Oregon was perfect all the way through its first season in the Big Ten, mowing through the regular season at 12-0 and handling Penn State in the conference championship game.
Then the Ducks were dropped by eventual national champion Ohio State, 41-21, in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl to end the season as a national afterthought to the likes of Notre Dame, Texas and the Buckeyes, a team Oregon beat in the regular season.
With a pair of trophies on display on either side of his dais at Mandalay Bay for Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday, Oregon’s coach shared his uncomfortable truth.
“I think every coach probably feels this way, but we always remember the losses over the wins,” said Oregon coach Dan Lanning.
“I think there’s a lot you can learn from that. It doesn’t take away from what we were able to accomplish, but we lost to a great team. Coach (Ryan) Day did an unbelievable job last year of having his team in position to have success there. There’s some things I think I could have done better at the end.
I don’t think we played our best football. That being said, we did go undefeated in the conference and won the Big Ten Championship in our first year. That said, double down. Focus on our process. What do we have to continue to improve? There’s always learning lessons, but it doesn’t necessarily impact the future.”
The future in Eugene is bright. But success is going to be relative at Oregon, a reality Lanning has embraced and knew well from his background at Georgia, where he knows the one trophy every team wants — the national title — is the goal on constant repeat.
Marinating, and believing there is victory in the process, and avoiding the “microwave” are themes in his locker room in 2025.
Dante Moore is competing at quarterback to replace Browns third-round pick Dillon Gabriel as the maestro of a system full of skill-position weaponry. Moore said Lanning consistently reminds him and other team leaders “pressure is a privilege.” He’s locked in a duel with fellow sophomore Austin Novosad to start for the Ducks.
“I think probably what impressed me most with Dante is not wanting to be in a microwave society, not wanting to just get it fast because there’s an opportunity in front of him,” Lanning said, “but to have the slow-cooked meal, to have the opportunity to sit back and mature and learn, learn from experiences that you don’t necessarily have to be on the field to feel. The same goes for Austin. The same goes for Luke (Moga) and the other guys in our program.”
Either quarterback would be thrilled to have the security of a sure-handed and big-play tight end the likes of Kenyon Sadiq. The junior might not be a household name nationally, but no matter which iteration of Oregon uniform he’s wearing on game day, opponents are fully aware of his whereabouts.
Lanning said he played some video-game football with his son before Wednesday’s session, and Sadiq was a stud in the virtual world, too.
“I need to make sure I bring that up to our quarterbacks: throw it to Kenyon because he’s been unbelievable this offseason,” Lanning said. “Like I said, if you just see him work, it’s not a secret.”
–Penn State’s 2024 season came to a bitter end when quarterback Drew Allar threw a costly interception on his own side of the field with 33 seconds left in the College Football Playoff semifinals. The pick set up Notre Dame’s winning field goal in a 27-24 victory that put them into the national championship game.
Allar received plenty of heat over the play, but Nittany Lions coach James Franklin prefers looking at the big picture. From his perspective, Allar has thrown just nine other interceptions at Penn State to go with 53 touchdown passes in three seasons.
“I’m a big Drew fan. You guys get a chance to get around him, you’ll feel the same way,” Franklin said. “He’s really what it’s all about. It’s team, team, team, it’s community, it’s Penn State. He does things the right way, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Allar passed for 3,327 yards and 24 touchdowns last season and was billed as a probable first-round pick. He considered leaving for the NFL before electing to return for another season.
“For me, the feedback I heard (from the NFL) was consistent footwork,” Allar said. .”.. It wasn’t that I had bad footwork, but I was putting myself in not optimal positions to throw certain throws and that caused some inaccuracy decisions.”
Franklin sees big things ahead this season.
“He’s gotten better every single year, really, in every single area,” Franklin said. “He’s 6-foot-6. He’s now 235 pounds, can make every throw on the field. Has shown that he can hurt people with his feet … We expect him to take another significant leap this year.”
–Northwestern quarterback Jack Lausch has departed the program to focus on baseball. He started the Wildcats’ final 10 games last season.
SMU transfer Preston Stone was named the starting quarterback, leading to Lausch’s decision to focus on baseball.
“What Jack did last year starting 10 games in the Big Ten as a quarterback and then going on to play baseball at an extremely high level, Jack ultimately made a decision to solely focus on baseball moving forward,” said Northwestern coach David Braun. “I’m excited for Jack to dive into that endeavor, which he currently is this summer. Jack has a bright, bright future in the game of baseball for a long, long time.
“We will miss his leadership, miss having him as a part of the team, but excited and so impressed with everything that he achieved over the course of the last year.”
Lausch passed for 1,714 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions last season. He batted .268 with six homers and 28 RBIs last spring.
–Minnesota is 6-0 in bowl games under coach P.J. Fleck, but few people are impressed by success in that category in the playoff era.
Now in his ninth season with the Golden Gophers, Fleck said there is proof out there that a team like Minnesota could have a magical season.
The evidence? Indiana making the playoffs last season and finishing 11-2. The Hoosiers were a combined 9-27 over the previous three seasons.
“With the College Football Playoff where it is, as Indiana showed last year, anybody can get there,” Fleck said. “If we’re delusional enough to know we can do that, we can get there. When you’re somewhere long enough, the standards are one thing, but then you continue to raise the expectations, and that’s what we want to continue to do. We want to do that off the field as well. … Take the cap off the jar, limitless.”
–Field Level Media
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