Andy & Ari On3 - Oregon Deep Dive: Will Dante Moore IGNITE fireworks for the Ducks offense?

Episode Date: July 4, 2025

Happy Fourth of July! As we conclude this week of our team deep dives, we head up to the northwest part of the country to preview the Oregon Ducks. With an incredible regular season last year, Dan Lanning's squad is looking to take its game to the next level by winning a national championship. With a new QB in Dante Moore, is this a plausible expectation for the Ducks? In just its second year of the Big Ten, who will be the main rivals for Oregon besides Washington and USC? Justin Hopkins from ScoopDuck joins us to break down all this and more for the Ducks. More news on the Ducks: https://www.on3.com/teams/oregon-ducks/ (0:00-1:49) Intro: Happy 4th of July!(1:50-5:13) Justin Hopkins from ScoopDuck joins(5:14-7:13) How Dante Moore will lead the offense(7:14-8:49) Offensive weapons for the Ducks: Dakorien Moore(8:50-11:49) Oregon's Offensive Line, Running Back(11:50-13:53) The Defense for the Ducks(13:54-15:59) Concerns for Oregon ahead of 2025(16:00-19:36) Has Dan Lanning elevated the program?(19:37-21:49) How do fans view the 2024-2025 season?(21:50-26:04) How wide open CFB is this year(26:05-32:09) What Oregon learned in the first season in the Big Ten, Rivals(32:10-34:43) Wrapping up with Justin HopkinsMore news on Oregon here: https://www.on3.com/teams/oregon-ducks/Watch our show LIVE, M-F at 9:30 am et! https://www.youtube.com/@On3sports Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey 

Welcome to Andy and Ariane 3. Happy Fourth of July. Hope everybody's celebrating safely and responsibly, of course. Happy birthday, America. Hope you're cannonballing into a pool. We could celebrate by cannonballing into a pool. We've seen Dan Lanning do that. And that's, that's the topic of our show today. The Oregon ducks deep dive week concludes with the ducks raining big 10 champs. Went undefeated in the regular season and then ran into a buzz saw in the Rose Bowl revamped roster this year though, and a mix of some very high profile transfers, got some big time freshmen and of course a quarterback who's been waiting in the wings. Ari, this is a fascinating team.

Yeah I think that a lot of people with Oregon look at the way last season ended and then misrepresent like what the program is or where they're headed. I don't think you should read too much into what happened last year. And I wrote that column, you know, right from the Rose Bowl. They are very talented. And the thing that I think is super exciting and we'll get into it on the show is that they have a wonderful mix of returning players,

impact transfers and impact true freshman who came from the prep ranks. And I don't know if this is a fair assessment right now, but maybe it is. Is this one of the more talented teams on paper that Oregon has had? Whether or not they're ready to reach the level with some of that talent because they're very young is another question. But I think you should be very high on the Oregon Ducks this year. Well, let's talk to somebody who studies them day in,

day out. Justin Hopkins, publisher of Scoop Duck on Three's Oregon site. How are we doing, Jay Hop? Doing lovely, glad to be here. Thanks for having me on the show. Excited to talk about some ducks. And I don't know, I don't remember the number,

but I know we're getting into single digit Saturdays away from college football, and I am ready, baby. I am ready. It's very close now. Week zero in Dublin, Farmageddon. We're exporting Farmageddon to Europe, so enjoy some big 12 action. But we got to talk about a big 10 team,

which still sounds very weird to say, but the reigning big 10 champs, the Oregon Ducks. And this is such a, it's so interesting which still sounds very weird to say, but the reigning Big Ten champs, the Oregon Ducks. And this is such a, it's so interesting because they built this all up. They win the Big Ten. They go undefeated in the regular season. It obviously didn't end the way they wanted to. But this feels like a completely different team that has almost exactly the same expectations. Yeah, it's going to be a fun year for Oregon. And I say that just because of the fact that, and Ari touched on it briefly,

this is a really good combination of a team that Oregon has recruited through the prep level and supplemented a little bit here and there with some key transfers that we'll get into, I'm sure. But now you've got guys that have been in the program for two and three years that haven't really been the guy yet that are now going to step into that role. And it reminds me, you know, of the Saban years at Alabama, where, you know, behind every five star that would go on to the NFL was a four or five star right behind them that would step right in and they'd keep it rolling. And this is where Oregon might be at a point where they start doing that. Because if you

