Blowouts were inevitable in the expanded College Football Playoff as 12 teams reached the postseason for the first time. Certainly, no one expected the No. 1 overall (and undefeated) Oregon Ducks would be among those getting blasted out of the field. But in a lopsided 41-21 rout at the hands of Ohio State, Oregon looked the part of a sacrificial lamb.
In previous years, Oregon would have been in the CFP. Ohio State would have been out as the No. 6 team with two losses. Before the 1990s, the Ducks would have simply been named AP national champions after burning through their regular season schedule undefeated and clinching the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes came out with an intensity and fervor that Oregon simply wasn’t ready for, jumping out to a 34-0 lead and cruising to the finish line. It was a freshman, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who did the most damage with 187 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Ducks fans must be groaning knowing they have two years of battles remaining against the No. 1-ranked recruit in the Class of 2024, who may be the bet freshman wideout in college football history.
Now, the focus turns to the offseason as Oregon tries to rebuild from its public flogging at the hands of Ryan Day and the Buckeyes. Heisman finalist quarterback Dillon Gabriel is off to the NFL after the season. So are most of the defensive line contributors, potentially four offensive linemen and the entire receiving corps.
Oregon’s ascent to the elite of college football under coach Dan Lanning has been rapid. Here’s where the program must go next.
Stay the course
The first game of the Lanning era was a total disaster. The Ducks coach scraped with the team he just helped lead to a national championship, the 2022 Georgia Bulldogs. Oregon lost 49-3 and some around the program surely felt like they made a mistake by entrusting its future to a 36-year-old.
Last season, then-Washington coach Kalen DeBoer owned Lanning’s Ducks. Lanning made some aggressive calls that ultimately cost Oregon games as the Huskies reached the national championship game. Oregon was pushed to the New Year’s Six.
All this to say, Oregon has been through the wringer repeatedly under Lanning and lived to tell the tale. By every conceivable metric, Oregon is one of the healthiest — and wealthiest — programs in the sport. The Ducks have a phenomenal 35-6 record through three seasons, including 24-3 against conference opponents. Oregon was the only team to finish the regular season undefeated as the Ducks captured a historic Big Ten Championship.
There’s plenty to clean up, and the Ducks’ staff will have a whole offseason to think about what went wrong. But while Oregon must get better, much has gone right. Reaching the next level requires tweaks, not transformation.
Keep building in the trenches
Offensive line is the single position group that’s hardest to rush. When the Ducks dealt with injuries early in the season, their struggles up front played a major role in close games against Boise State and Idaho. Eventually they settled in and played well enough, but a motivated Ohio State front was just a completely different challenge.
Against Ohio State, the Ducks surrendered an obscene 13 tackles for loss and eight sacks. Nine passes were broken up and Oregon rushed for -26 yards. Even sack adjusted, the Ducks averaged 1.6 yards per carry. Ohio State, for comparison, cleared six yards per carry. Only two teams gave up five sacks to the Buckeyes. One of them was Akron.
Oregon’s offensive line plans were impacted after projected guard Matthew Bedford went out for the season in camp. Two transfers slid into the starting lineup next to star left tackle Josh Conerly, underclassman center Iapani Laloulu and inconsistent guard Marcus Harper II. After the injuries, the depth wasn’t there. There’s no guarantee that Bedofrd would have swung the unit, but he would have filled a hole.
After the season, four starters are projected to be gone — three seniors, plus Conerly, who is likely off to the NFL. Bedford will slot in next to Laloulu if he can get a medical redshirt, but the Ducks are again looking to the portal with OTs Isaiah World (Nevada) and Alex Harkey (Texas State). This is the moment where development also must pay off. Class of 2025 interior line signee Ziyare Addison is only the second top 100 offensive line recruit since five-star Conerly in 2022.
Lean on development
Lanning has emerged as a serious portal king at Oregon. In 2024, he reeled in Gabriel, cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, defensive lineman Jamaree Caldwell, receiver Evan Stewart and a number of other key players. The group finished as the No. 2 transfer class in the nation and trailed only Ohio State for average rating.
When the dust settled on the 2024 season, the Ducks’ leading passer, four of the top five leaders in all-purpose yards, two of the top three tacklers and four of the top seven tackles for loss leaders were transfers. There are some great development stories to be found, like linebacker partners Bryce Boettcher and Teitum Tuioti, but most players have limited years in the system.
Ohio State had some key players that joined through the transfer portal, including safety Caleb Downs and quarterback Will Howard. Still, the vast majority of contributors spent multiple years in the system and developed together.
Lanning is one of the great young coaches in college football and has built a wildly impressive roster. However, all five remaining teams in the College Football Playoff were built with high school recruiting as the pillar of their program and selective portal usage to supplement it. The Ducks have inked three straight top 10 classes, and stacked consecutive top-four groups in 2025. Next season, it’s time for that development to come through.
Quarterback will be perhaps the biggest headline in 2025. With Gabriel off to the NFL, former UCLA transfer Dante Moore is next in line. While he is a transfer, Moore will become the first quarterback to sit a year before starting at Oregon under Lanning’s watch. His development after an inconsistent freshman season with the Bruins will be telling.
Oregon has taken six transfers in the Class of 2025 so far. While safety Dillon Thieneman and defensive tackle Bear Alexander are poised to be major contributors, returning players should play a bigger role.
