As we all know, things are looking pretty bleak. Expectations were high, and we've all come crash landing back to reality. Seems to be the Oregon way.

This has been pretty apparent in this thread and all over social media the last week. And I don't blame folks. Questions need answers for what has been a shit show. But I think it's time to focus on the players ( who yea, get paid a lot and that's a whole different conversation ). The coaches deserve the heat, their grown ass man who get paid a lot of money. I hope there's staff meetings going on where boot is getting put to ass and a change is coming.

But the players need support. If we want them to do what is likely improbable, but not impossible, they need belief from their fans. Does nothing for morale jumping on social media and seeing nothing but anger and despair. They turn on the TV or YouTube or whatever and the media is talking down on them and worse of fans are talking shit about them.For a lot of these kids, this is the last year they will ever play competitive football. Let them enjoy it.

Last weekend happened, we can't change it so time to look forward. So if you can, go to the games - seen posts of people talking about boycotting until changes are made , which is a bitch move - let the players know we give a shit, and maybe, just maybe we pull this off. A fools hope, but hope none the less. Rally round the troops as they say.

Lets put the hammer to Nebraska, look only forward and maybe have some fun watching the boys play. We do that, maybe they'll want to hang around next year.

Let's f'ken go Ducks.

Also implied that offensive deficiencies were well known by the players coming into the game.

...I was let down that they didn't give Dana Altman a send off for the crowd so we could show our appreciation for all that he did for us. Not sure why.. was it Dana declining?

On a separate note. I love the idea of having the crowd all sing as one. But the choice was "Hey Jude". It felt more like a dirge than a galvanizing sing along (at least it wasn't Sweet Caroline".

Ok thanks for indulging me. Now back to all the Mehringer/Terry/Riaola posts.

Duck here, class of 1991, went through the horrific Rich Brooks years of "Up the Middle" runs to nothing, saw Bill Musgrave break his collarbone when we were 6-0 and then we went winless after...and enjoyed the slow but steady rise to relative greatness, with the glorious memory of being at Fuskie stadium during the Chip Kelly tenure and the Ducks fans chanting "Ten more years! Ten more years!" when we beat them for the tenth time in a row!

Which makes me say, was the UCLA game the worst in 25 years? Probably. But...we turned the ball over 7 times (SEVEN?! (yes, screamed)), got screwed on the 2PC ball placement and still only lost by two. Of course, if we'd been playing Georgia, it's likely a different story, but we can cross that bridge at season's end.

Colossal coaching failures/lack of clever/innovative play calling is killing us, but the team hasn't given up on themselves. GO DUCKS and Gang Green!

All credit to Zachary Neel for posting Dan’s response.

Lanning also said “There’s gonna be some changes and differences in the way that we operate”

1. I appreciate that at least some changes in operation are being considered by Dan, albeit we have no idea what those are, but hey any type of change to address what we saw on Saturday is a plus.

2. I can appreciate the acknowledgment that Mehringer has not had success as a coordinator, that’s a bold statement to make in an interview. That being said, can’t help but wonder why you know that he failed by RUTGERS standards and you promoted him to OC. I hope this is an indication that potentially somebody can assist with playcalling duties to whatever capacity possible.

3. I do not love Dan defending Terry with the references to previous success. Terry got some pretty experienced groups to a perceived successful performance (season wise), but those groups had many experienced transfers that were developed elsewhere. Our younger OL players look anything but ready to play. Our offensive line has been abysmal, to the point that I wouldn’t be shocked if Dante hesitated to come back just to protect himself from further concussions. I think Dan has to know Terry has failed, he is a very good recruiter but other coaches did more with less at Oregon, ie: chip Kelly’s Oregon teams led the pac 12 in rushing every single year, far less blue chip guys on those lines.

The rest is honestly just coach speak.

I am HOPING it translates to something positive for our program the rest of the way, but I have to admit I’m tired of the “we have to do better, right?” Shtick.

Also very curious to see what they’ll do at QB, I’d be lying if I said that I had any great solutions for this next week at the position.

On one hand Raiola was atrocious and inexplicably bad.

On the other hand I think Thomas is getting a little too much credit due to the box score/yardage difference, but admittedly UCLA was largely in prevent late and Thomas got bailed out by a tipped pass on a play where he was throwing into double coverage on what would’ve otherwise been a pick, making our 2pt conversion attempt moot.

What were your takeaways guys?

I thought modern stadiums started building robust WiFi networks in stadiums many years ago, but Autzen is as bad as it was four years ago. No WiFi, and no cell phone service. It can even be hard to connect from outside the stadium to bring up the live ticket required for entry.

The Oregon OL PFF grades have regressed from
2024 ➡️ 2025 ➡️ 2026.

OKST, BSU, UCLA, all got home with 3 man fronts numerous times, which is unacceptable by an Oregon OL.

We have massive, bluechip prospects upfront, and we’ve recruited the OL extremely well under Terry but this is terrible.

Poncho grades worse as a blocker today than he did in 2024. He got worse in 2025, even worse now. HOW?

Even when Mehringer managed to finally scheme up some creativity in the run game in the second half, our OL fell apart and couldn’t do much of anything.

We have zero push, outside of runs out in the flats/edges, we can’t move anybody in the interior. As much as I’ve been critical of Mehringer at OC, even the best/more experienced OCs will struggle next year if this is the product Terry is going to put out there.

We’re 5 games into the season and this man is rotating 8-9 OL into the game, constantly switching between drives, it’s NOT working and is arguably the biggest issue.

