I think they were good, but not quite the whole package. They seemed a couple of pieces short of the whole puzzle.

If they can play their best for an entire game, they have a chance to knock off anybody.

If they could take back the bad OC promotion and Dante was still playing, I would say they make the playoffs but have an early exit from there.

As bad as we were against UCLA, we were a play or two away from winning. They are ranked top 5, so we would at least be there.

Especially now that the defense is playing great and the O-line seems to be more settled.

Most of us expected a lot more from this version of the Ducks. Then reality struck.

This team may be on the verge of correcting serious issues. The players are talented but the coaching and the effort have been greatly disappointing at times.

At this point the Ducks are better than mediocre. The intensity I saw in the players in the NW game gave me hope Oregon could win 3 of the next 4 and go 6-3 in the BIG and 8-4 overall. Not great but better than most.

Not sure about getting into the playoffs since this season has been a shakeout for most ranked teams. Which has added a lot of excitement to the season.

I think they were at their best against USC. But they’ve always looked a little “off” to me. This is a weird year in college football with no dominant team except, maybe, Miami. So, at their best I think our Ducks were top 10.

The O-Line is not good. The defensive fronts from Ohio State and Michigan will be the best ones they’ve faced all season. I don’t anticipate a great showing in the next two games.

When you look at the USC game and the 2nd half against Northwestern, you see how good this team can be at their best. But, that’s not the real question, which is unbelievably how bad they can be at their worst.

3 hours ago, DuckyBronco said:

I think they were at their best against USC. But they’ve always looked a little “off” to me. This is a weird year in college football with no dominant team except, maybe, Miami. So, at their best I think our Ducks were top 10.

Yes, I remember saying when Dante was injured we would get to see how capable we really were and we struggled to pull away from them, which was honestly a little disappointing at the time, but reflective of our ceiling.

Then again, we did what Ohio State could not, beat a highly motivated USC team at home, but I think that was more a case of us playing to our ceiling while OSU played to their floor.

I do think our ceiling has an opportunity to continue to improve since the USC game, but unfortunately OSU is next week, and they won't be playing to their floor for a second week in a row at home with their be acks against the wall.

3 hours ago, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

The O-Line is not good. The defensive fronts from Ohio State and Michigan will be the best ones they’ve faced all season. I don’t anticipate a great showing in the next two games.

I don't think the O line is great either, but the OC made them look worse than they were.

Now that the Ducks have a somewhat sensible OC who kind of knows what he is doing, lets see how the O line does vs OSU and Michigan.

There must have been some kind of reason that Lanning did not replace everybody there from the portal.

I don't think Oregon has been at their best yet. I think we are going to start seeing Oregons best game week after week as we go through Nov.

They have settled on the O line FINNALY! Going into the 3rd game with the same starting five should help. I am not saying they are a great line but they are getting better now.

Changing the OC seemed to help. It took a second to get going but the last 32:00 or so was pretty good football.

This team has a bunch of talent. They ate the rat poison, died, and seemed to show signs of resurrection last week.

Not sure where the ceiling is with this team. I know that last week win felt really good. It looked and felt different.

There is a slim hope for this team to make the B1G CG, win it and get into the post season. Untill that's extinguished, I am going to root like crazy for my beloved Ducks.

Scoo Ducks

To give an honest assessment, i must take my heart and love for the Ducks out of my thoughts and remove my uber optimistic, green and yellow biased lens glasses.

I never fell for the off-season super hype about OBD's. How could the so called experts ignore some of the obvious concerns facing this 2026 Ducks team. That's the fans job!

1. New, inexperienced OC and DC. And no depth on the staff at the skill positions to teach.

2. Replacing 3 Oline players. If DL didnt feel this was critical he would not have pushed so hard for Seaton and a number of 5☆ recruits for the line. Seaton would have been a hugh addition. The off season was a miss for the Oline.

3. We all saw the weakness in Dante's game. Dante and those around him recognized it and Dante returned so he could improve. There was no guarantee he would improve.

4. I was excited that DL landed DR. But he was and is not a finished product. We are seeing that play out.

5. And under DL, the Ducks struggled in the biggest games. It was exciting that DL got us to those games. Could he get OBD's over that hurdle..

Those concerns were real and some are still concerns.

My 2026 prediction was for 10-2. That was my ceiling and my bottom for this years squad.

The Ducks have yet to play a full 4 quarter game. If they do, then 9-3 is possible. 8-4 or 7-5 are in play if they don't.

GO DUCKS!