look at on paper, like you guys said, the amount of talent pretty much across the board on this team is really good, really good. It's just really young and unproven. So that's the wild card did the whole thing this year. You know, with Oregon, I had them number nine, I think in my preseason pole or off season pole or way too early, whatever you want to call it. When you look at what they have on this team, is it, it's not inconceivable that I can compete for win the big 10 this year, even though people have kind of forgotten about them because of the Rose Bowl. Yeah, it's tough, right? You go and you beat Ohio State in an epic game

at Austin Stadium, and then you meet them at the Rose Bowl, and it's a different Ohio State team. Like, those guys were on a mission. They clicked when it mattered most. That was a phenomenal football team, and that was the football team, Ohio State, that we all expected to see all year long, and they were really good, but they were really good when it mattered most.

And yeah, it kind of, you know, soured Oregon season a little bit just because of the way it ended. I think, you know, you look at Oregon's schedule this year, it's incredibly favorable. You're going to get a really good litmus test out of Oregon when they travel to Happy Valley and play Penn State to finish out September. So we'll get a really good read on this team there. Both of those teams, in fact, Penn State and Oregon, both are going to be top 10 teams. And we'll get it, you know, we'll just kind of see what that team's made of. And that will kind of set us up for the rest

of the schedule. Obviously, they're going to finish with Washington. That USC game is circled I know for both USC and Oregon fans, but like I said, outside of Penn State, you look at the schedule and it's favorable, which should give Oregon a chance to compete for this Big Ten Championship once again. Let's talk about Dante more because this is such an interesting situation. I'm not sure we've seen one like this

where you had a guy who was a blue chip recruit. He goes somewhere and decides to transfer, but then decides to transfer to a place where he knows he's going to sit. He knew he was going to be behind Bill and Gabriel last year and did that anyway, which it almost tells me like, because he was committed to Oregon, flipped to UCLA at the end of his high school recruitment. It almost says to me like he realized, oh, maybe he wasn't ready to jump in and play at that level.

So where's he at now? Yeah, that's going to be probably the most interesting case study. One of the most interesting case studies anywhere, right? Is he a transfer technically? Is he because he's been in Oregon's program now for, you know, this will be a second year coming up. How do you really qualify him? And Dante Moore, just from what we've heard so far

coming out of Oregon is that the arm talent's absolutely elite, like truly elite. This kid has a cannon for an arm. And his maturity is really well documented. Obviously, if you look at the situation that you just talked about, he knew, he knew, hey, I'm not quite ready to be what I wanna be. I'm gonna go get myself ready for a year

and not be the guy so that I could get ready to be the guy. And so now we're gonna get that taste this year. I'm truly excited to see Dante Moore. I know everyone in college football really is. There's a lot of hype around him. The greatest thing that, and we all know this, but the greatest thing for Dante more now is he's got weapons everywhere. It doesn't have to be, Hey Dante, go win us the game. It's Hey Dante, just take care of the football and get it to your guys in the backfield. You're, you're, you're crazy

athletic tight end Kenyon Sadiq. Get it to the bevy of receivers, throw it to the Cory and more whatever. Just take care of the football. We got guys around you. Get it to the bevy of receivers, throw it to the De'Korian Moore, whatever. Just take care of the football and we got guys around you. So that's the pretty exciting part, I think, for Dante Moore leading this offense. We saw last year that receivers, true freshman receivers were stars of the sport. And you can see on the NCAA cover, two of those freshmen are now on the cover of the video game. Can you contextualize De'Korian Moore and what's expected of him this year in Eugene?

He's just got to be Jeremiah Smith 2.0. That's all. And I say that jokingly, but the expectations are high. The kid flashed in the spring game. Everybody's excited. Every time there's an interview with players, mostly offensive players or defensive backs about, hey, who performed well in practice today or whatever, De'Corian Moore's name is always thrown out there. Of course, the Ducks have the unfortunate injury to Evan Stewart that we know about.

And he's probably really unlikely to play this season. And if he plays at all, it'll be towards the end of the year. So now you're looking at De'Corian Moore in an even bigger light. Tess Johnson, I mean, Tess Johnson's gone. There's a lot of catches there to be had. Somebody's got to fill that void that Tess Johnson leaves now as he went to the NFL.

