Oct 13, 2026 10:26 PM
Plagued by line struggles and coordinator changes, the Ducks’ title ambitions are crumbling. Dan Lanning faces a program-defining crisis as a preseason favorite teeters on the brink.
It's getting so bad before the middle of October that the Oregon Ducks are changing their mindset on the season from focusing on the outcome of games to worrying about the process of coaches and players doing their respective jobs correctly as they get through the fall.
Oregon entered the season with ambitions of making the College Football Playoff and winning the national championship. After all, Dante Moore and several players postponed going into the NFL draft to return to Eugene this season.
The Ducks were sluggish in their season opener against Boise State and suffered an upset against Oklahoma State in Week 2. They showed promise in a 41-27 win over USC on the road, but the season appears otherwise to have imploded with a 17-15 loss to UCLA at home coming out of a bye week that Dylan Raiola had two weeks to prepare for.
During the "Josh Pate's College Football Show" on Sunday, the host didn't hold back on what a disappointment year has been for Oregon. He suggested it could be a "lost season." Even worse, he worries the loss could set the program back for years to come.
Pate noted that the preseason concerns of the offensive line and two new coordinators have wound up hurting Oregon, saying the team has "gigantic red Xs in every column" on a team that was built to win the national title.
There's no sugarcoating what Oregon has displayed this season. For whatever reason, the Ducks have been unable to get out of the funk they started September with.
It feels like the season could go one of two ways for the Ducks. They could salvage the season by beating Northwestern and Ohio State. However, it's not out of the realm of possibility this team starts adding numbers to the loss column in the next few weeks, not too dissimilar to how Penn State folded after losing to Oregon last year.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is being tested like he never has before in Eugene. On paper, the roster has more than enough talent to win the next seven games on the schedule.
But that will take playing in a way the Ducks haven't shown the ability they can do consistently for the next two months. Any less than playing in the national championship felt like a lost season for the Ducks in August.
By November, the dream of the CFP could be over.
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