At Big Ten Media Days Duck fans learned that Dan Lanning and the Oregon player leaders have a healthy resolve and sense of purpose coming out of the Rose Bowl loss.
They're not preoccupied with it. They're not obsessed. The Ducks will go into this week's first practice with a determination to get one day better and a healthy respect for their next opponent. The last one merely forms context.
Asked about the Rose Bowl Matayo Uiagalelei said, “It definitely motivated us. Obviously, it’s not healthy to just dwell on it and just go back to it every moment. But I’d be lying to say our team isn’t fueled by that, us as players, maybe the coaches. But at the same time, you don’t want to just dwell on that, you want to be in the present and move forward from it. Just see what you did wrong and then change it."
I like that the game sticks in their craw a little. Having a 13-0 season end in a 41-21 defeat where a team got thoroughly manhandled is both humiliating and embarrassing for 24 hours, and then you go about making sure that the loss doesn't define you.
Uiagalelei, Boettcher, Sadiq and Lanning all expressed, firmly and quietly, that the season was a great success but they weren't happy with how it ended.
It won't dominate preparations at August camp, but it will serve to fuel them. And that's exactly what Duck fans would hope for from their team, getting better, not bitter.
CBS Sports just produced the worst take of the 2025 preseason. HOW is Illinois power ranked over Oregon? More locker room material for the Ducks. pic.twitter.com/VxYTzyCFxp
— College Football with Sam (@CFBwSam) July 27, 2025
The primary focus has to be not on rankings or ratings or what people remember about Pasadena but on clean execution and practice discipline.
Last year the Ducks camp out of preseason practice looking a little ragged in their first two games, stumbling to too-close victories over Idaho and Boise State. The offense was out of synch. They shot themselves in the foot with Red Zone penalties and turnovers. They played sloppy football.
In Las Vegas Dan Lanning said, "We do have a brand new team and brand new challenges, and what happened last year has nothing to do with the future." Focusing forward is the best option, showing that it's a group that can be defeated but never destroyed.