I think most kind of thought Decorian Moore and Evan Stewart would maybe share that. But now, I mean, you really look aty and Moore and just all the hype around it. It's like, man, is this Oregon's version of Jeremiah Smith or Ryan Williams? I don't know. I mean, that's a really lofty expectation. That's a ridiculous expectation. But it feels like that's kind of how people are looking at him for this season. Well, and the other part of the offense is you lose a first round tackle in Josh Connelly. Johnny Cornelius

was a couple years starter for Oregon at right tackle. And it looks like they've gone pretty heavy in the portal to fill those holes. They've got a couple homegrown guys at center and right guard, but then Isaiah Wuerl comes from Nevada to play left tackle. Emmanuel Pregnon probably was USC's best returning offensive lineman. They grab him out of the portal and then Alex Harky coming from Texas State. So how will that group kind of gel together and how important is it that even though they haven't really played much together,

they've got to get it figured out quick. That's the key, they got to get it figured out quick. And you're 100% right. It's, I mean, it's clearly the best thing Dan Lanning could do to fill the void. He clearly saw that, hey, we're not, you know, we're not at the level we need to be on offensive line. Let's go get some help. And you, and you brought in three of the best guys you could ultimately get. I know Alex Harky isn't talked about as much as those other two. He's a really

good player. You look at the film and he's just completely solid. And if that's your right tackle, which we expect he is, he's a really good player. So the key there is, I don't think that this unit lacks for talent, but we know offensive line isn't just about talent. They've got to play together. They've got to build that chemistry. And I've got a feeling, I've got a feeling, just because I've done this for a while. This is probably just like last year though. This is probably gonna be a group that struggles a little bit out the gate, right? But you've got a couple, three games there to kind of get things figured out a little bit because the version of Oregon's offensive line

that we saw last year to start and to finish were two completely different units. And I got a feeling this one's gonna be fairly similar just because of that lack of playing time together for them. So they have a, uh, player that we should be comparing to Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith. We have a player on the backfield that we could get Ashton Gentile like production from I'm kidding, but like, I'm kidding, but seriously.

Yeah. No, the, the ducks scored with McKay Hughes. There's absolutely no doubt that they were able to bring him in and I mean again the reports when you're when people are talking about him Players coming out of practice. I mean he's tough to tackle. He's plenty fast. He's just a very dynamic back He's coming off two fantastic seasons obviously with Tulane But you know the best part I think for, for McKay Hughes, and he probably recognized this and Ohio State was a really good case study there last year. He has a chance to be the guy, but he's got a lot of help around him.

They're returning great production in the backfield with Noah Whittington and others. So you know, he's going to have a chance to be able to stay fresh late in the games. And that's exactly what linebackers and defensive backs don't want to see is, you know, they're tired and gas and McKay Hughes is like, Hey, I've only carried the ball about 15 times. I'm ready to roll. So that's a great problem for Oregon to have. And I do think that, you know, McKay Hughes took that into consideration and realized that's a good thing for his career this season.

So going back to guys that Oregon recruited out of high school who aren't freshmen, the defense is a lot of that. The defense is a lot of older guys that were recruited out of high school. Obviously there are some key transfers, but Mateo Ullungole is the one I wanna talk about because I'm trying to remember the last time,

and Oregon had a first round defensive tackle last year in Derek Harmon, but the last time there was a pass rusher at Oregon that scared you this much. I mean, DeForest Buckner was really good coming from the inside, but when was the last time they had an edge guy? I mean, why am I blanking on his name? He plays for the Giants.

I was waiting for you to get there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But is that where Mateo projects? Is that you know potential maybe first rounder if he has a very good year? Yeah, this is a big year for the young girl because he's going to get more snaps. You know, one of the great parts about that Oregon defense last year, particularly at defensive line is they were deep. They were rotating guys constantly. So late in the games, those guys were able to still perform at a high level. Derek Harmon, one of them. Matteo is gonna find himself taking a lot more snaps this year. And in the limited time that he saw last year, he was one of Oregon's most productive defensive linemen.

