Despite high expectations, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning’s Ducks have had a more challenging start to the season than anticipated. The team, now 2-0, has found itself in unexpectedly tight games. In their opener, they were heavy 49.5-point favorites against Idaho but only managed a 24-14 win. Week 2 brought even more drama, as the Ducks narrowly escaped with a 37-34 victory over Boise State, thanks to a game-winning 25-yard field goal by junior kicker Atticus Sappington in the final seconds.
Oregon, favored by 19 points heading into the game, trailed by seven with just 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. While Boise State could contend for the fifth automatic bid in the expanded College Football Playoff, Oregon’s struggle to pull out a win at home against an unranked opponent raises concerns for a team that was considered one of the preseason favorites to win the Big Ten.
After the close call, Lanning didn’t hold back in his assessment of the game and his team’s performance.
“We sure like sweating around here,” Lanning joked, according to Paolo Uggetti of ESPN.com. “I feel relieved because we got the win, but there are a lot of things we need to clean up.”
Chief among those concerns is the offense, which was expected to be explosive with experienced transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel leading the charge after taking over for Bo Nix. Oregon’s 24 points in the season opener against Idaho was their lowest offensive output since a 20-17 win over Utah late in the 2022 season. The 352 total yards gained against Boise State is also significantly below their 2023 average of 531 yards per game, highlighting the need for adjustments.
With Oregon aiming for a spot in the College Football Playoff, Lanning knows the Ducks will have to find more consistency on both sides of the ball as they prepare for tougher opponents in the weeks ahead. The close call with Boise State might serve as a wake-up call for the team, but it also leaves plenty of room for improvement.
