know? I gotta make sure I win.”
The brothers’ paths have mirrored each other in a lot of ways. Both played at Sheldon High School in Eugene before moving on to college football.
Both were three-star recruits coming out of the Oregon high school scene. And both have stayed tied to the same place even as Tony’s coaching career carried the family from Hawaii to Michigan to Nebraska before landing in Eugene in 2022.
This season, the Tuioti family footprint stretches even wider. Four of Tony and Keala Tuioti’s sons are playing for different programs in 2025: Teitum at Oregon, Mana at Boise State, Teivis Tuioti at San Diego State and Teilor Tuioti at Idaho State.
Lanning said he’s looking forward to seeing it all play out.
“Yeah, I'm excited for (Tony). I'm sure there's an unbelievable sense of pride and getting to see those guys be on the same field,” Lanning said.
“I asked Teitum if that's happened before. They got a big family, right?
And Teivis got to play Teimana last year, right? But this will be the first time the whole family gets to be there and see it.
So, I think it'll be really exciting for them.”
For Teitum, the matchup comes as he heads into his senior season after emerging as one of Oregon’s best development stories under Lanning. Once a three-star recruit, he climbed quickly through the depth chart and turned in a breakout 2025 campaign with 68 tackles, five pass deflections, a forced fumble and a team-high 9.5 sacks.
He returns as part of a veteran defensive front that also includes Matayo Uiagalelei, Bear Alexander and A’Mauri Washington, all of whom passed on the 2026 NFL Draft to come back for one more season.
That experience is a big reason Oregon opens at No. 2 in the AP Poll and with national championship expectations already attached. If Teitum can match or top his 2025 production, he could put himself in position as a Day 1 or Day 2 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft while helping keep the Ducks in the title mix.
In Other News...
Autzen Is Facing A Threat Oregon Fans Never Wanted
Autzen Stadium has long been one of the more accessible places in major college football, where generations of Oregon fans could realistically make a game part of their fall routine. That feeling is getting harder to preserve. Home ticket prices have climbed sharply in recent years, with many games now opening above $100 and the biggest matchups climbing toward the kind of figure that used to sound unthinkable for a seat in Eugene.
For Ducks fans, the concern is bigger than a single expensive Saturday. The worry is that the people who helped build Autzens atmosphere, the longtime loyal crowd that made the place feel different, could slowly get pushed out by rising costs. Oregons success has made home dates more desirable, but it has also made them less reachable for the average fan, and that tradeoff is becoming impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Oregons Deep Backfield Could Become A Real Problem For Opponents
Oregons running back room is starting to look like one of the cleaner advantages on the roster as the Ducks turn toward the 2026 season. Sophomores Dierre Hill Jr. and Jordon Davison sit at the center of it, but they are hardly alone, with Da'Jaun Riggs, Simeon Price, Tradarian Ball and Brandon Smith all part of a group that gives the staff real options. For a program that has spent plenty of time building around speed and depth, this is the kind of position battle that can sharpen everyone involved before the games even begin.
Dan Lanning has already underscored how much depth and competition matter, especially after the challenges Oregon dealt with last season, and quarterback Dante Moore has echoed that same message from the offensive side. The bigger question now is not whether the Ducks have enough bodies at running back, but how much of that talent can translate into a problem for opponents when the rotation tightens and roles start to settle. [Read more 🡒]
Dante Moore Is Already Giving New Oregon Teammates Real Confidence
Even before the 2026 season gets rolling, Dante Moore is already becoming the kind of quarterback Oregon teammates trust quickly. Coming off a strong 2025 season, Moore has drawn praise for the accuracy and leadership that show up in the little things, the sort of qualities that matter most in a locker room full of new faces trying to settle in. Among them is transfer tight end Andrew Olesh, who arrived from Penn State and is working to build timing with Moore as he tries to carve out a role in Oregons offense.
Olesh enters a tight end group with an opening after the departure of the Ducks top player at the position, and that makes this early chemistry even more important. He is viewed as a potential contributor, but in a new setting, with a new quarterback, nothing is handed out. For Oregon, the encouraging part is that Moore seems to be giving teammates a real sense of stability already, which can go a long way for a pass catcher trying to find his place in the offense. [Read more 🡒]