So you're really gonna see, I think, a bigger role from him. He's just so unique in the fact I mean, this is a guy that you know step back and made a game-winning interception against Wisconsin to seal that game The the Ducks were on the ropes in Madison and all of a sudden Mateo's pulling down an interception to give organ the win So, you know, this is just a guy that's truly unique Really fun. There was a video cave on Tibbado was in town this past weekend Oregon had a big recruiting weekend, brought in some big guns, but there was a video that surfaced of Cave on working with Mateo on some moves and stuff like

that. You could see them on the field. Pretty cool. But yeah, this guy is truly exciting, truly special, just a freak of an athlete, and I think with the added reps that he's gonna get this season, he's going to be a major factor on that defense. You know, we spent a lot of time talking about a lot of the highlights of Oregon's team, some of the best players, and now there's plenty of them, but I'm wondering from your vantage point, what's their weakness?

You have an entirely new secondary. Every position is brand new and it's filled with really good players. That's good, but it's gonna have some lumps just like the offensive line, right? There's gonna be some blown coverages. There's gonna be some growing pains. And so I think for me, you look at all five

of those positions and say, look, there's guys there. How good will they be? And I think you look at that, you look at the offensive line, which I highlighted a little bit ago and the concerns there for what they're gonna do do. But those are a couple positions that I think Oregon doesn't have a lack of talent, they just have a lack of chemistry and a lack of experience, which is of course the mantra of this team. And Dan Lanning knows that. I think the good part about this team is, yes, they do lack experience, game experience. There's gonna be some hangups along the way.

But you just look at the pure athleticism and the pure talent level, they're gonna be able to outmatch pretty much everyone they play along the way just on those two levels alone. And we all know, all three of us know that athleticism can account for a lot of mistakes along the way and Oregon's got that.

So yeah, to answer your question on defense, you know, you wonder about the secondary a little bit, the returning production at linebacker, they should be solid there. Defensive line is going to be solid once again. But again, the lack of experience, we're going to keep talking about it. We don't really know what we have until I think really we see this team in Happy Valley at the end of September. until I think really we see this team in Happy Valley at the end of September. I'm fascinated by the talent level question because you made it very clear that this is one of the most talented Oregon teams

we've ever seen. And I go back, like Chip Kelly got some very talented guys but it never felt like they were an elite talent roster. Helphrich, all same thing. He brings in Justin Herbert, who I guess obviously was a local recruit. People didn't know quite what they had. But then you have some other players that they brought in.

Kavon Thibodeau in the Mario Cristobal era, Pene Sul in the Mario Cristobal era. How much exactly has it ratcheted up under Dan Lane? How different is the roster now versus the one Lanning took over and took to play Georgia that first year? Yeah, you make a great point. It's not like this is Oregon's first ever talented team. They've had talent in the past. Obviously, we've seen them in the playoffs play for championships, have yet to get one. I know that's hanging over the head. But the difference for me is this, back in the day, for the

most part, those teams had several really good players and supplemented around them with, with strong players. But if any one of those players went down, the guy behind them was a severe step down in talent. And, you know, that's been the case for Oregon most times. Under Mario, it started to get a little bit better in terms of depth. But you look at this Oregon team here, and I look at it and you can say, hey, look, the guys that are starting are probably a grade above the guys behind them.

But it's not this massive fall off when it's the next man up. And you can go two, three deep at nearly every position on this field and feel pretty good about who's coming in. Of course, you want De'Korian Moore out there and you want Isaiah World out there. You want your starters out there, but the next guy behind him is going to be able to get the job done at the level needed to win still. And I don't think I've really ever covered an Oregon team where I could

confidently say that, that, hey, the third guy in line, yeah, he's not the starter, but he's plenty good to get the job done. Probably inexperienced at this point, but like I said a moment ago, when you have athleticism that some of these guys have, you can overcome a lot of that inexperience. I hate doing this because I think that we do this too much and I'm gonna do it anyway.

But like a lot of times when teams that were really good lose a bunch of players, we talk ourselves in the off season into, you know, how much better that they're going to be or they're going to be just fine. Like where is, um, or again, in terms of last year, and do you think there's a chance that could be better than they were? Is that a crazy question? No, it's a really good question.

