The Rose Bowl was the most embarrassing game of Dan Lanning’s career. Even if Ohio State goes on to win the National Championship this year, this game will leave a sour taste in the entire Oregon community’s mouth.
Unlike Lanning’s opening loss to Georgia in 2022, this one just stinks. Against that Georgia team, the Ducks were massive underdogs and losing, and losing badly, wasn’t a shock. The Ducks were clearly not in the same league as the 2022 Bulldogs, and Lanning as a first-year head coach wasn’t even remotely at the same level as Kirby Smart.
This Rose Bowl, however, was an embarrassing loss to a team that Oregon beat earlier this year, albeit by one point. The Ducks as a team grew from that point on, and in their first year in the B1G, they won 13 straight games including the B1G Championship. In that regard, the first year in the B1G was a resounding success. And throughout the season it was clear that Lanning’s Ducks were a group of fighters. Even when down, they never gave up and kept on fighting to get themselves back into the game.
Against Boise State the Ducks found themselves down, and they climbed back into the game and ended up winning it on a field goal as time expired. That Oregon team struggled to be effective as an offensive line unit.
Against Ohio State the first time around, the Ducks missed some scoring opportunities early but kept themselves in the game, and were able to pull out a one-point win.
Against Michigan the Ducks came into the Big House and found the game too close for comfort against a Michigan team that was in the process of figuring itself out. The Ducks won that game by 21 points.
Against Wisconsin, Oregon found itself at the end of an eight-game stretch. It was a brutal game, but again, the Ducks won.
Traeshon Holden had two touchdown catches against the Buckeyes in an otherwise awful game.
(Photo By: Tom Corno)
So where were the Fighting Ducks of Oregon against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl? The Ducks’ defense folded to an Ohio State one-minute scoring drive and then couldn’t put any semblance of offense together until the end of the first half. By that point the Ducks found themselves down by more than 30 points.
The Ducks did fight back, and Traeshon Holden was the biggest fighter of them all. He put together perhaps the best game of his career with 116 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Dillon Gabriel put up a fight once he found his rhythm, which mostly required him to roll out of the pocket, as the Oregon offensive line could provide only minimal protection. Gabriel was sacked eight times during the game. The offensive line couldn’t provide much of a push for the Oregon run game either, as running backs often found themselves running into a pile of Ohio State defenders.
The Fighting Ducks just didn’t seem to have much fight in them. They played flat and uninspired. The question also remains as to where Evan Stewart was during this game, as he didn’t take the field. Stewart was a vital weapon for the Ducks in the first Ohio State game, and it was his ability to stretch the field that enabled Oregon to get that regular season win.
This game shouldn’t sit right with Duck fans. This game felt strange because under Lanning the Ducks have always come out to play, and they just didn’t in this game. It is hard to imagine that Lanning didn’t prepare this team to play their best football against Ohio State and that Lanning didn’t motivate his players.
Whatever the case, we will have the long off-season to ponder what happened in the 2025 Rose Bowl.
David Marsh
Portland, Oregon
Top Photo By Tom Corno
Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in technology in SLC, Utah.
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David Marsh is a high school social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher he is known for telling puns to his students who sometimes laugh out of sympathy, and being both eccentric about history and the Ducks.
David graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with Majors in: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. David began following Ducks Football after being in a car accident in 2012; finding football something new and exciting to learn about during this difficult time in his life. Now, he cannot see life without Oregon football.