Kirk Herbstreit Gives Oregon Fans a Reason To Pay Attention

The No. 15 Oregon Ducks are on a bye before facing No. 23 UCLA on Oct. 10, but Oregon's win over the No. 18 USC Trojans is still lingering in the national college football sphere. ESPN's College GameDay is in Iowa City, Iowa, as the No. 14 Iowa Hawkeyes host the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes, but analyst Kirk Herbstreit brought up the Ducks during a buy or sell segment.

Kirk Herbstreit Loving Oregon Ducks

Mimicking a stock exchange, each College GameDay panelist bought and sold a team based on how they feel about the current players as well as the upcoming schedule, and Herbstreit revealed his confidence in Oregon by buying the Ducks:

oregon ducks kirk herbstreit college gameday dylan raiola dante moore usc trojans upset schedule ohio state buckeyes — Oregon quarterback Dylan Raiola celebrates a touchdown by Oregon running back Dierre Hill Jr. as the Oregon Ducks face the USC Trojans on Sept. 26, 2026, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

"I would have loved to pick Oregon last week before they beat USC, but I'm still gonna pick Oregon," Herbstreit said. "Oregon, I think, turned their season around after that disappointing loss in Stillwater, everybody thought, 'What's going on with Oregon?'"

"And not only that Des (Desmond Howard), Oregon loses their starting quarterback. We saw that vicious hit Dante Moore, and Dylan Raiola came in, they played better. So I think having a a capable backup. I don't know how long Dante Moore is gonna be out with that concussion, but they're sitting at 15. I feel like they're going up. I feel good about Oregon," Herbstreit continued.

As mentioned by Herbstreit, Ducks coach Dan Lanning and his team went on the road against USC and beat the Trojans after quarterback Dante Moore was knocked out of the game with roughly 10 minutes remaing in the second quarter.

Still, Oregon's offense finished with 504 yards, no turnovers, and 28 second-half points that ultimately pulled away from USC. On the other side of the ball, the Ducks held the Trojans to 2-for-11 on third down conversions and held USC quarterback Jayden Maiava to his worst completion percentage of the year so far at 54.8 percent.

Oregon stock is going up 🦆📈 pic.twitter.com/3EhyFbOehe
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) October 3, 2026

Oregon Ducks Remaining Schedule

Despite picking up the big win, Lanning and the Ducks have only played one Big Ten game in 2026 and have eight games in eight weeks after the bye.

No. 23 UCLA is undefeated and now ranked, but early betting odds view the Ducks as double-digit favorites. According to FanDuel, Oregon is favored by 12.5 points over the Bruins.

Nebraska, at Illinois, and Northwestern finish out Oregon's October schedule as former Ducks coach Chip Kelly returns to Autzen Stadium once again, this time his first as the Wildcats offensive coordinator.

No. 5 Ohio State on the road is clearly the toughest test remaining for the Ducks, but the Buckeyes themselves have a few key tests before Oregon comes into Columbus, Ohio. GameDay chose Ohio State vs. Iowa because of the Big Ten and potential College Football Playoff implications, and the Buckeyes have games against No. 6 Indiana and No. 18 USC before facing Oregon.

Michigan, Michigan State, and Washington will cap off the Ducks season in November as Lanning and company may be making their case for an at-large bid in the CFP or even a spot in the Big Ten title game.

However, it all begins with UCLA on Oct. 10 when Oregon comes out of the bye.

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