Oregon has reached the point in camp where the real hitting is almost done.
The Ducks finished their final major live-tackling scrimmage before the Sept. 5 opener against Boise State at Autzen Stadium, and coach Dan Lanning said it will be the last time his team gets much full-contact work before the season begins.
“Good scrimmage today, some good work,” Lanning said. “It will be the last time that we really get a lot of live tackling and practice before we get to a game.”
Lanning said the defense won Saturday’s work, while the offense took the first scrimmage, so both sides can walk away with something. He also said Oregon hit several goals during camp, including staying “relatively healthy,” forcing takeaways and making major strides in the kicking game.
The Ducks are now moving toward opponent prep, but not all at once. Lanning said Oregon will keep the focus mostly on itself for now before shifting into Boise State-specific work later in the week.
“The end of the next week, we’re gonna hop into some game plan,” Lanning said. “And we’ve already done some similar game-plan stuff that we do in the summer. But we’ll have some normal practices throughout this week.”
For now, the emphasis remains internal.
“It’s still gonna be more about Oregon than anybody else,” Lanning said. “And then obviously once we get into the game week, it’ll transition to our opponent.”
Boise State is hardly an unknown to Oregon. The Broncos were at Autzen Stadium in 2024 and pushed the Ducks in a close game. They now arrive as one of the favorites to represent the Group of Six in the College Football Playoff, which gives the opener some real weight right away.
There was also a clear sign of how much one of Oregon’s biggest transfer additions has progressed. After watching Dylan Raiola in the first scrimmage, Lanning said the quarterback looks like a different player than the one who showed up in Eugene this spring.
“Yeah, Dylan’s gotten a lot better,” Lanning said. “He looks like a night-and-day different player from when he got here in the spring.”
That matters because Raiola had to manage a lot at once when he first arrived, including learning the playbook and rehabbing the broken fibula he brought with him to Eugene. Dante Moore is expected to lead the offense this season, but Raiola’s growth gives Oregon depth at quarterback and a possible path forward in 2027.
Oregon Ducks on SI reporter Bri Amaranthus also asked eight Ducks which true freshmen had stood out during camp, and defensive lineman Bear Alexander singled out offensive lineman Immanuel Iheanacho. Alexander called him a “big guy” he battles in practice.
Iheanacho, a consensus five-star recruit and the consensus No. 2 recruit in Maryland, is listed at 6-foot-7 and 280 pounds. He arrived in Eugene in June and did not enroll early, making that kind of early praise a notable sign for a player who could shape Oregon’s offensive line down the line.
Amaranthus also asked players to complete the sentence, and the answers gave a snapshot of what gets under Lanning’s skin. The responses were:
Jordon Davison: "We're winning!" Bear Alexander: “When somebody does something stupid.”
Peyton Woodyard: “We’re not running to the ball.” Gernorris Wilson: “Offense is winning the day.”
Devon Jackson: “If you mess up the same mistake twice.” Iverson Hooks: “A mental error.”
Andrew Olesh: “When we jump offsides.” Aaron Flowers: “Game time.”
Bailey Ettridge: “Also when he’s on the field.”
As camp winds down, Oregon is shifting from evaluation mode to game prep mode for a season opener that arrives quickly.
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