Midnight Oil: There’s a new Boogie Man in Oregon football

Published 9:14 pm Saturday, December 7, 2024

It’s another week of Oregon atop the college football landscape.

Maybe it’s getting boring, but I’m happy to be along for the ride. There aren’t many 20-somethings who can call themselves “Guys who cover the No. 1 team in the country” (I can think of two others who have made careers out of it and aren’t currently students at the university). So I’m going to write more about it.

Currently, It’s 9:16 on the west coast. I didn’t make the trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship, but a Paramount+ free trial allowed me to be along for the action.

What a game.

There are plenty of decisions I could nitpick, complain about or criticize — for both teams — but jeez, isn’t it just fun to soak in good college football at the highest level?

That dominance by Oregon — one score game for the championship or not — isn’t limited to just the field. It’s recruiting, too.

The early singing window closed Dec. 6 and Oregon wrapped up a No. 4 recruiting class when it was all said and done. It’s another example to point to in the dominance that has been Dan Lanning over the last 18-24 months.

But it leaves me with a pair of questions.

A No. 4 recruiting class, a No. 1 ranking are great and a Big Ten Championship are great, but what will cement Oregon as on-par with the SEC? And how does Lanning take the crown of “college football’s boogie man” post-Saban retirement?

As for the first part about Oregon competing with the SEC, I sound annoying to even myself. I’m rolling my eyes as I read it and I hate nothing more than a pessimist. But, I am hypocritical, being one of the biggest pessimists when it comes to sports. Chalk it up to my love of the Sacramento Kings and Milwaukee Brewers (and Denver Broncos post-Peyton Manning).

I’m very cynical when it comes to sports teams in my orbit. Oregon isn’t excluded.

There’s a running joke in college football media (or at least in the circles I’ve been a part of) — everyone gets a job in the industry and becomes a “The SEC is the best conference” guy.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one of them.

That, combined with my pessimism and lack of rooting interest in the conference, I’m a subscriber to the SEC narrative. I’m not stoked about it! I love parity in sports and, fortunately for me, I don’t (yet) have an AP Top 25 vote to be screenshotted and tweeted at me to remind me of my biases as a young and stupid reporter (to Isaac when he’s older, be glad you included this when you’re being called out about it despite potentially unpredictable changes and shifts in the landscape of college football).

But it’s an objectively hard thing to deny when you watch games. The SEC is really good. Ignore the ugly game that was Texas vs. Georgia. One was playing with a backup quarterback — who was substituted in for an injured, not very good starting quarterback — and the other was just… maybe overthinking the moment? Not sure. I think Texas is good, missing a starting left tackle doesn’t help, but your offense HAS to play better than that.

Anywho!

Standing as the only undefeated in the country, Oregon is looking like it has the staying power to go head-to-head with the SEC routinely. But how do you maintain that?

Oregon has the No. 4 recruit class.

And the Ducks didn’t really miss anyone on signing day. Maybe the Kansas State -commit tight end Logan Kure? It isn’t really that important.

What is important: The Ducks — and Dan Lanning — have proven they’re at the top and ascending to Saban’s crown. As I’ve previously written, I’m fully bought in on Dan Lanning. Full stop. I already think he’s the “Boogie Man”.

I truly believe he’s got the stuff to lead a program and he’d pilot any team that he had the reigns of to a playoff appearance — from the FCS to the Sun Belt to the Big Ten. He is that guy, the motivator and team builder that his coaching lineage hails back to. That tracks in the recruiting trail.

Not only did the Ducks secure key west coast players like linebacker Nasir Wyatt from California and offensive lineman Zac Stascausky from Portland, they went into SEC country.

Wide receiver Dakorien Moore from Texas. A five-star player from the state where Sarkisian leads an offense-first program at Texas? He’ll be a Duck.

Cornerback Na’eem Offard from Alabama. Another five-star from where Lane Kiffin spent three seasons and a neighbor of Mississippi where he currently coaches? Duck.

Wide receiver Dallas Wilson, interior offensive lineman Ziyare Addison and linebacker Gavin Nix? Two five-stars and a four star. All from Florida, just a state away from Kirby and his Dawgs? They’ll all be Ducks come 2025.

Saban has passed down the crown, Lanning is a shoe in as the new Boogie Man. Go hoist your trophy and prove it to the world.