EUGENE - Oregon’s preseason No. 2 ranking comes with all the usual trimmings: praise, projections, rankings, and a whole lot of outside noise. Dan Lanning’s answer to whether he allows himself to pause and enjoy any of it was about as direct as it gets.
“Hell no,” Lanning said.
That kind of response fits the image around Oregon’s head coach, the one built on a culture that stays locked in and refuses to drift. But the Ducks aren’t operating in a bubble. Their players have phones, see the clips, hear the chatter and get fed the constant stream of opinions that college football now produces by the minute.
Quarterback Dante Moore said the challenge is real in a generation he described as “addicted” to social media. His answer is simple: get away from it.
“Yeah, not being on social media,” Moore said. “That’s something that Coach Lanning brought up to me, something I learned from Bo Nix. Being able to see him and Coach Lanning talk (about how) he wasn’t on social media through fall camp.”
Moore has already talked publicly about the wave of online hate that hit him after Oregon’s blowout loss to Indiana in last year’s College Football Playoff, and the effect that can have on mental health. The preseason hype machine, though, doesn’t let up. Rankings, All-America teams, player awards, coach awards - the whole industry keeps pumping out reasons to look ahead.
For Moore, that means discipline. He admitted the pull is there, especially late at night, but so is the need to stay sharp.
“I love being on Instagram late at night, but sleep’s important,” Moore said. “I have a lot of priorities. I’m trying to maximize it and go attack.”
Edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei is making the same kind of adjustment, though his version comes with a family twist. He said the biggest source of posts about him is his father.
“I’m gonna be honest, I feel like the most posts I would see about myself is from my dad,” Uiagalelei said, drawing laughter in the media room. “I didn’t unfollow my dad, but I muted his account. ...
He’s going to post a lot. It’s always been like that, and I’m not mad at him, you know?
It helped me get here today. But, just like Dante said, I don’t need to see all that.”
Big Dave Uiagalelei, who also regularly boosts older son D.J. - the former Oregon State quarterback now trying to back up Justin Herbert with the Los Angeles Chargers - made it clear on X that he’s not backing off anytime soon.
“Both my sons mute my posts,” he wrote on X Tuesday night. “That will never stop me from being the BIGGEST ADVOCATE for my kids!!! The fact that Matayo doesn’t want to see any post about himself, kudos to the father who raised him to be humble and focused.”
Not every Duck can shut out the outside world the way Moore and Uiagalelei are trying to. That’s not realistic. But Lanning’s goal is to keep the team centered on what happens inside the building, not on the endless stream of opinions floating around it.
“I think it’s really easy,” he insisted. “I mean, have you ever seen a preseason poll that was right at the end of the year?
I mean, it just doesn’t happen very often, right? And ultimately, it’s never right about all the Top 25.
The people that make those polls have nothing to do with the results on the field. So, let’s focus on the things that we control.”
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The preseason Biletnikoff Award watch list offered an early look at how Oregons receiver room is being viewed nationally, and it provided a reminder of just how deep the Ducks are at the position. Iverson Hooks and Jamari Johnson landed on the list, giving Oregon a pair of early standouts on a group that already has plenty of intrigue heading toward the 2026 season.
What stood out just as much was who did not make the cut. Evan Stewart, Dakorien Moore and Jeremiah McClellan were left off the list even though all three have been expected to be central to Oregons passing game next season. For a receiver group this crowded, the watch list only sharpened the conversation around how much production is available, and how quickly the Ducks could sort out their pecking order once the games begin. [Read more 🡒]
Dan Lanning Still Has One Big Oregon QB Decision To Make
Fall camp has given Oregon a clear picture at the top of the quarterback depth chart with Dante Moore entrenched as the starter, but the work is far from finished behind him. Dan Lanning and quarterbacks coach Koa Ka'ai are still sorting through a crowded room of six passers as the Ducks try to settle on the backup order, a job made trickier by the mix of experience, talent and different stages of development in the room.
The staff has been evaluating the backup candidates on consistency, arm strength and command of the offense, and it has made clear the competition is still open. Nebraska transfer Dylan Raiola, fifth-year senior Brock Thomas and sophomore Akili Smith Jr. are all in the mix as Oregon keeps watching how each quarterback handles the daily grind of camp, with no official decision yet and no sign the evaluation is close to being over. [Read more 🡒]