This is why no one takes Oregon seriously, why the very last thing you can do is believe this time is any different.
The trust is gone, officially.
Forget about the quarterback with the Heisman Trophy credentials. Or the experienced roster and elite skill players and a defensive line full of potential NFL draft picks.
Ducks coach Dan Lanning isn’t building Georgia of the West. He has built a program you can’t trust in games that matter.
“There’s a lot to fix, a lot to clean up,” Lanning said after Oregon escaped — again — in a season-opener against Boise State.
A Boise State program
that, despite its giant-killer reputation and big-game moxie, isn’t better than Oregon at any position on the field — yet had the ball with two minutes to play and a chance to win the game.
The same Boise State that two years ago arrived in Eugene for the season opener, and Oregon needed a punt return for a touchdown, a kickoff return for a touchdown and a last-second field goal to win the game.
That was also the season where Oregon won the Big Ten with a little help from the football gods (see: Ohio State gagged in The Game), and entered the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 overall seed.
Then lost to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal by a gazillion points.
Like it lost to Indiana in the CFP semifinals last year by a gazillion points. Like it lost those big games to bitter rival Washington — you know, the games that essentially got Kalen DeBoer the Alabama job
Like it lost to Georgia by a gazillion points in a season opener, and blew a late lead against a decent Oregon State team in the Civil War. That’s right, I called it the Civil War.
“Boise State did a great job, and we didn’t,” Lanning said.
But why?
It’s not like a majority of the Oregon team, which has stayed intact for the most part over the previous two seasons, didn’t know what Boise State is. What it did in 2024.
But it’s not like Oregon didn’t know what Indiana was in last year’s CFP, after losing to the Hoosiers in Eugene earlier in the year. It’s not like Oregon didn’t know what Washington was in the rematch in 2023, where the Ducks could’ve eventually been the team playing for a national title instead of the Huskies.
There’s just something about this team under Lanning, who has done everything right since arriving in Eugene — except winning games that matter. He has recruited at an elite level, and developed players and NFL draft picks.
But like it or not, Oregon has a history under Lanning of wilting when the spotlight is bright. It took a career-best game from quarterback Dante Moore — and some fortunate officiating — to beat Boise State this time around.
Do you trust Oregon later this month at USC? Do you trust the Ducks in early November at Ohio State, which Oregon beat under Lanning in 2024 — but only after Lanning manipulated the rule book by using 12 players on the field to run precious time off the clock in the final seconds.
A week later, the NCAA made a rule to eliminate the “Lanning loophole.”
Do you trust Oregon against Michigan in mid-November, or against Washington in the regular season finale? Or (maybe) the Big Ten championship game, or the CFP?
Oregon’s roster is as good as any team in college football, and the Ducks play in one of the most difficult home environments in college football. But when the spotlight arrives, how will this team respond?
It starts with Lanning’s backhanded compliment — Boise State played well, Oregon didn't — for the latest opponent to make Oregon look bad in a game that matters.
“We’ve got to go figure out how to play cleaner as a team,” Lanning said.
Look, it’s one game and the greatest improvement typically comes from Week 1 to Week 2. Oregon will travel to Oklahoma State next week, and drill the Cowboys and we’ll once again be back on the bandwagon.
But why? Oregon has shown over and over who it is in spotlight games.
It's time to believe it.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.It’s time to believe it.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Every time you buy into Oregon, Dan Lanning gives you a reason not to | Opinion