And one that's highly discussed on the scoop deck message boards. Uh, I think I've been pretty transparent with fans myself. Of course in college football now we know a month is a lifetime. slight step back simply because you're comparing it to a team that went 13 and 0 and that is not easy to do. So if they go 11 and 2, just everybody's gonna look at it and say they took a step back, right? They're both comparable seasons at the end of the day. I understand the 0 and 2 are different. The way I look at this team, and I'm being completely honest here, I think this team has all the capabilities to compete because of schedule, because of talent. If Dante Moore is the guy that we think he's going to be, Oregon's going to be able to compete for a Big Ten championship and beyond this season. In my opinion, if Dan Lanning is able to hold it together and Dante Moore does return for that second season, you

look at this team in two years, and I'm saying watch out. That's where they kind of reached what we felt maybe Ohio State was last year, where you've got a really good group of guys that have been in your program for two or three years or whatever and ready to be the dudes. And then you go pluck a couple of really good players to put on there and you take it to another level. That's where I see Oregon in two years from now,

as long as they can hold the pieces together. Gonna be plenty good this year, gonna win 10, 11, 12 games in my opinion, and they get into the postseason. But I look at this team in two years, and again, I think there's a really strong chance for this Oregon team. So how do the hardcore Oregon fans, the folks on your message board, how do they view last season? Because we've talked about it in the show, if you just take the regular season, what we're going to did was incredibly difficult.

But I feel like, you know, just in for folks who don't follow them that much, they just go, Oh, well, they got they got smoked in the Rose Bowl. And that was a mirage. Like, what they did against that schedule was very impressive. And I have a hard time because I don't want people to just dismiss what happened because of one game. But I'm curious about how the organ fans actually feel about that. Were they how despondent were they about the Rose Bowl loss and what it meant for the for the future? I think most fans at least, you know, the level-headed ones and

we know there's fans of all kinds out there, do realize what Oregon did last year should not be overlooked. I mean, it was an incredible season. And I think really it was a season that people that cover Oregon didn't quite expect. I mean, it was a tremendous season. It's been really tough for two reasons. Yes, because of the Rose Bowl and just the way Ohio State absolutely came out and throttled Oregon. And they clearly did. They were the better team that day. There's absolutely no

question about that. You know, I know we're not talking about it. But recruiting hasn't been quite as stellar as folks have been used to under Dan Lanning, at least so far this first half of the year can still change. So you combine those two things and it's been kind of a tough run to be a duck fan right now, at least as far as football is concerned. There are a lot of folks that do see what Dan Lanning did in the first year of the Big Ten, navigating different venues and different teams you've never faced and an interesting travel schedule and all those things that went into it. And for those guys to remain focused, to know, to get the job done, they respect that and know that that was a tremendous season that we just experienced, which is why I say, or just said a moment ago,

it's going to be really tough to duplicate that this year. I know the schedule is slightly easier outside of Penn State and probably USC still going to be really tough, tough to duplicate that just because of all of the unknowns in this sport. I mean, I'm like certain that Oregon will win a title in the next 10 years. Like, I'm certain of it. Is that kind of what people

is that where they're at there in Eugene? Yeah, I don't know about you guys, but I and I don't cover it quite as broad as you guys do. I know you guys know other programs better than I do. I don't look, is there like a, a, an unbeatable team this year, right? You look at the top 10 and you could make questions about every one in the top 10, like, okay, here's the question marks there, there, everyone's got them, Oregon's got them, just the same. And so I don't see anyone that's built an Ohio State team that we just saw last year or has built, you know, what, what Kirby had built at Georgia there for a few years and Nick Saban in Alabama.

I think the sport's wide open and I think Dan Lanning has done everything in his power. inherited to what it is now and just flip it overnight. But as you can see every year, year over year, he's inched closer and closer to that and he's gonna continue to do that. And again, I look at this team with a lot of promise in two years depending on what happens and I think from there looking at the way they're recruiting now. They're working towards a model of what Nick Saban had at Alabama, which was, hey, when the five or four star goes to the NFL, the guy behind him steps right up and steps right in, and there's no drop off. And that is not easy to do.

Yeah, and I'm not sure the new era of the sport is even going to allow for that. Like we said, that Ohio State team, kind of the last of that era. I don't know that anybody, because what you've talked about is Oregon might be that kind of super stacked team in a couple of years. But I wonder, you mentioned the current recruiting for the class of 26 and beyond. I wonder if guys are looking at that and going, oh, well, I can't immediately play there. So I'm going to go look at some other places like that. It may just be hard to do that, but it feels like Oregon has as good of a plan as anybody. And we always talk on the show, J-hop about if you keep knocking at

the door, you eventually get let in like Kirby smart did. They kept coming back, kept being in contention. They eventually won two national titles. Dabo did that earlier than that. We saw it with Ohio State, where they were just there and over and over again, and you get through. So that's my thing, is Oregon's there annually now. As long, I feel like as long as Dane Lanning's there, they're gonna be in the mix

