Oregon Ducks’ Early Playoff Stat Draws Attention

The Oregon Ducks season came to an end on Friday night in a loss to the Indiana Hoosiers in the Peach Bowl. It was a disappointing game for the Ducks, who for the second season saw their season end in a blowout.

The final score of the game ended up being Indiana 56, Oregon 22, feeling like a callback to the 42-21 loss to Ohio State for many Oregon fans.

Oregon Season Ends in Another Blowout

Oregon Ducks Dan Lanning Indiana Hoosiers College Football Playoff Peach Bowl Ohio State Buckeyes Rose Bowl Dante Moore — Jan 9, 2026; Atlanta, GA, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning reacts during the first half of the 2025 Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff against the Indiana Hoosiers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Year four of the Dan Lanning era in Eugene is in the books. This was the furthest the Ducks have gotten since Lanning took over as coach in 2022. After missing the College Football playoff in Lanning’s first two seasons, Oregon has reached the postseason in 2024 and 2025.

Unfortunately, each of these playoff trips for the Ducks have had a bitter ending. Oregon has lost by an average margin of 27 points in these two playoff losses under Lanning. Both games were practically over by halftime.

The game against Indiana was on pace to be the biggest margin of defeat in the history of a college football playoff game before a late Oregon touchdown cut the Hoosiers lead down to 34. Lanning was asked by reporters in the postgame about the back-to-back playoff losses in this fashion.

“I think it’s too premature to speak on what happened tonight until I go back and evaluate it,” Lanning said. “There will be an opportunity for an evaluation and a reflection, but I can’t speak on that right now.”

This one loss should not take away from a Ducks season that resulted in 13 wins and the only two losses both coming to the undefeated Hoosiers. Dan Lanning now has an overall record of 48-8 in his Oregon tenure. Six of these eight losses were to teams that won or played for the national title that season.

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Indiana Dominates Oregon, Advances to Title Game

Oregon's start against Indiana could not have been worse. On the first play from scrimmage, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore threw a pick-six to Indiana defensive back D’Angelo Ponds to make the score 7-0 Indiana just 11 seconds into the ballgame.

Moore and Oregon bounced back from this and answered with a 14 play 75 yard drive to tie the game at 7-7. It was all Indiana from there. The Hoosiers scored 28 points to close out the half to go up 35-7. The game was over at that point, as Indiana extended the lead even more and ended up winning 56-22.

Moore had a brutal game, including three turnovers that put the Ducks behind the eight-ball. Moore’s final stat line was 24/39 passing for 285 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Indiana will advance to the national championship game against the Miami Hurricanes while Oregon will head home and start to get ready for the 2026 season.