Forget the College Football Playoff for Oregon, because right now, that dream feels dead in the water. We’re only halfway through the season, with most teams having completed six games, and it’s already clear who’s headed for an incredibly underwhelming year. The Ducks, who were supposed to be eyeing a return trip to the CFP, are headlining that list.
Ducks Flail with Seven Turnovers, Coach Lanning on the Hot Seat?
It’s just flat out hard to see Oregon as a national title contender. Yeah, they were without Dante Moore, but that UCLA game on Saturday was the absolute perfect example of why you bring in an experienced quarterback like Dylan Raiola. Except Raiola had one of the worst games of his entire career, and the Ducks lost 17-15. Dude turned the ball over three times and managed just 6-of-19 passing for a measly 43 yards before Brock Thomas had to step in during the second half. And then, thanks to a fumble on the final play as Oregon tried that desperate lateral play that went nowhere, they finished with SEVEN turnovers total. SEVEN! How do you even do that? It means they might have to win out the rest of their season if they want any shot at the College Football Playoff.
And here’s the kicker: Oregon should have at least been able to send that game to overtime. They pulled within two points on a late fourth-quarter touchdown, but UCLA stopped the game-tying two-point conversion. The thing is, Oregon shouldn’t have even needed to go for two there. They only had to because they messed up a two-point conversion after their *first* touchdown of the day. If they had just kicked the PAT in the first quarter, they would’ve only needed a simple PAT to tie UCLA with 2:16 left to go. That’s a huge blunder, and it falls squarely on the shoulders of Oregon coach Dan Lanning. We even heard Oklahoma State’s defense saying they had cues on Oregon’s offensive plays back in their Week 2 win against the Ducks. This roster has so much talent, it’s wild that it’s just not being maximized.
Texas A&M’s Offense is a “Broken Man” Situation
Man, down in College Station, the Texas A&M Aggies’ offense is straight up missing Collin Klein and KC Concepcion. Klein’s now the head coach at Kansas State, and Concepcion was a first-round draft pick for the Cleveland Browns. These guys were critical to the Aggies’ offensive success in 2025. Maybe we all just totally underestimated how much they really mattered. Because right now, Texas A&M’s offense is an absolute mess. They had zero shot on Saturday, falling 27-6 at Missouri. We’re talking less than 80 yards in the *first half*, and they were incredibly lucky to only be down by seven at halftime. The second half wasn’t much better until the game was already gone after Jamal Roberts’ game-clinching touchdown run. Coach Mike Elko sounded like a broken man looking for an offensive repair guide in his postgame presser. He started off by calling it “another extremely disappointing road performance.” And then, when asked what gave him confidence about his offense getting on track, Elko just replied, “I mean, does this look confident to you?” Yikes. The Aggies are sitting at .500 halfway through the season because this offense is just struggling hard.
These teams need to find some answers fast if they want to avoid an “underwhelming season” that’s starting to look like a foregone conclusion.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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