If you’re old enough to remember Oregon football before the rise, you know how far this program has come.
There was a stretch from 1963 to 1989 when the Ducks didn’t play in a bowl game at all. They beat Tulsa 27-24 in the 1989 Poulan Weedeater Bowl after a fourth-quarter comeback, but before that, their last postseason win had come in the 1963 Sun Bowl, a 21-14 victory. In between, Oregon went through long, ugly losing streaks to Washington - runs of 12 and 13 straight losses - and even played the 1983 Civil War to a 0-0 tie that featured 13 turnovers.
That’s the backdrop for where Oregon stands now. This is not the old version of the Ducks.
Phil Knight got involved in the ’90s, TV money surged after a Supreme Court case, and the scholarship limit of 85 players took effect. Oregon climbed into the Top 25, reached its first Rose Bowl in 38 years, and with Knight and other boosters helping build the Moshofsky Center, the program got its first indoor practice facility and started stacking up big wins.
So when people talk about Oregon being 12-2, 13-1 and 13-2 over the last three seasons, it’s a far cry from the misery that used to define the program. Still, the standard has changed, and losing still lands hard no matter how it happens - by one point or by a lot, in September or in the College Football Playoff, against a rival or in a rematch.
Dan Lanning has pushed the Ducks into the sport’s elite tier. At 40, he owns a 48-8 record and has Oregon in the mix as one of the seven or eight teams with a real shot at a national title this season.
The roster says plenty about the expectation level, too. Poncho Laloulu, Bear Alexander, Dante Moore and Matayo Uiagalelei didn’t stick around to chase NFL money just to finish second. But the road to a title is never clean, and there are plenty of contenders standing in the way - Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame, Steve Sarkisian in Austin, and even Curt Cignetti, Ryan Day or Kirby Smart with another run in them.
What Oregon has done under Lanning is keep getting closer. Before he arrived, the Ducks were 4-3 and 10-4 in the two seasons prior. Since then, they’ve moved from 10-3 and a Holiday Bowl win over North Carolina to 12-2 and a PAC-12 Championship Game appearance, then to a Fiesta Bowl win over Liberty, then to a Big Ten title in their first year in the league at 13-1, and finally to two playoff wins last season.
The two lopsided playoff losses are still the part people remember most. And for rivals and opponents, the old jab still hangs around: “10,000 uniforms, Zero natties.”
In Other News...
Dan Lanning And The Ducks Face Their First 2026 Big Test In Chicago
The Big Tens annual media days bring a familiar kind of preseason stagecraft, but for Oregon this week in Chicago it also marks the first real conference spotlight of 2026. Dan Lanning will meet the press at the Hilton Chicago alongside players Dante Moore, Jamari Johnson and Teitum Tuioti, with the Ducks represented across the event as the leagues coaches and players spend three days talking through the issues that tend to shape a season before it starts.
For Oregon, the setting matters because these sessions are where the bigger questions start to take form, from College Football Playoff expectations to conference scheduling and the broader direction of the sport. Lanning will get the main room, while Moore, Johnson and Tuioti handle their own podium turns, giving the Ducks a chance to frame their own message before the seasons pressure really arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Charlie Bird Had One Surprising Realization About The Oregon Duck
Charlie Birds time as BYUs mascot gave him plenty of chances to cross paths with other college football icons, but one of the most memorable came at an ESPN College Football Awards show. Bird said he ended up in a dance-off with the Oregon Duck, a performance that fit the mascots long-running reputation for being one of the sports most entertaining sideline acts.
The Duck has only added to that image lately, including a viral Autzen Stadium entrance in a Labubu costume that kept Oregon in the conversation well beyond game day. It also tracks with the broader way Dan Lanning talks about the program, which he has framed as innovative and built for the Big Ten spotlight, even if the people inside the costume still manage to surprise the folks sharing the stage with them. [Read more 🡒]
Oregons Biggest Camp Battle Will Decide How Safe Dante Moore Is
The biggest August question around Dante Moore is not about his arm or his poise, but about the five men charged with keeping the pocket intact in front of him. Oregon has to replace key pieces up front after NFL departures, and Dan Lanning with offensive line coach Alique Terry are still sorting through left tackle, left guard and right tackle options as camp begins to sharpen the picture for 2026.
Spring gave the Ducks a first look at a mix of tackles and interior candidates, with younger players also getting a chance to make their case. Fox Crader, Zac Stacausky, Ziyare Addison and Michael Bennett were among the names getting evaluated on the edge, while Douglas Utu, Trent Ferguson, Kawika Rogers and Demetri Manning are in the mix inside, and freshmen Tommy Tofi and Immanuel Iheanacho could still change the conversation if they keep climbing. [Read more 🡒]