Coming into the season, Oregon was viewed as one of the National Championship frontrunners, and for good reason after a deep run in the College Football Playoff. Dante Moore, A'Mauri Washington, and Matayo Uiagalelei all passed up on the NFL Draft to push for a National Championship. The Ducks didn't spare any expense between roster retention, recruiting, and the Transfer Portal.
While everything was made available to this staff from a talent standpoint, the team sits at 3-2 after an embarrassing showing at home against UCLA. The National Championship and Playoff hopes aren't officially dead, but at this point the team needs to go perfect to make that possible, and with what has been shown to this point, that seems impossible.
Oregon can't blame talent for the results this season, and when Dan Lanning looks back on how the most talented roster he's ever had went to waste, the blame will start with himself.
Oregon made cocky hirings and it's cost the Ducks the season
This offseason, Dan Lanning lost both of his coordinators to head coaching gigs which is always a challenge. Given how much Oregon was putting into this roster, the Ducks could've attracted a top of the market offensive coordinator to work with Dante Moore, but Dan Lanning opted to instead elevate Drew Mehringer.
Elevating coordinators has worked in Dan Lanning's tenure, but hiring from within isn't always the best option. The decision to elevate Drew Mehringer hasn't paid off the way the hirings of Kenny Dillingham and Will Stein have, and it's the biggest reason this talented roster has underperformed.
Oregon's offense has struggled with starting fast, and coming off a bye week, Drew Mehringer needed to start fast as the Ducks faced a UCLA team that can run the ball at will. Instead, the only offensive excitement came from the defense recovering a fumble on the 1-yard line, otherwise it took 49+ minutes to finally score on offense.
The biggest flaw comes with the fact that Mehringer seemingly has no idea how to get his playmakers involved in the game, or he doesn't have the urgency to do so. Dakorien Moore is very clearly the Ducks' best playmaker after the catch, and there's no effort to get the ball in his hands early and often. Jamari Johnson is a matchup nightmare that teams haven't figured out how to guard, yet the Ducks didn't get him the ball until the 58th minute of the game.
Even with all the ugliness to start the game, Oregon had a chance to force overtime after scoring a late touchdown with their 3rd string quarterback, but there was one big issue. The Ducks' decision to try and score a 2-point conversion early in the game meant they needed to score a 2-point conversion to tie the game, and two uncreative play calls kept the Bruins in the lead.
Eventually, Oregon's offensive coordinator may find a playcalling rhythm, but by then it's going to be too late. The Ducks are going to lose Dante Moore, A'Mauri Washington, Matayo Uiagalelei, Evan Stewart, Jamari Johnson, and countless other stars after this season, and it's not easy to replace players of that caliber.
Add us as a preferred source on Google