We didn't get far into the season before tough times started for Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks.
After an embarrassing 39-31 loss to the unranked Oklahoma State Cowboys over the weekend — a team that had lost 21-straight games to FBS opponents — the program in Eugene is reeling. Questions are everywhere, and answers are sparse.
What is up with Dante Moore, and why does it look as if he has regressed? Why is the offensive line struggling so much, while the defensive line full of perceived NFL talent fails to create any havoc? How can a team get kicked in the mouth to start the season, promise to learn from it, and then show up a week later looking disinterested and unprepared?
Who's going to be the person to pull the Ducks out of this mess?
All
offseason, Lanning has claimed that this is as much of a player-led team as he's ever seen in Eugene, and that the leadership from within would be the difference when it came down to it. After two games, though, it appears that the leadership has vanished inside the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, and Oregon is desperately searching for something to change.
"I tell you, at this point, there's been a lack of leadership. Myself included," Lanning said on Monday night. "It starts with accountability, but it's got to show up. So again, you can't talk about it. You've got to see it, right? You have to see it, and we haven't seen it to this point."
That leadership, or lack thereof, shows up in many ways. It could be players not showing up for postgame interviews after a bad performance, or routine mistakes in-game, like jumping offsides multiple times on fourth down. It could even show up in ways fans don't see: showing up late to meetings, dogging it in practice, or failing to put in the necessary hours of film study.
This falls on coaches and players alike, all of whom have to be in sync and equally bought in for the end product to look as expected. Going forward, Lanning knows that if that leadership doesn't show up soon, then the slope in Eugene can get slippery.
"We didn't practice well enough last Wednesday to think we're gonna have a great performance on Saturday," Lanning said. "Mistakes you make in practice are gonna show up, and somebody has to speak on it, right? Coaches have to speak on it; they have to demand it. Players have to do it, right? And we all own that. We all wear that. So hopefully, leadership will start showing up, right? Or we won't have the result that we want."
The next two weeks are going to be pivotal. Those questions aren't going to stop any time soon, and regardless of the result this Friday night against Portland State, everyone is going to look at September 26 against theUSC Trojans to see how the Ducks respond and who leads the way.
If the answer continues to be "no one," then Oregon is in real trouble.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dan Lanning highlights 'lack of leadership' amidst Oregon struggles
