College Football

Oregon spring storylines: Dan Lanning looks to move on from first-year growing pains

Published Apr. 28, 2023 12:03 p.m. ET

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Bryan Fischer

College Football Writer

When Oregon made Dan Lanning one of the youngest head coaches in the country prior to last season, expectations were that he would grow into the job and use his SEC-honed recruiting chops to keep the program regularly competing for Pac-12 titles. 

Lanning definitely had a little learning to do in certain aspects of game management as a rookie on the headset, but the end result of a 10-3 campaign and top-15 finish was a pretty solid debut for the 36-year-old all things considered. Quarterback Bo Nix notably revived his career far away from the Plains, the Ducks rebounded from an opening loss to eventual national champion Georgia to run off eight in a row, and they memorably came back in the final 20 seconds to beat North Carolina in the Holiday Bowl to cap it all off.

But the thing about being a program so closely associated with somebody like mega-booster Phil Knight is that good isn't quite good enough around Eugene for a team that begins every year with aspirations aimed squarely at the College Football Playoff. 

As a result, Oregon has embarked on its pursuit of just such a goal this spring, with the aim of eliminating those little mistakes that held them back in 2022 and living up to the potential of a roster stocked with an impressive mix of talented recruits and battle-tested veterans.

With that in mind, here's a look at several key storylines for the Ducks heading into their spring game Saturday:

A new-ish-look offense

It says a lot about how much Oregon's offense exceeded expectations that offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham used his brief stop with the team to leverage himself into the head coaching gig at conference rival Arizona State. UO was in the top 10 nationally in both scoring and yards per game, with Nix looking like a Heisman Trophy candidate for stretches and a lot less like the sometimes frantic signal-caller that he was in the pressure-packed situation at Auburn.

Nobody is expecting wholesale changes to the offense this spring, but it will be fascinating to see what tweaks new OC Will Stein puts in to get the best out of a talented crop of skill position talent that includes tailback Bucky Irving, wideout Troy Franklin and prototypical tight end Terrance Ferguson. Nix is back for yet another season after bypassing the chance to go to the draft and has harped on the potential this group has when everything is clicking.

Stein, a 33-year-old former Louisville quarterback, arrives after being a part of UTSA's back-to-back Conference USA titles. He guided the Roadrunners' offense to 36.8 points per game last year. He did an excellent job in making Frank Harris a better passer and will no doubt be looking to do the same with a similar dual threat in Nix. 

Trench warfare

If there is one thing that the coaching staff is going to use the 15 practices for, it's to dial up the competition for new starters along both lines.

On the offensive side, Oregon is set to replace four regulars up front and may find it especially tough to fill the leadership void left behind by center Alex Forsyth and tackle T.J. Bass. Guard Marcus Harper II does return at least, and senior Steven Jones, who has 19 starts but missed most of last year due to injury, should fill one of the other interior spots. Outside of that though, it will be up to new OL coach A'lique Terry to find the right mix of guys everywhere else. Five-star Josh Conerly Jr. has a good shot at seeing first-team snaps but will find competition from transfer portal additions like Junior Angilau and highly coveted FCS star Ajani Cornelius. 

Defensively, much of the front seven will need to be re-tooled, as top pass rusher DJ Johnson is among the many losses at all three levels. The interior line has better depth than one would think if veterans like Popo Aumavae can get back to full strength, but sorting out the rotation with at least three other upperclassmen should be interesting to track. Brandon Dorlus is back and hoping to put up more than the 2.5 sacks he had last season, while South Carolina transfer Jordan Burch may have been the biggest portal addition of the offseason on the outside.

A number of highly touted freshmen are also in the mix if they can pick up the defense quickly enough, but nobody is more excited to get on the field than five-star Matayo Uiagalelei. He has all the makings of a future star for the Ducks, but he's likely to be brought along slowly over the course of 15 practices before turning into even more of an impact player than Johnson was down the road.

The future at quarterback

Spring is always a good way for coaches to see how younger players handle increased workloads as they attempt to develop depth, and it will be fascinating to see the kind of jockeying that goes on to serve as Nix's backup in 2023 — and presumed heir apparent after that.

Ty Thompson has been No. 2 on the depth chart for the past two seasons after arriving on campus as a highly touted top-100 recruit, but has never seemed to see the field as much as the fan base would want. Many wonder if that is because coaches either don't trust him when he's on the field or if he's just not making the right decisions in the lead-up to Saturday. In so many ways, it is reaching a critical juncture in his career for the redshirt sophomore and amid the pressure of that weight also comes the opportunity to lock himself in as the guy for the post-Nix era.

If he doesn't end up solidifying his spot, four-star freshman Austin Novosad arrives as an early enrollee ready and could be able to take it. The Texas native was flipped from Baylor late in the recruiting process and brought in specifically by Stein to run the new offense. He still needs to add some bulk to his slender frame, but if the young signal-caller can make a push with his play, it's possible that forces a decision from Thompson ahead of the Transfer Portal opening one more time next month.

Bryan Fischer is a college football writer for FOX Sports. He has been covering college athletics for nearly two decades at outlets such as NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports and NFL.com among others. Follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.

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Steven Jones

Junior Angilau

Bryan Fischer