https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/09/05/why-oregon-football-fails-in-big-moments-dan-lanning-boise-state/91637416007/

Oh, boo-hoo.

Everybody is this way until they finally break through...and every SEC team can nearly blow a game without any bias against them.

This is a writer who was looking for something to write about, and found a topic that would go viral. Meanwhile....in the 3.1 seasons, Dan Lanning is now 39-0 against teams who were not in the National Championship game. That doesn't suck...

We'll get there!

Let's see how things turn out in November.

Every team sees a big jump between fame one and game two.

Additionally... Remember Penn State dominated their first few weeks last year. How'd that turn out for James Franklin?

Restraining myself from saying something regrettable to the author.

In 2014 Ohio State started the season with an unimpressive win over Navy and then lost to an unranked and eventual 7-6 Virginia Tech team. We all know how their season ended.

I sort of expect this from fans of other teams around the country. I'm not too familiar with this writer but I recognize the name. So, knows better, he is just serving up the hot takes.

He knows how long it took Kirby to break through at Georgia, how long it took Day to break through at Ohio State, the time frames for Saben and Swinney to win their first. He also knows, as a college football writer, that no FBS coach under 40 has won a National Championship since 1981.

He does. Which means he is passing on an attempt at a fair and nuanced argument for something that will attract more attention.

Totally seems to ignore Oregon beating both Ohio State and Penn State in 2024 and Penn State and Texas Tech in 2025. All big games at the time. I had a huntch so I checked and yes, leading up to the Oregon vs. Texas Tech playoff game, he indeed did say he didn't trust Oregon in a big game and predicted Texas Tech to win 24-20 (Jan. 1, 2026 USA Today roundtable). I bet I can guess his prediction (and reasoning) for the upcoming November 7, 2026 game against Ohio State too?

Edited Sunday at 08:44 PM2 days by AnotherOD

Who is playing playoff caliber football week 1 or even 2?!

It's a long season. Improvement comes from practice, yes, but more importantly, actually playing the games.

The best thing that could have happened did. The guys realized preseason press and hype isn't worth much. They dug down deep and fought through and won a good game against a quality opponent.

Our guys learned something from this game. What did all those teams beating up on weak teams learn?

I think we caught a glimpse of just how good we can be this year. All those mistakes, an O-line still developing and still 497 yards of offense!

The defense is still learning to work together. Their 1st TD was a mistake by new players working together misreading the switch. A young linebacker crew learning to read and make defensive calls.

All in all, lots of room for improvement, but oh, the potential is real!

Writer Hayes is a graduate of Florida and lives/works from Orlando.

Here's another brilliant assessment:

https://x.com/MattHayesCFB/status/2096405090689077475

He has been a writer for many years including USA Today.

8 hours ago, HDuck said:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/09/05/why-oregon-football-fails-in-big-moments-dan-lanning-boise-state/91637416007/

This guy is one dumb son of biscuit.

"The same Boise State that two years ago arrived in Eugene for the season opener..." -- and he basically said that we sucked in that game.

For some reason, this schmuck forgot to mention that BSU ended the 2024 season ranked #8 in the nation.

Bottom-line is that I won't be remotely surprised if BSU ends up in the Top 10 again by the end of the season.

Edited Monday at 03:51 AM2 days by Desert Duck

Just like ANY poll before week 6-8 in the season....this "opinion" means exactly jack shite nuthin!

Just ones opinion.

GO DUCKS!

On 9/6/2026 at 11:33 PM, Desert Duck said:

This guy is one dumb son of biscuit.

"The same Boise State that two years ago arrived in Eugene for the season opener..." -- and he basically said that we sucked in that game.

For some reason, this schmuck forgot to mention that BSU ended the 2024 season ranked #8 in the nation.

Bottom-line is that I won't be remotely surprised if BSU ends up in the Top 10 again by the end of the season.

Boise was seeded 3rd in the 2024-25 PO. I think Boise State will finish in the Top-25, but not in the Top 10.

As Charles noted, until OBD wins a Natty, the Ducks are low-flying targets.

Oregon defeated a team ranked 28th in the preseason AP Poll that lost to Oregon and moved up to 26th in the latest spot, while OBD dropped four spots. Logical, right?

Matt Hayes needs to write something negative; that's his forte. He could write about Rutgers ' faceplant, but who gives a whip about Rutgers?

Texas destroyed an inept UTEP and moved up one spot in the AP. USC is 2-0 with wins over two teams better than UTEP and remains ranked 14th behind four 1-0 SEC teams that consumed cupcakes in Week 1.

As I noted in another post, the AP Poll will not matter when the final PO committee ranking is revealed on 12/6/26, but the PO committee rankings are as subjective as are the Coaches and AP Polls.

Another thing that led to the critique of Oregon's performance was the ridiculous -24.5 spread. I'm true to my school, but I knew my wallet would be hurt by not taking Boise and the points.

Yes, OK State and its new 91 players lost at Tulane on Saturday, but a line of Oregon -22.5 playing in Boone Pickens Stadium also sets up Dan and the team for ridicule.

But positive or negative, teams aren't dumped on or praised if they're not a team, like OBD, that is followed coast-to-coast.

Lasso the Cowboys! Paste the Paddle People!

If you're not competing for titles, you don't get dumped on.

You can always count on Paul to come with a reasoned take, right?

Day's two terrible losses last season came against the 2025-26 champion and the runner-up.

Ryan Day, and not Sark, is a choke artist? Hmmmm.

CFB-HQ On SI

Paul Finebaum Names Major College Football Head Coach Who...

Paul Finebaum delivers a blunt assessment of a major college football head coach.

Thanks for sharing posts like this, even though it's obviously biased. It makes for a fun discussion for us fans. But I do hope Lanning and the team read this type of articles too. It will surely fire them up! Go Ducks!

36 minutes ago, Jon Joseph said:

Another thing that led to the critique of Oregon's performance was the ridiculous -24.5 spread. I'm true to my school, but I knew my wallet would be hurt by not taking Boise and the points.

I don't bet ... and I wouldn't bet on the Ducks because Dan Lanning does not give a crap about the spread. He only cares about the win.

I think here even if the Ducks did blow out the Broncos and the reserves did get some play, Boise State probably would have back-door covered anyways. Lanning would have seen he had the game under control and was giving his reserves valuable reps.

Betting on a Lanning team to cover the spread is a risky proposition.

The fact of the matter is that Our Beloved Ducks needed Boise State to play that well. It's all out in the open now, the things need to be worked on. Also the "national title talk" is now gone, and the jinx that comes with it.

My hope is that they have a hard week of practice and are determined to make amends.

I do bet, and I bet on Boise State last weekend. Of course, I rooted against my financial interest because I wanted the Ducks to win by a hundy. But free money is free money. We all knew we weren't going to cover that number.

1 hour ago, BroncoSas said:

The fact of the matter is that Our Beloved Ducks needed Boise State to play that well. It's all out in the open now, the things need to be worked on. Also the "national title talk" is now gone, and the jinx that comes with it.

My hope is that they have a hard week of practice and are determined to make amends.

You don't think the Ducks were doing a rope a dope do you? 😃