From championship hopes to rock bottom, what went wrong for Oregon?

• Paolo UggettiOct 27, 2026, 07:00 AM ET

EUGENE, Or. -- Ron McCullough has been making the two-hour drive from Portland to Eugene for 29 seasons. He has walked into Autzen Stadium countless times, sat in Section 33 and watched as bright green trees fade into shades of amber and gold every fall. Championship-worthy or underwhelming, McCullough has bore witness to it all while never leaving an Oregon game until the clock hits triple zero.

"This," McCullough said at halftime of last week's game against Nebraska, "is the first time."

The realization strikes McCullough like a gust of wind on his way to the exit as Oregon, with two losses already on their résumé and willingly playing its third-string quarterback, is down 7-0. There are other factors -- an 8 p.m. kickoff, that aforementioned drive back home -- but McCullough wants it known. His departure is rooted in one thing.

"One of the most boring games I've ever watched. It's embarrassing," he says. "Let's just get on the road and get the hell out of here."

McCullough is not alone. A sea of green and yellow-clad fans, some of whom booed the team on its way to the locker room, headed for the parking lot. That Oregon was able to come back and win against Nebraska in the second half is almost an afterthought, just the appearance of hope being extended a week further and not a moment more. A week later, the Ducks traveled to Illinois, and, facing an interim defensive coordinator and a backup quarterback, lost their third game of the year 21-10. Losing three games before November hasn't happened at Oregon since 2018.

"I think all things are on the table for us to make sure that we're the best version of ourselves," Lanning said Saturday after the loss. "And we're currently not that. That's very clear."

A No. 2 AP preseason ranking, the return of potential top NFL draft pick and Heisman frontrunner Dante Moore Moore to Eugene, a defensive line that was supposed to wreak havoc, a loaded roster that stood among the most talented and expensive in the sport -- all signs pointed to a special year for Oregon. Instead, they have all become bullet points highlighting the failure of a lost season.

On Sunday, with playoff hopes unofficially finished, Lanning announced the firing of offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, whom he had promoted to that role before the season began. And on Monday, Lanning announced that Moore, who has been out since Sept. 26 after sustaining a concussion vs. USC, would not be expected to play the rest of the year. Both moves were symbolic white flags on a season that plummeted from one of the most anticipated in Oregon football history to one that hit rock bottom before the end of October.

"Sometimes it's the health of the team, it's the bounce of the ball. There's some things that you really can't control," said former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, who helped start Oregon's era of modern success with the program's first ever double-digit win season in 2000. "Yet when you have the initial ranking and the belief and you've paid [$50 million] amount of dollars for a roster, there comes to be a certain belief that, 'Wow, this is our year' but things still have to go right and they haven't."

How it all started to unravel

Disappointment was nowhere to be found on Sept. 5 in Eugene when Oregon kicked off its season against Boise State. The stands at Autzen filled for another sellout, and the chatter among fans was one of nervous excitement. Could this finally be the year that Oregon would win its elusive first national title?

Down on the field before the game began, former players, current athletes from other Oregon sports and donors mingled. Nike designer and longtime Oregon football benefactor Tinker Hatfield was among them, and he weighed the reality of the season that lay ahead.

"There's a lot of expectations, a lot of pressure," Hatfield said. He paused. "I think these guys can handle it."

Skeptics and optimists found common ground in this fact: The past two seasons, Oregon had made the College Football Playoff and lost to the eventual champion. They had won nearly every game they needed to, emerging from trips to Ohio State and Penn State with statement victories, while becoming nearly unbeatable at home. There was little reason to distrust that Lanning & Co. would make their way there again, especially with a roster that returned Moore and featured not just remarkable resources but also little to no weaknesses at first glance.

"We've played as good of football as anybody in the last few years outside of the team that won the national championship," Lanning told ESPN at Big Ten media days. "So we're close."

Yet a closer look at what the Ducks lost from last season yielded some glaring results. While no marquee names left Eugene, Oregon, lost 27 players in the January portal who were all rotational players or backups. What's more: 23 of those Oregon transfers ended up at other Power 4 programs, despite only one of them (Jahlil Florence) starting more than three career games for the Ducks. Fifteen of those 23 players are starters for a new team this season with several starting for ranked teams, including Ole Miss outside linebacker Blake Purchase and Alabama defensive lineman Terrance Green.