and eventually you just break through. And one of the keys that I'd like to highlight and the reason I have that promise, or that outlook for two years, Oregon is one of the best programs in the country bar none at roster retention. And that's something you're kind of alluding to in this new sport, the transfer portal, getting guys to maybe jump ship and move elsewhere. Oregon, guys that they want to keep, they don't lose them. It's just something that Dan Lanning does incredibly well. And you and I both know Dan Lanning,

as much as we wanna talk about, he's still only in the third year of being a head coach. He's still got so many areas to grow for himself personally that you can't replicate the experience and knowledge that he just gained from this last season of, okay, the playoffs now expanded, we made it to the Rose Bowl, got thumped. There was a massive learning experience there

for Dan Laney that he now builds on. And to your point, when you are knocking on the door, you're learning these things on the way. You're kind of having to learn them on the fly. So next year, you know, if Oregon makes the Rose Bowl and there's a four-week layoff, he's probably going to be a little bit better prepared for that layoff than they were this year. So, you know, to your point, I think we're seeing, you know, this team continue to build, but we're also continuing to see a young head coach learn from experience, learn from mistakes and, you know, build himself as well.

Yeah. And it's a Kirby Smart year, year six for the first national title. Ryan Day, your seven, uh, Dabo, I believe was year nine as the, as the full-time head coach. So it doesn't, it doesn't always happen overnight. No. What do you think Oregon has gained from being in the Big 10? Exposure? I think, I think they've earned exposure. And I think they've earned respect. And those are not easy things to

earn, right? I mean, Oregon has been a national brand. Everyone knows Oregon knows the O knows knows the Flash, knows the uniforms. That's not anything new. But what I mean, in terms of exposure is just that what we're talking about, we're talking about Dan Lanning and what they're building and the talent level. And with that's coming the respect. I think Oregon went through a difficult, not an impossible, but a difficult Big Ten schedule last year. And, you know, I'm a Pac-12 purist. I love the Pac-12. I miss it. Rest in peace. I was always a huge promoter of the Pac-12,

but it feels like outside of the Pac-12, there wasn't a lot of respect for the Pac-12. Might've been a little bit of branding issues. Who knows? The Big Ten doesn't have that issue. If have been a little bit of branding issues, who knows. The Big 10 doesn't have that issue. If you go through and win the Big 10, you've earned the respect of most people in college football. Yes, the SEC is still the SEC, but everyone's well aware that the 1A or 1B to that is the Big 10. And Oregon just went through and won the Big 10 championship in the first year.

They now have, I think, a level of respect that wasn't there when they were winning in the pack 12. So that Washington went with them. So that rivalry remains and should be fun, especially this year when they go to Seattle USC, obviously still, still an in-conference rival. Who do you think becomes the next big 10 nemesis for organ? Is it gonna be Ohio State? Is it Penn State?

Is it, they start playing fun games against Iowa? Like that's, I'm, I think that's one of the more fun things is like who becomes a rival now? You know, one of the things that you don't talk about is in the pack 12 organs, like weird nemesis was ASU. Like they'd always have these weird games against ASU, right? You were like, they always have these. Oh, yeah. Yes, you're right. You're like they shouldn't be rivals, but for whatever reason, as you end up winning these crazy games, it was a vortex.

And so you kind of wonder like, okay, is Purdue or Rutgers or Iowa going to be the issue for Oregon Big 10? Fortunately, they didn't experience that last year. Wisconsin almost almost did it to them. They really did. I mean, I was at that game. Oregon had no business winning that game. And it was really just a matter of having better talent at the end of the day. Fun game fun atmosphere by the way Madison Wisconsin. Oh, I love you. Such a fun city. Anyways, back to is kind of coming along. It will never be on the level of

Ohio State Michigan. I'm not here trying to say that that's one of the best rivalries in college football. I truly think Oregon Washington has been one of the best rivalries in college football that nobody talks about and it's because it's on the West Coast. Those two teams hate each other. I mean they just will never say a nice thing about one another ever. So that remains, but USC is going to be a better football team this year. They have a very difficult schedule. So I think it's gonna be a tough way to grade USC. But I know Oregon and USC are clashing on the recruiting trail a lot this year.

