Oregon came into the season with the kind of buzz that usually follows a team built for January, not September. Dan Lanning had the Ducks knocking on the door in each of the past two College Football Playoff runs, Dante Moore was back, and the roster looked loaded enough to make the hype feel justified.
Two weeks in, though, the results have told a different story.
The Ducks opened with a shaky 34-27 escape against Boise State at home, then went on the road and handled Oklahoma State - at least on the spread, not on the scoreboard. Oregon was a 24.5-point favorite in both games, while Oklahoma State entered Week 1 as a 13.5-point favorite before getting rolled 24-10 by Tulsa. Instead of looking like a juggernaut, Oregon has looked alarmingly ordinary.
That’s where the conversation changes. Oregon’s season point differential sits at -1, which doesn’t scream playoff threat. It looks more like a team trying to find itself than one ready to chase a national title.
And yet, the path is still there. Because of that preseason ranking, the Ducks should remain in the playoff mix even after this sluggish start. The bigger question is whether they can do anything with the opportunity.
There’s still a chance Oregon catches fire and turns this into something far bigger, the kind of run that brings 2019 LSU Tigers comparisons into the conversation. But that’s a leap, not a prediction.
The schedule won’t offer much breathing room either. Oregon gets FCS opponent Portland State in Week 3, then the real grind begins: a trip to USC, a trip to Illinois, a trip to Ohio State, a home game against an unpredictable Michigan team, and a regular-season finale against Washington.
After what the Ducks have shown through the first two weeks, there isn’t much reason to circle any of those as easy wins.
So the question hangs there: can Oregon straighten this out, or are the Ducks exactly what they’ve looked like so far?
In Other News...
Oregons Loss Just Put Dan Lannings Staff Under Real Pressure
A loss to Oklahoma State would have stung on its own, but the way Oregon got beat made it feel bigger than just one bad afternoon. The Ducks were outgained and outworked, and when a team comes away looking second-best in multiple phases against an opponent that had been on a long losing streak, the questions tend to land on the sideline fast. For Dan Lanning, the concern is not just the result, but how clearly it pointed back to the coaching operation around him.
The pressure is sharper because Oregon already spent the offseason replacing both coordinators after the 2025 season, then elevated internal options who had not run a staff at this level before. On paper, continuity was supposed to help smooth the transition. On the field, the Ducks looked disjointed enough to make the staff look like the bigger issue than the roster, and now the challenge is whether those promotions can hold up when the margin for error is gone. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Just Got Pulled Into A Brutal Week 2 Debate
Week 2 did more than reshuffle the college football conversation for a few teams, it created a list of people who suddenly look as if they are carrying some of the early season blame. Georgia Techs rough opening stretch, Rutgers slow start under Greg Schiano, John Mateers uneven showing for Oklahoma, Ohio States inability to close against Texas under Ryan Day and Oregons flawed performance under Dan Lanning all fed into a broader debate about who took the biggest hit when the games got real.
For Oregon, the frustration is less about one bad afternoon than the way the Ducks have already invited scrutiny around a roster that was supposed to set a tone early. Dan Lannings group came out of Week 2 with more questions than a team in its position wants, and in a season where September judgments can linger, that kind of performance travels fast. The bigger issue now is whether this was a one-off stumble or the first sign that the Ducks margin for error is thinner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Kenyon Sadiq Just Sent Oregon Fans A Familiar Reminder
The early buzz around Kenyon Sadiq got a jolt right away Sunday, as the former Oregon tight end made his first NFL drive count in a way Ducks fans know well. Drafted by the New York Jets, Sadiq reached the end zone on a rushing touchdown against the Tennessee Titans and added a 7-yard catch, a quick reminder that his game has always carried more than the usual tight end profile.
What stood out most was how naturally he seemed to fit into the offense with Geno Smith, a promising sign for a rookie still carving out his role. Oregon supporters remember Sadiq as a highly ranked recruit who stacked up both receiving and rushing production in college, and his first professional snaps suggested the Jets may already have found a creative way to use him. [Read more 🡒]