No loss was bigger than offensive coordinator Will Stein. His departure to be Kentucky's head coach prompted a robust staff exodus too, including Pat Biondo to be Kentucky's GM, Cutter Leftwich to be his offensive line coach, Parker Fleming to be his special teams coordinator and Dallas Warmack as assistant offensive line coach. Even more, former defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi left his post as defensive coordinator to take the head coaching job at Cal and brought six former Oregon staffers along with him to Berkeley.

While Stein has led Kentucky to an electric 7-1 record so far this season, his absence in Eugene has been the most impactful, a reality that became evident as soon as Week 2 and has only become more glaring as the weeks have progressed.

After struggling to beat Boise State at home, Oregon headed to Oklahoma State to face a Cowboys team that had lost 12 games in a row as a program, including their season opener to Tulsa under new head coach Eric Morris. Lanning's teams are no strangers to slow starts -- in 2024, they nearly lost to Idaho and Boise State in their first two weeks -- and have used the early games to find their footing as well as solidifying rotations and roles, all while still winning.

But the Ducks sputtered against the Cowboys and lost 39-31; it was Lanning's first early-season loss since his debut as coach in the loss to Georgia during the 2022 season opener and the first real sign that there was something awry. Some red flags started to come into view.

Linebacker Teitum Tuioti said Oregon players were maybe "too lackadaisical" and "reading our press clippings too much" heading into the season. Morris said in interviews after that linebackers Ethan Wesloski and Tate Romney identified how Oregon's offense was giving away plays before the snap. While there was speculation that it was Moore's footwork before the play that was giving things away, OSU players also noted that it was the offensive line formations that were more telling. Still, in the aftermath of the upset and after a player-led meeting, players vowed that things would be different.

After a commanding, but unsatisfying 84-0 win over Portland State the following week, the season was further spun off its axis. At USC, Moore sustained a concussion after being hit while sliding and had to be stretchered off the field and taken to Los Angeles General Medical Center in an ambulance. Dylan Raiola stepped in and helped salvage the victory over the Trojans, and it appeared that Oregon was in good hands having lured Raiola from Nebraska to Eugene to be a million-dollar backup.

But by the time the Ducks had to host UCLA, Oregon's offensive line had put enough on tape that it did not matter which quarterback was under center. Despite two straight wins, the problems were far from fixed. Inside meeting rooms ahead of the matchup, Bruins coaches were adamant about a few things. They knew and repeated that their team was the more physical one, and kept hammering that Oregon was going to do two things during the game: give up what they were doing before the snap and give up the ball.

"Regardless of personnel, their formations will give it away," one coach said, echoing what OSU players had noted. "They give a lot away with their alignments and what they're doing. We have to take full advantage."

The result? Seven turnovers and a 17-15 win for UCLA, just the third regular-season loss for Lanning at Autzen. The idea of a title chase had stopped being reality. The margin for error just to make the playoff was now gone, and skepticism around the coordinator hires kept rising. Wide receiver Dakorien Moore said that the team had been too "outcome-focused" and needed to shift to being more "process-focused" to turn this season around. Even Lanning's tone changed.

"We didn't have success on offense, so I think you have to look at all things, right?" Lanning said. "You have to look at all things. Was it the calls? Was it the way we operated in practice? Everything has to be up for evaluation."

But by then it was already too late. Even with a defense that had found its footing and an inconsistent offensive line that was seeing improvements, the foundation was not there. Without Moore under center and bouncing back and forth between Raiola and third-string quarterback Brock Thomas, as well as a game of musical chairs on the offensive line that only exacerbated issues, Oregon was searching for needles in a haystack that was already empty.

What now for Oregon?

For his entire tenure at Oregon, Lanning's modus operandi had been largely above reproach. His few mistakes -- over-aggressiveness on fourth-down calls -- had been a feature not a bug of the package that still resulted in a 48-8 overall record heading into this season and, until now, a string of stellar hires.