And I think a lot of both folks, you know, USC and Oregon folks have that game circled, but for me out of those non-traditional pack 12 guys that came over, I really see this Oregon, Ohio state thing going somewhere. I think ultimately you kind of look at Michigan and Penn State and Oregon and Ohio state as like the big four in the big 10, but Oregon and Ohio state are battling on the recruiting trail. And I just think those are, you know, two teams that are going to continue to play at a high level.

I mean, I think that's what rivalries are, right? Consistently running into somebody, whether it be on Saturday or on Saturday in April, right? I mean, that's, and I remember when I was on the Ohio state beat that they had a rivalry with Clemson for five years. That felt real, you know, like that felt like their number one concern, you know? So I buy that. I buy that. What about you, Andy? I do too. I love the Oregon USC, especially now that USC has gotten a couple of commits

that Oregon wanted because it felt like that was very one-sided for Oregon. And now USC is trying to strike back a little bit. So I would like that to be a little more even. But yeah, the Oregon Ohio State State, like, you see all these recruits popping up, like, and their their final three are Oregon, Ohio State and somebody like Georgia or Alabama or somebody else. And that's I feel like I don't know, other than the proximity rivalries, this, you know, the state border rivalries, those feel like the ones that get the nastiest,

the ones that you do see all the time on the recruiting trail. Well, I mean, if you, I know you guys are on social media, but if you look at the interactions with Oregon and Buckeyes fans, they get downright dirty a lot. And it's, you know, and that's what a rivalry is, right? Hey, I don't like you. You don't like me. I can't wait to kick your butt on the field on Saturday. And, you know, last year, I think we saw that play out there was a lot of just comments that came from the first meeting when Oregon beat Ohio State in Eugene. Afterwards, you know, you had Ryan Day kind of popping off a little bit about some things that happened. There was just a lot of back and forth. You know, you'll

never you'll never get me not to believe that Ryan Day didn't have that Rose Bowl circled and highlighted and double circled, like knowing, Hey, I know what, what my team's got right here. And I know that we're a different team. I can't wait for vengeance on what happened in Eugene. That's a rivalry, right? I don't know if it was because of Oregon, but it was because I already get fired. Uh, but the thing I think would be the genesis of that really

is if you remember like the Dan Lanning, too many men on the field thing. Like that's the type of stuff that gets the blood pressure pumping a little bit. When they got to change the rules based on something you did, you did it right. No, I know, but you can see why that would like bother people. Oh yeah. The team you beat would be bothered by that. the this year. We're gonna get to see Oregon in Happy Valley in late September. Probably gonna

be big noon, which I'd rather that be at night with a wide out. But you know, what are you gonna do? I know I'm gonna try to make it to that game. I know that. Oh yeah, it's gonna be you. You'll find out the difficulty of getting to State College, which is something that the folks- It's like saying Altoona. I booked an Airbnb about six months ago and I've still got it, so. Okay, that's good.

Oh, nice. Well, I'll give it, I gotta give a shout out to Sean Fitz, you know, on three who covers Penn State. He and I are buddies and he was giving me tips about, he goes, hey, just so you know, that game's gonna be big. You better book, because we have hardly anything out here for lodging. It's really difficult to get to.

The airport's not ideal. He goes, this is gonna be challenging. So, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I can't wait for that. I'm very jealous of you now, and might try to crash on the couch of your Airbnb,

because that sounds amazing. But I will just point out, since you're going to be close, Barrel 21 Distillery and Dining. They make their own whiskey. Fantastic menu. Just throwing it out there. You're speaking my love language right now, Andy. In case I pass out on your couch later that night.

That's probably. Country is very underrated for food. Oh, yeah. You've got a lot of really good food in that area of the country. The pepperoni roll deal going there and, you know, they've got some like Penn State's got a lot of great food on its campus. But just like being the proximity to the East Coast with the pretzel. I mean, it's the snack belt. Like there's a lot to go.

Yeah, that's what it is. Penn State is where Sheetz territory meets Wawa territory. So it's pretty spectacular from a gas station front to J hop. I can't wait to see what Oregon does a year or two in the big 10. This is this whole week has gotten me more pumped for the season because we've learned a lot about all these teams. I hope everybody has enjoyed it. I hope everybody's having a great Fourth of July weekend and

we will be back with you live Monday morning, 930 AM Eastern time. Big 12 80 days are next week's off season's over. We made it.