Why Is Oregon Undefeated?

12-0, with much more to go.

Your Oregon Ducks just capped off a special undefeated regular season with a dominant 49-21 win over the Huskies, and the national media is going to lie to you about how they did it.

Over the next couple weeks, you’re going to see a lot of headlines attributing Oregon’s success to their NIL budget and relentless effort in the transfer portal.

I’m here to remind you that it’s all bullshit.

Sure, this roster is littered with key transfers like DG, Derrick Harmon, Evan Stewart, and the entire secondary, but Dan Lanning’s program is so much more than just a collection of well-paid mercenaries.

Take Bryce Boettcher, for example.

In a season where college football looks wildly different, Boettcher has a story that encapsulates everything we have always loved about the sport.

When Lanning came to town, BB was still just a fun story. He was a meat-headed walk-on and a special teams all-star from South Eugene—and did I mention that he’s also our star centerfielder?

He grew up playing pee-wee football in Autzen Stadium and Dan has somehow developed him into a starting linebacker for the number one team in the nation.

Or you can look at Jeff Bassa, who began his career under Mario Cristobal as a glorified safety—I called him “Blitz Boy” in a blog back in 2022.

But Lanning has leaned on Bassa’s leadership from Day One, and in return he’s helped him grow into an All-Conference guy.

Even Terrance Ferguson was once a co-freshman phenom alongside Moliki Matavao, but he methodically separated himself as TE1 and just last night he broke the Oregon tight end record for all-time receptions.

All of those guys are products of genuine coaching and development, and Senior Days are always extra special thanks to stories like theirs.

Oregon has also obviously had a longstanding stranglehold on high school recruiting—especially on the West Coast.

We plucked Matayo Uiagalelei and Josh Conerly Jr. right out of USC and Washington’s backyards, respectively.

And even the Pacific Northwest—which isn’t usually loaded with talent—has produced key contributors this year in Kenyon Sadiq (Idaho), Teitum Tuoiti (Oregon), and Dave Iuli (Washington).

Talent acquisition has always been the most important element of college football, and this program has been relentless in identifying and bringing in the right players out of high school.

I won’t deny that our NIL prowess has greatly supplemented this roster, but as the postseason commences, I call upon all of you to resist the incoming narrative that, “Nike bought this Oregon team.”

I’ve just rattled off eight current starters who are either four/five-year guys and/or are products of the West Coast, and they all cared deeply about beating the Huskies yesterday.

Each and every one of them are a good reminder of college football’s still-enduring regionality and unique capacity for storytelling.

And don’t get me wrong, the transfers cared too!

Tez Johnson scored a touchdown in his triumphant return and he was quoted repeatedly in the postgame press conference saying how much he hates Washington.

And I’m sure that Jordan Burch and Jamaree Caldwell took a great deal of satisfaction in limiting Washington to 43 total rushing yards and helping us sack Demond Williams Jr. a school-record 10 times.

We kicked our rival’s butt—we’ve kicked everyone’s butts this year—and it wasn’t simply because we wrote the biggest check.

The most important postseason in Oregon history has just begun, and it’s important that we don’t let lazy people get too distracted by our wallet size and our shiny transfers.

There is a solid foundation underneath this team thanks to Dan Lanning’s ability to maximize every possible way he can make them better. It’s a seemingly perfect trifecta of coaching, recruiting, and transfer portal-ing, and it has set us up with our second-ever 12-0 record.

I love the real story of this Oregon football team, and I hope the college football media-sphere gets to hear all about it deep into December and January.

Go Ducks.