For the last three years, the Ducks have come up short in the biggest rematches. In 2023, it was the rematch against Washington in the Pac-12 Championship Game where the Ducks came up short and lost out on the College Football Playoff. It wasn’t the most embarrassing of the three rematch losses, but it hurt most because it was to the Huskies. Even Mr. FishDuck paused from his study of Best sportsbook offers in Arizona to agree with how those losses to Washington stung the diehard Oregon fans.
In 2024, the Ducks made it through B1G conference play unscathed and won the conference title (this included a one-point win over Ohio State in the regular season). The rematch in the Rose Bowl was a complete one-sided demolition, where the Ducks were blown out and didn’t even look competitive, even though they defeated the Buckeyes by one point at home during the regular season.
And again this season, the Ducks lost a closer-than-the-box-score game to Indiana during the regular season in what was, hands down, the worst performance the Ducks put together. That is, until they played Indiana a second time, where the team that looked like it was peaking against Texas Tech completely fell apart, starting on the very first play. After a second turnover inside our red zone, the team seemed to just give up as Indiana had their way the rest of the game.
So, what is happening here? The saying goes that “it’s hard to beat the same team twice,” and it feels more likely that Dan Lanning and Oregon will roll over in a rematch than make it into a competitive game. Last season after the Ohio State rematch, it came out that Ohio State keyed into some of Oregon’s tendencies and exploited them in the rematch, whether that was defensive alignment ques or taking away the deep threat that proved to be the x-factor in the first game. Ohio State adjusted; Oregon did not.
Oregon’s defense had a complete collapse against Ohio State in the 2024-2025 Rose Bowl.
(Photo By: Eric Becker)
It would seem Indiana learned from the first game and keyed into some of Oregon’s particular tendencies the second time as well. The Ducks responded well on their second drive, after the pick-six — so well that Indiana called a time out to try to figure out Oregon’s offense. This drive resulted in a score and gave Duck fans a brief moment of hope before it all fell apart. But after that first drive, Indiana knew how to beat Oregon and kept on doing it in one of the worst losses of the Lanning era — at least in terms of the scoreboard.
Injuries didn’t help, as Oregon was without Jordon Davison, who is developing into Oregon’s top all-purpose running back. Without him, Oregon was certainly lacking its bruising, between the tackles power running and an incredible pass protector. Noah Whittingham was questionable before the game but turned out to be a non-factor. But injuries weren’t the deciding factor in all of this, because the combination of Davison and Whittington is not a multi-touchdown difference-maker. Football is a team sport.
We were all expecting to see the Oregon vs. Texas Tech defense that was stout against the run and aggressive in rushing the passer. Instead, we got a defense that got stuck on blocks, far worse than they did in the first match-up, and a secondary that was absolutely shredded.
We expected to see an offense take a step forward, and instead we saw Dante Moore open the game with a pick-six and open the second quarter with a fumble.
We expected to see this team try and reach its ceiling. Instead we saw it find its floor.
That is unacceptable for this Oregon program. As a fan, I don’t have much say, as I have never played a down of football — but as a fan I felt embarrassed for my team. And if I’m embarrassed, then Lanning and the players are embarrassed as well — which is all well and good from a motivational stand point, but that was true after last year’s Rose Bowl loss. More importantly, what is actually going to change to prevent this from happening next season?
David Marsh
Portland, Oregon
Top Photo By: Max Unkrich
Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in financial 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.