Devon Jackson didn’t hide from the moment after Oregon’s upset loss to Oklahoma State.
The Oregon linebacker was one of the bright spots in an otherwise rough night for the No. 21 Ducks, picking off Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker and taking it back for a touchdown. It was the kind of play that can swing a game, and for a brief stretch it did give Oregon something to hold onto.
But the bigger picture around the Ducks has shifted quickly after what became the worst loss of Dan Lanning’s time in Eugene. It was also the only defeat under Lanning to an opponent that came into the game unranked. For Oregon, the performance was sloppy in a lot of places, and Jackson made it clear the response has to come from inside the locker room.
On Tuesday, with Portland State up next in Oregon’s final nonconference game, Jackson said the team held a players-only meeting after returning to Eugene. The goal was straightforward: figure out how to get back to the standard the Ducks believe they should be playing to.
“Things will be different from here on out,” Jackson said.
He didn’t stop there. Jackson repeatedly stressed that the responsibility sits with the players, especially the veterans, and that the Ducks need to get back to the basics before Big Ten play begins. Oregon hosts Portland State on Saturday, then turns to USC, which has looked every bit like a College Football Playoff contender early in the season.
“Wasn't good enough. Plain and simple, it wasn't good enough starting with me.
I was one of the guys in the middle. I was one of the older guys.
We haven't done a good enough job of establish what the standard has been clearly, and we gotta go back to the basics, back to work, reestablish ourselves, not worry about what anybody else has to say about us, but we gotta determine who we want to be. I know who we want to be, but we gotta show that.
We gotta prove that starting with practice. Simple as that.”
Jackson said the message from the meeting was not complicated. The Ducks know the problems are fixable, and he pointed to penalties and assignment issues as the kind of mistakes that can be cleaned up quickly.
“It's very attainable. They're easy fix.
It wasn't anything they did crazy. It's all things that we did wrong and gave them the win, so it starts with us and everything that we did wrong is very fixable.
Whether it's penalties or just doing your assignment, those are all very fixable things. And we not as far off as people may think, but again, what other people think about us doesn't affect us.
We got to go back to the basics and focus on those and fix the things that we can fix.”
Jackson also framed the loss as something the whole team owns, not just one player or one unit.
“Everybody has mental mess ups. I did as well, but again, those are all very fixable things, and it's not just well, one person did this, did this.
We all in this together, right? This is the Oregon Ducks.
We all in this as a family together. So, we all have mess ups, but again, we gonna fix those things and we gonna reintroduce ourselves.”
The senior leadership group, in Jackson’s view, has to set the tone now. He said the Ducks have already had conversations about what they want this season to look like, but that talk only matters if it shows up on the field.
“Again, we all had our conversations, and again, I'm not going to get into details of what those conversations looked like. But we had those conversations, and again, back to the basics, back why did a lot of people come back?
Why did a lot of people stay? Why did a lot of people, whatever?”
He added that the team’s focus needs to return to its purpose.
“So remember our why as a team, and individually doesn't matter. I don't even speak personally.
I don't even got no individual goals. To be honest with you, everything I want to do this year is for the team.
I've been here long enough. I've been close.
I've been a game away. I done been a couple teams away.
We the same team that's been every single year one team away. Starting with Washington, Ohio State, and we just we the same team.
All you gotta do is go back to the basics, and we will be fine. We will be fine.”
Even with the disappointment, Jackson said the chance to respond is right in front of Oregon. Coaches have been burning the midnight oil, players are leaning into the details, and the Ducks are treating the next stretch like a reset.
“Exciting opportunity. Put the bed of what we put out last, and okay, we watched it, we evaluated it, we corrected it.
All right, cool. We on to the next opponent.
Coaches have been up here super late trying to get us as much information as we can, and us players is dialed in on the details and even being together, different position groups, me and Brandon Finney Jr. go back and forth and takes about the details or whatever, all the time, just holding on together, and so we can prepare for Friday.”
Jackson’s interception return stood out on a day Oregon would rather forget, but he brushed off the personal highlight because the result wasn’t there.
“It was a cool moment. But I don't really look into it that much.
We ultimately didn't get the result we wanted. So it was a cool moment, though.
But wasn't 24, so.”
What has followed the loss, Jackson said, has been a sharper edge in practice. He described the coaching as intense and constant, with mistakes getting corrected immediately.
“Man, they bringing the juice as everyone in the building. That's not a good feeling to have.
We put bad tape out, and they're correcting it. They're correcting us.
They're coaching us as hard as they can. And if we see a mistake, we fixing it on the spot.
That may practice a minute or two longer, but it needs to be done. No more mistakes, no more errors, no more slip bys are allowed to happen.”
Jackson said he views that pressure as a positive, even if it comes with some discomfort.
“I say it's like a fire on your seat, but I look at as it's a good thing. Okay, this is the bad, but now it's up from here.
It's literally up from here. We know what the time we have on this team.
We know what kind of players we have on this team, and individuals we have on this team. And as a program, we're gonna be better.”
He closed by pointing back to the team concept and the effort required from everyone.
“Man, it helps a lot. It helps a lot, but that's part of everybody doing their 111 for the team, and we all in this together for sure.”
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