Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks came up short a season ago. With all of the talent that Lanning had helped accumulate in Eugene, Oregon last season, the fact that the Ducks came up short and were absolutely crushed by the Ohio State Buckeyes a season ago was a bit jarring and shocking. I’m sure Oregon fans felt the same way.
But now it looks like they’re aiming to go out and shock a few folks this season. I, for one, would appreciate it if they didn’t do that. Because if Oregon was able to go out and start rolling through the College Football Playoffs, their second game would be against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
And I, for one, would like to see Texas Tech just secure an easy win in that matchup.
The Ducks will get the last game of the opening round of the 2025-2026 College Football Playoff as they host the James Madison Dukes (who are upset minded and certainly would like to remind folks that they earned their spot in the CFP this season).
Let’s go over a few fundamentals with Oregon this season, just in case you happen to not be familiar with the Ducks this year.
Everything Texas Tech fans need to know about the Oregon Ducks as they start the College Football Playoffs vs James Madison
- Record: 11-1 overall, 8-1 Big Ten
- Conference: Big Ten (it’s still weird to me that they’re not in the Pac-12, that might take a little while for me to fully adjust to)
- Head coach: Dan Lanning
- Stadium: Autzen Stadium
- Location: Eugene, Oregon
Dante Moore is the starting quarterback for Oregon’s offense this season and he sure is playing at a pretty high level for the Ducks as he’s completed 72.5 percent of his passes for 2733 yards and 24 touchdowns against six interceptions.
The Ducks have been dealing with some injuries across their receiving corps and they’ve done a good job of spreading the ball around to help account for that. There are five receivers for Oregon that have managed to catch at least two touchdown passes this season with Kenyon Sadiq, the Ducks’ tight end, leading the way with eight touchdown receptions.
In many ways, the Ducks have handled business in a pretty impressive, quiet way. They beat Penn State in double overtime to start the end of the James Franklin era, took care of the USC Trojans, and survived a messy, physical game against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
There is that lone loss to the Indiana Hoosiers, but Indiana truly is dominant this season. Most teams would lose by double digits against a team of that caliber.