Sometimes it's best to just shut the doors, take the supervisors out of the equation, and just talk it out. No dramatics, just a conversation. Soul searching. Diagnosing a problem and finding mutual ground to solve it.
When the Oregon Ducks returned home from a whooping suffered at the hands of Oklahoma State in Stillwater, there was plenty of blame to be cast around. Dan Lanning didn't have the team ready to go and made questionable decisions. The team as a whole didn't look prepared for the heat. Both coordinators struggled again to get a proper footing.
And the players were no better. Dropped passes, missed assignments, penalties, you name it. The Ducks have a short week ahead of them, hosting Portland State on a Friday night, so there is no time
to waste, but there is also no time to panic, with all of the team's elusive preseason goals still attainable.
The Ducks held a player-led meeting to try and get everyone back on the same page. Grievances were aired politely — there were no screaming matches or rah-rah motivational speeches — and the team found a way to turn an ugly moment into a new direction.
"The player-led meeting was great," Oregon quarterback Dante Moore said. "I feel like every team needs it just to communicate, debrief and talk about the thoughts everybody is having in their heads. There wasn't much screaming going on. It was just trying to get on the same page with everybody. I feel like it was very important because we needed it. What we said in that meeting has helped carry over into this week, and we've been attacking it every day."
Moore has been the subject of scrutiny through the team's first two games. Although he threw for a career-high in passing yards against Boise State, he still didn't seem like the player who became a superstar in 2025. Missed reads or throws, some tells in his stance, and his decision-making were called into question. Against the Cowboys, all of those errors were amplified.
As a leader, Moore felt a meeting among the players would reestablish a connection that has been seemingly absent through the first two weeks of the season.
"I feel like as a team we've grown these past couple of days ever since the Oklahoma State game," Moore said. "We've been more vocal and more connected. These things happen in life, and you appreciate them because they mold you and make you better as a team."
Details about what was said during the meeting remained behind lock and key, but veteran center Iapani Laloulu noted some of the tense feelings in the room that made the talk necessary. Oregon has been pushed around along the line of scrimmage, offensively and defensively, and nothing has come easy this season. Laloulu felt the week of practice leading into the Oklahoma State game was "lackadaisical," and he called it out in front of the team.
Unfortunately, it didn't result in a shift on Saturday, and the Ducks fell well short of their standard. But getting frustrated after Week 2 and bailing on their offseason efforts won't help the team correct course.
“Nobody likes losing," Laloulu said. "I don't like losing, but you know, I gotta remain cool and calm because right now, currently, that is our resume. That is what we are right now, based off what we just played and how we showed up this past Saturday. But the good thing about it is that God gives us another day, another opportunity. We have the rest of the season to go, and that starts in practice."
Oregon linebacker Devon Jackson views this week as a turning point for the team. The way things have been done is not working, and the Ducks need to change it up. Jackson hopes this week of practice takes the Ducks "back to basics" in an effort to put the team first.
"We met. I'm not going to get into details of what we talked about and when we met," Jackson said. "But we met and we talked about it, and we had those conversations, and things will definitely be different from here on out."
Much of the narrative surrounding the team has been the number of NFL-ready players who returned to assemble a college superteam in Eugene. Alongside Moore, the Ducks brought back their entire defensive line and wide receiver core, and added the top transfer safety on top of it all. While the moves stacked the roster, the team-first identity seemed to be lost in the shuffle, and the championship dreams blinded some to the path to get there.
"I've been a game away. I've been a couple teams away," Jackson said. "We're the same team that has been one team away every single year, starting with Washington, Ohio State. We just have to stay a team. All we've got to do is go back to the basics and we'll be fine."
Don't expect Oregon to be completely inept on offense or defense moving forward. The team is simply too strong to turn out performances like it did last Saturday regularly. Big games are coming up, including a trip to USC next weekend, and the Ducks need to turn the corner fast.
Lanning called out the lack of leadership after the loss, from both coaches and players. That's a punch that Lanning landed at the bell to start the round. It's a wake-up call. If the players' meeting has any impact on the season, this will be the week where change is noticeable, even against an FCS opponent.
"It starts today, goes into the meeting, and every day after that," Laloulu said. "(Jackson) mentioned that player-led meeting; there were some emotions to it. But we all gotta understand, emotion is not gonna win us games. Like I said, it's the basic, fundamental things — technique, and everything else is going to lead up to that.”
Oregon, now ranked No. 21 in the AP poll, will try to turn its season around with a confidence-boosting victory on Friday night against Portland State. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon players met after loss: 'Things will definitely be different'