Lanning hired Kenny Dillingham as offensive coordinator and watched him turn Bo Nix into a Heisman contender. He saw Dillingham leave to become head coach at Arizona State and replaced him with Stein only to have him bring the best out of Dillon Gabriel and Moore.

In many ways, Lanning had earned the benefit of the doubt to handpick the next successor. But much like the rest of the Ducks' season, the hire of Mehringer, whose playcalling experience had not exactly resulted in success before this, went from bad to worse. A unit that had been consistently one of the most proficient in the country now ranks 85th in rushing attack and 42nd in total offense. The Ducks finished last season 10th in offensive SP+ and now they're 28th.

"I think the changeover at the coordinator positions always affects you, and sometimes you don't know it for a while," Bellotti said. "It could be the spring season, it could be midseason. And that part is always hard to judge and gauge."

That Mehringer's hire would turn out so poorly couldn't have been fully predicted, but there was also little on his résumé to suggest he could pick up right where Stein left off. During Mehringer's lone season as a full-time offensive coordinator at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights were the worst offense in football in terms of yards per game and were shut out four different times that season. In other words, Lanning bet on continuity and familiarity over track record. It backfired.

In the past, Oregon's shortcomings have come well into the season, often toward the end, leaving little room for Lanning or his team to sit in the discomfort. In 2024, the Ducks never lost until Ohio State blew them out in the CFP quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl. In 2025, their regular-season loss to Indiana did not feel seismic until they lost to Indiana again in the semifinals. A return to those kinds of matchups late into January felt like a foregone conclusion and this time, Oregon was supposed to be more prepared to come out on the right side of those games.

Moore's talent alone could have possibly covered some of the Ducks' issues. But now that he's not expected to return, there are seemingly no more glimmers of hope. So Oregon will head into this offseason needing not just a new offensive coordinator, but likely a new starting quarterback given how poor Raiola has looked. Since his USC appearance, Raiola has thrown for 348 yards combined in three games, completed only 52% of his passes, thrown for two interceptions and only one touchdown. His average QBR in those appearances is 34.9.

Beyond Moore and Mohringer, there's also something to be said for how difficult it is to be consistent in this sport, how success is rarely linear and how maintaining a culture, not just building it, requires something different every season.

"I think there's frustration. Anytime that you don't play as well as either you're capable of or you're advertised as, there's going to be concern and there's going to be some anger," Bellotti said. "I have been really impressed with the culture Dan has built here at Oregon but maintaining that culture is difficult now because of how much turnover you have. You have to build it during the season."

In the wake of poor performances on the field, off-field issues have added to the fallout, too. Last week, wide receiver Evan Stewart was arrested for DUII and tight end Jamari Johnson was issued a speeding ticket. Lanning said any punishment would be handled internally and then, a day before the Illinois game, three players were abruptly added to the availability report as being out: freshmen Messiah Hampton, Jalen Lott and Immanuel Iheanacho. They joined Stewart, who had missed the previous game with an undisclosed injury, on the report. When asked after the game whether their absence was due to injury or punishment, Lanning did not elaborate.

"I'm really just gonna focus on the guys who were here on the trip today," a subdued Lanning said.

From appearances on ESPN's "College Gameday" to his fiery speeches that are often included in Oregon's video recaps -- only after wins -- Lanning's energy has been the fuel that runs this program. And so it has been telling to watch Lanning's public-facing demeanor shift as this season has deteriorated.

After the win over USC, Lanning spent time taking shots at how Oregon was 3-0 against the Trojans and even made a pitch to recruits in the process that they should choose Eugene over Los Angeles. But last week, after the close win over Nebraska, Lanning was more reflective, noting just how different this year has been.

"Nobody else cares, but I think this will be the year I've grown the most in my position. It's challenged me in a lot of ways to dig deep, figure out where I need to improve and determine how I can make this team better," Lanning said. "Ultimately, I'm responsible for all of it, and it needs to look better and be more consistent than it has at times. I've learned a lot of hard lessons."

The goodwill engendered by Lanning over the past three years in Eugene is far from squandered. But after a spoiled season where nearly everything that could have faltered did, Lanning will face his biggest challenge yet: Picking up the pieces and making the trek back up the mountain that Oregon has still been unable to conquer.

ESPN's Max Olson contributed to this story.