How the hell do we not have an established 5-6 man group upfront? If we were this unprepared or not ready to play, why no transfers?? This falls on Terry. It’s his group, his guys, his lack of development.

Fellow ducks fans, what do we think happens with Terry?
I am assuming Dan will retain him if there’s any success the rest of the way, but I truthfully don’t have confidence in his development skills at this point.

Our OL is the real paper tiger. Big and bad, filled with bluechips, but once those experienced transfers (that got developed elsewhere first) left, we have fallen apart upfront.

The only thing exciting in autzen this year has been the song they play when the opposing team comes out. Problem is, I can never hear the lyrics because they always play it right after duckvision goes on when the opposing team takes the field. Make this fans day and tell me what song it is since our product on the field is about exciting as watching paint dry (still love my ducks even though our product this year is not up to par)

Did anyone watch the whole Dan lanning press conference that went live about an hour or so ago? I missed it but could anyone summarize what it was about or anything that was said?

Hey guys, I made coaches film cut-ups for the following guys against UCLA:

Evan Stewart

Jamari Johnson

Iapani Laloulu

Teitum Tuioti

Matayo Uiagalelei

Bear Alexander

A'Mauri Washington

Devon Jackson

If you've never seen All-22 film it's definitely worth a watch...gives you a different feel for guys' performances than the broadcast angle. I will get more film of these guys added as the season goes on (and Dante Moore). I plan to do Koi Perich as well. I'm trying to stick to draft eligible players so if there's anyone else you feel like I missed, please let me know and I will try to get them added. Also any comments/criticisms on the cutups/sites are welcome, thanks!

https://www.draftprospectfilm.com/schools/oregon

Coming out of Saturday, I am not sure if Oregon has faced more questions about the quarterback position since the mid 2010s, with the only possible exception being the Shough/Brown years. Dante's health, Dylan's poor play, and the mysteries behind the two have created uncertainty both for the remainder of this year and into 2027. 

Dante Moore: Dante might return to the the field this year, but given the up and down nature of his play through the first 3 games, I wouldn't expect him to be the savior of the season. I also fully expect this to be Dante's last season at Oregon, though could be surprised if he decides to return for his last year of eligibility. 

Dylan Raiola: Painful as Saturday was, Dylan might still be best option for the rest of the year, assuming Dante is still not medically cleared. That being said, Saturday was a disasterclass, and I worry that Dylan playing this year has tarnished the process Dylan and the team had in place. It was mutually agreed before the season that Dylan would sit this year, and while the USC game was a revelation, UCLA proved Dylan is not consistently ready for big time P5 football. Short term, there are questions, but I also wonder if we are now at a point where either Dylan's confidence in the team or the team's confidence in Dylan is irreparably damaged. I could see Dylan transferring to a smaller school next year to try to reset. 

Brock Thomas: Brock has looked dependable, if not a little pedestrian, during his limited time playing for the Ducks. That said, he has never started a college game, and I would be mildly concerned about his low ceiling should he start any portion of this season. Beyond this season, I would imagine that very few people would be excited if Brock Thomas was the week 1 starter in 2027, barring him going on a Trinidad Chambliss type of run through the remainder of this year. 

Akili Smith Jr: Smith has been a virtual nonfactor through two years with Oregon, and while he possesses interesting athletic traits, I do not see him being a factor this season. I would personally say that halfway through your second season with a school isn't "too young" to play QB, but the coaching staff clearly has him as QB4 for a reason. He might be in position to compete for a start in 2027, but I doubt he will given the keys without a competition. 

In short, I think this team is at a crossroads for both the short and longer term at the QB position. What was once viewed as the best QB room in the country now has more questions than answers for this season and next, and I now wouldn't be surprised to see the coaching staff bring in a high profile portal QB next year. 

The duality of fandom. Go Ducks. Bolt Up. Unfortunately.

When it comes to dealing with adversity in crunch time and managing the level of talent that Oregon was expected to have this year, I can’t help but think the youthfulness of the coaching staff- particularly on the offensive side of the ball is a critical problem. This has to be one of the youngest coaching staffs in the country.

Drew Mehringer: 38 Years Old
Ra'Shaad Samples: 31 Years Old
Ross Douglas: 31 Years Old
Koa Ka’ai: 33 Years Old
A’lique Terry: 31 Years Old
Jack Smith: 28 Years Old

I took a quick look at Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State offensive coaching staffs for reference and we’re talking an average of 42-45 years old for each.

Don’t get me wrong, everyone has to start somewhere and guys gotta learn but I’m beginning to believe that the coaching staff is mismatched from where we are roster-wise. We’ve given Lamborghinis to kids barely getting their permits. A part of me feels like Dan is OVERLY concerned with giving young guys opportunities as their mentors.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but this goes beyond Mehringer, but Dan may have vastly overlooked the coaching staff decisions relative to the expectations of the roster that was built. Too late to make changes this year which is sad considering the expectations, but next year- I would like to see Dan bring in a staff with more experience than him for a change instead of trying so hard to be a mentor to others. Thoughts?

I see that he posted to his substack that if Oregon was going to make mid season changes for an offensive consultant that there was 1 obvious choice. Does any one know if he’s click baiting or does he actually name someone?

I’m not paying for that guys sub stack!

Not sure if this has been posted yet so forgive me if it's a duplicate. I'm not sure if it would have made a difference, but I sure feel like we could have made the half yard as opposed to the 1.5 and then had the opportunity to win in OT. What do you guys think?