Oregon’s 1-1 start has already forced the Ducks into a uncomfortable conversation, and Dan Lanning made sure nobody mistook the message: this isn’t just about execution, it’s about leadership.
That was the sharp edge of Lanning’s postgame assessment after No. 18 Oregon’s 39-31 loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater, a second straight outing that fell short of what had been expected from a team built to chase a Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff spot.
Lanning had spent the weeks before the opener describing the Ducks as a “player-led” group. After the Cowboys game, he sounded far less convinced.
"I'll tell you, at this point, there's been a lack of leadership, myself included,” Lanning said. “It starts with accountability, but it's got to show up.
Again, you can't talk about it. You've got to see it.
We haven't seen it to this point.”
Those words hit home for inside linebacker Devon Jackson, a fifth-year player and one of the defensive voices in the locker room.
“That’s not good to hear,” he said Sept. 15.
“It hurts a little. But again, we gotta go back to the basics.
Starting with everybody.”
The response inside the program has been immediate. Jackson said the players gathered after the Oklahoma State loss to talk through what comes next.
“I’m not going to get into details of what we talked about,” he said. “But we met and talked about it and we had those conversations and things will definitely be different from here on out.”
Senior center Poncho Laloulu said the meeting carried some emotion, but he stressed that emotion alone won’t change anything.
“There were some emotions to it,” Laloulu said. “But we all gotta understand, emotion's not gonna win us games. Like I said, the basic fundamental thing, technique, and everything else is gonna lead up into it.”
The problems have shown up on both sides of the ball. Oregon’s offense, with senior quarterback Dante Moore and plenty of talent around him, is averaging 389 total yards a game, including 104.5 rushing yards, 15 first downs and 29.0 points per game when the defensive touchdown against Oklahoma State is removed. A year ago, the Ducks averaged 36.9 points, 452.2 total yards and 198.6 rushing yards.
The defense hasn’t been close to last season’s standard either. With eight starters back, including all four defensive linemen and both cornerbacks, Oregon is giving up 33.0 points per game, 414 total yards, 165.0 rushing yards and 21.5 first downs.
The pass rush has produced just three sacks. In 2025, the Ducks allowed 17.9 points, 273.7 total yards and 115.7 rushing yards per game.
Special situations have been ugly too. Oregon is 0-for-6 on fourth down this season and has been flagged 17 times for 156 yards.
Laloulu said the week of practice before the Oklahoma State game wasn’t sharp enough, describing it as “lackadaisical,” and said he had to “get on the mic and kind of got on the guys."
Moore echoed that concern when he talked about the team’s preparation.
“Just been some days where, you know, we’ve been on and off,” he said. “I feel like that’s been hurting us.”
The result, Lanning said, was the worst performance of his Oregon tenure.
“by far the worst performance that we've had since I've been here,” he said.
He also framed the loss as a lesson the Ducks have to absorb quickly.
“Sometimes you've got to learn hard lessons through hard performances,” Lanning said. "Again, there's accountability for that - for me in my position, for every coach on our staff and for every player in that room. It's got to be a certain way.”
Now Oregon turns to Sept. 18 and Portland State, a 7:30 p.m. game at Autzen Stadium against an 0-3 team. The Ducks spent the last few days looking inward, and Moore said the group is eager to get back on the field.
“We’ve been practicing our asses off and I just feel like we’re excited,” Moore said.
Lanning said Oregon had a good practice on Sept. 14, and the players said Sept. 15 was good as well. But he made clear that one good practice won’t solve anything.
"We've got to see it consistently,” Lanning said. “We didn't practice well enough last Wednesday to think we were going to have a great performance on Saturday.
If something happens in practice, somebody has to speak on it. Coaches have to speak on it.
They have to demand it. Players have to do it.
We all own that. We all wear that.
"Hopefully, leadership will start showing up, or we won't have the result that we want."
In Other News...
Oklahoma States Oregon Win Looks Even Bigger After Lannings Admission
Oregons rocky start has made an early-season win over Oklahoma State look even more significant in hindsight, especially with Dan Lanning now acknowledging how much the Ducks have had to sort through since then. The preseason buzz around Oregon was enormous, but the on-field results have not matched it, and the Ducks have already been knocked down in the rankings after a close win and a loss.
Lanning put the responsibility on himself when he pointed to a lack of leadership as part of the reason the team stumbled out of the gate, while still expressing confidence in both the players and the coaching staff. For Oregon, the bigger question now is less about what the outside expectations were in the summer and more about how quickly the Ducks can settle into the kind of consistency that makes that Oklahoma State result feel like a foundation rather than a one-off. [Read more 🡒]
Former Duck Pushes Back As Dan Lanning Panic Starts Again
The chatter around Dan Lanning picked up again after Oregons loss to Oklahoma State, but one familiar voice moved quickly to temper the reaction. Former Ducks player and analyst Geoff Schwartz pushed back against the panic, pointing to Lannings overall success in Eugene and arguing that criticism should come with accountability, not a rush to judgment every time the Ducks stumble.
Lanning, for his part, did not dodge the issue after the game. He acknowledged mistakes in his postgame comments and made it clear Oregon has work to do as it moves forward. For a program with expectations as high as Oregons, the margin between concern and overreaction can get thin fast, which is why the next stretch will say plenty about whether this becomes a brief wobble or something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Dante Moore Debate Just Got Uncomfortable For Oregon Fans
Dante Moores first season with Oregon has already taken on an uneasy edge after a challenging start and a loss to Oklahoma State, and now the conversation around the quarterback has drifted well beyond the usual September noise. Moore entered the year with first-round draft buzz hanging over him after being projected that way last season, which only adds more weight to every shaky drive and every setback the Ducks take on offense.
NBC Sports analyst Joshua Perry stirred the pot on the Zack Gelb Show by floating a scenario no Oregon fan wants to hear: that Moore might fake an injury if the struggles continue in order to protect his NFL Draft stock. It is an uncomfortable debate because it puts Moores long-term future against his immediate obligation to keep playing, and it leaves Oregon with a storyline that can linger as long as the offense keeps searching for answers. [Read more 🡒]