Before I get to previewing the Oregon coaching staff and special teams, I feel the need to comment on a few things about the Bruins first.
I will admit that when I looked at the UCLA schedule over the summer, this week’s game was one which I fully expected would land on the right column instead of the left column.
But a funny thing has happened since the beginning of September.
The performance of this team and this coaching staff have turned me into a believer. I believe the Bruins can win Saturday’s game against Oregon.
Now, that doesn’t mean they will. UCLA needs to show up and do something JMU couldn’t do when the Dukes played the Ducks in the CFP last season. They need to come out strong from the opening kickoff.
In EA Sports College Football 27, one of a coach’s abilities is “Master Motivator” and the description is “Can get anyone to run through a brick wall.” Well, that isn’t Video Game Coach Chesney’s strongest attribute when you first start your dynasty, but it is close to being his strongest.
To be fair, his strongest ability is called “Architect,” which is described as a “Master at getting the most out of their players within a scheme.” Not a terrible assessment, but I still think the phrase “Master Motivator” describes the real Coach Chesney better.
Ben Bolch of the California Post reports that one of the things he told the Bruins this week proves my point.
If you pay attention to this number, it will go away, righ? If you pay attention to what you did to get that number, and only focus on that, and improve on that, maybe the number even gets better.
Wow. He totally makes me want to go through one of the brick walls which surround Spaulding Field like I’m Kool-Aid Man. I mean, how does it not?
Oh, yeah!!!
Let’s look at the Ducks’ coaching staff.
I’ll begin with the bad news. Dan Lanning is still Oregon’s head coach, and he has continued to do nothing but win. His record when UCLA last played the Ducks was 25-5. Since then, Lanning has won another 26 games and lost only four. So, he’s now 51-9 with Oregon. That’s an incredible .850 winning percentage. What’s even more impressive is that he continues to win despite having a revolving door of assistant coaches.
Lanning is now on his third offensive coordinator and his second defensive coordinator since he took over at Oregon. Kenny Dillingham lasted just one season as offensive coordinator before he was scooped up by Arizona State. He was replaced in 2023 by Will Stein. Stein was with the Ducks for three seasons before he was hired as Kentucky’s new head coach last December. In Stein’s place, Lanning promoted Drew Mehringer who joined Lanning’s staff when he was hired by the Ducks. Initially, Mehringer was the team’s tight ends coach and he added the title of co-offensive coordinator when Junior Adams was hired by the Dallas Cowboys.
On the defensive side, UC Berkeley head coach Tosh Lupoi was Lanning’s first defensive coordinator in Eugene until the Golden Bears hired him as their new head man last December. For what it’s worth, things aren’t going so well for Lupoi. The Bears are now just 2-3 this season with wins over Syracuse and Wagner and losses to Clemson, UNLV and the Bruins. Last year’s co-defensive coordinator Chris Hampton was promoted to replace Lupoi. Hampton had served in that role for three seasons before being promoted, but he had spent 2021 and 2022 as Tulane’s defensive coordinator.
While Oregon did not look good against Boise State in Week 1 and lost to Oklahoma State in Week 2, that could have been because Dante Moore was tipping Oregon’s plays with his stance.
But UCLA cannot count on Moore continuing to tip Oregon’s plays since it basically broke the internet following the loss to Oklahoma State. If that’s not enough, Moore is currently listed on the availability report as “Out.” So, he hasn’t cleared the concussion protocol after taking a dirty hit from Southern Cal DB Desmond Stephens II on September 26th.
Of course, after the loss to Oklahoma State, the Ducks rebounded with an 84-0 win over Portland State before beating Southern Cal two weeks ago.
So, the slow start may be more attributable to other factors than to having two new coordinators and it seems that whatever the reasons were for that slow start, the coaching staff may have righted the ship quickly and gotten Oregon back on track.
Special Teams
Shifting to Oregon’s special teams, junior Gage Hurych should handle most, if not all, of the kicking duties for the Ducks. That’s because the only action sophomore Rocco Graziano has seen came on kickoffs in the Portland State blowout. While Hurych has made all five of his field goal attempts, his season, and career, long came from just 44 yards out. He is also a perfect 19-for-19 on PATs. Hurych is averaging 61.64 yards per kickoff with 15 of his 25 kickoffs going for touchbacks and two going out of bounds.
Australian sophomore Bailey Ettridge joined the Ducks this season after playing last season at Nevada. Ettridge has punted 11 times for 531 yards. That’s an average of 48.27 yards per punt. Five of his punts came against Oklahoma State including his long of 67 yards. Just one of his punts has gone for a touchback while five have landed inside the 20, five have been fair caught, and five have flown for more than 50 yards.
Oregon’s return men haven’t done much to date. Sophomore running back Dierre Hill, Jr. has returned two of the Ducks’ three kickoff returns. Hill returned one for 23 yards and the other for 21 yards. Sophomore tight end Andrew Olesh returned the other kickoff for just five yards.
Meanwhile, three players have returned punts this season for Oregon. Wide receiver Evan Stewart has returned two of the Ducks’ four punt returns. One went for 11 yards and the other gained just a yard. Sophomore receiver Dakorien Moore returned one of the remaining two punts for 10 yards while redshirt senior transfer Iverson Hooks returned the other in the Portland State game for four yards.
I think it’s going to take an almost perfect game to beat the ducks. All but 1 team they played have a winning record. None of the teams we beat have a winning record. I think we cannot overlook that. One thing I don’t doubt is that this team won’t quit and give it its best effort. Go Bruins!
Nice column, and I'm going to blow my own horn here but I knew Chesney was the right coach for the Bruins. He's grounded, smart, and understands what he has to work with and how to get the most out of his players. Now I'm going to date myself, but he reminds me of Terry Donahue and other Bruin coaches when I was a UCLA athlete in the early 1980's. I'm excited to see what Chesney can do in the years to come.
Oregon's a great team, and Lanning is a very good coach. But I don't think Lanning is a great coach. Given the open checkbook he's had for years, and the outstanding talent he gets year after year but he still comes up short when the CFP comes around. If he hasn't figured it out by now I don't believe he will ever figure it out.
Bruins are in for a tough game Saturday, but I do believe they have more than a chance to beat Oregon. Given all the pre-season hype and after watching Oregon play 4 games we now know this isn't the team we were sold (and neither is USC for that matter - big surprise!). This is a very beatable Oregon team that will not have their starting QB and is most likely expecting a rematch with JMU. That would be a mistake. Lanning knows that, but I don't believe the players do. UCLA just needs to listen to their coaches and play the complete game they haven't played yet this season and they will do fine. The Bruins are coming together at the right time and with the talent they have and the right coaches who understand how to leverage off their talent I think we will be more than surprised this Saturday. Go Bruins!