Oregon’s Bo Nix, Dan Lanning are finding their rhythm after win over UCLA | College Football Enquirer
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde discuss the Ducks’ impressive win over the Bruins on Saturday, debating if Oregon still has playoff hopes after falling to Georgia in week 1.
Video transcript
[CHEERING]
DAN WETZEL: I'll tell you where there isn't a QB controversy, speaking of transfers. I guess, a little. You remember the transfer portal. It's just horrible, Pat. It's going to ruin everything.
PAT FORDE: [LAUGHS] Guardrails. Guardrails!
DAN WETZEL: Guardrails. We got to stop these trans-- I kind of agree on the Transfer Portal. But, I mean, again, another thing that, it's like, eh, OK, probably don't want them just transferring easy. But guess what, Bo Nix ain't complaining.
PAT FORDE: Oof!
DAN WETZEL: Again, don't hear the players complain about this.
PAT FORDE: Uh-uh.
DAN WETZEL: Hey, you should've stared at that crappy self-immolation of a Auburn program--
PAT FORDE: [LAUGHS]
DAN WETZEL: --Bo.
PAT FORDE: Where's your loyalty?
DAN WETZEL: Yeah. Where's their loyalty? They torched their program over and over for this kid. And guess what, he gets out of there, heads to Oregon. Dan Lanning shows up. And he's with Dan Lanning. And that offense was incredible. And the Ducks, after an absolute knock-out, one-punch knockout loss to Georgia in the opener, haven't lost since.
45-30, they beat UCLA on Saturday, fourth-largest crowd in outs in stadium history. Game day is there. Dare I say it was the Chip Kelly-era repeat. And guess who was on the other sideline, who had a heck of an offense at UCLA. He couldn't keep up. Great line by John Canzano of-- you know, he's up in Portland as the radio. He's got this really good newsletter, "Bald Face Truth," by-- you know, he's got a Substack.
PAT FORDE: Yeah.
DAN WETZEL: --I don't know. Whatever it is, really writes great columns for it, used to be at the Oregonian. Dan Lanning out chipped Chip.
PAT FORDE: Yeah.
DAN WETZEL: Three fourth down, they go for it, an onside kick, a super aggressing passing, Bo Nix 20 of 28, Tony Franklin, 108 catches for 132 yards, two TDs, and a 49 touchdown. UCLA had 448 yards of offense, just one interception, 6.5 yards a play, and didn't punt--
PAT FORDE: [LAUGHS]
DAN WETZEL: --and got blown out.
PAT FORDE: Yeah. Yeah. I mean--
DAN WETZEL: I think Chip's flying home going, what the hell just hit me?
PAT FORDE: Yeah.
DAN WETZEL: Which is exactly what used to happen when you showed up at Oregon and go, I don't even know what has happened over there.
PAT FORDE: Yeah
DAN WETZEL: Super impressive by Oregon.
PAT FORDE: Extremely impressive. I mean, that offense just rolled. They physically punished UCLA. They could not hang defensively up front. I mean, they blew them off the ball. And Bo Nix is just-- he's a whole new guy. He's playing phenomenally, 17 touchdowns, three interceptions on the season. He's run for another eight scores. And that offense has just been magnificent since the first game.
And we got to figure out what to do with that first game, from a playoff perspective, maybe. We'll see if the--
DAN WETZEL: Well, we'll talk about it, yeah.
PAT FORDE: Yeah
DAN WETZEL: I mean, can you put them back in as a one loss? And now, look, a whole bunch of stuff's got to happen, right? If TCU, and Clemson, and Ohio State, or Michigan all go undefeated and the SEC's gonna get one, sorry, you're out. But if--
PAT FORDE: Yeah
DAN WETZEL: --this is this way early.
PAT FORDE: Right, right.
DAN WETZEL: A lot of stuff can happen. So-- but if you're in that mix, like, if you're sitting there in the committee room going, all right, Georgia's 1 and, whatever, Clemson's two, and Ohio State's 3, and then we got to pick somebody four four. Oregon's got a-- they're looking good. Can you reup that game?
PAT FORDE: Yeah
DAN WETZEL: And I think they are not allowed to consider that. Or my guess is it's probably, like, no, you can't sit there and go, is this gonna be aesthetically pleasing?
PAT FORDE: Right.
DAN WETZEL: But--
PAT FORDE: Right.
DAN WETZEL: --you know, do you say this is a different team? Cause it is. Teams are different week one to week whatever, 14, or whatever.
PAT FORDE: I would say especially that one.
DAN WETZEL: But--
PAT FORDE: I mean, that is new coaching staff, new quarterback.
DAN WETZEL: Right.
PAT FORDE: And you--
DAN WETZEL: Fly across the-- across the country and play Georgia in Atlanta.
PAT FORDE: Yeah.
DAN WETZEL: Tough.
PAT FORDE: I mean, they walked into the lion's den. They took on the hardest assignment of anybody on opening weekend. And they got destroyed. But since then, they've scored 40 points or more every single game. Still don't know if they have the defense to run the table the rest of the way. But they're very good and so much better than they were that first week. So that-- if you do end up with-- with three or fewer undefeated teams-- and there's a debate about one-loss teams-- what to do with Oregon if they get there at 12 and 1 would be an interesting one.