​Dan Lanning touted veteran-laden Oregon as a “player-led” football team during the weeks leading up to the season-opener against Boise State.So far, the Ducks (1-1) haven’t lived up to the billing.The coach gave a scathing review of his program when he met with media Sept. 14, two days after No. 18 Oregon’s humbling 39-31 loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater in what was a second-straight lackluster outing for a team expected to contend for a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff berth.”I’ll tell you, at this point, there’s been a lack of leadership, myself included,” Lanning said. “It starts with accountability, but it’s got to show up. Again, you can’t talk about it. You’ve got to see it. We haven’t seen it to this point.”It was a message that landed hard with inside linebacker Devon Jackson, a fifth-year player who is considered a leader on the defense.“That’s not good to hear,” he said Sept. 15. “It hurts a little. But again, we gotta go back to the basics. Starting with everybody.”In the aftermath of the loss to the Cowboys, Jackson said the players held a meeting to chart a path forward.“I’m not going to get into details of what we talked about,” he said. “But we met and talked about it and we had those conversations and things will definitely be different from here on out.”“There were some emotions to it,” senior center Poncho Laloulu said. “But we all gotta understand, emotion’s not gonna win us games. Like I said, the basic fundamental thing, technique, and everything else is gonna lead up into it.”The issues on the team are widespread.The offense, led by senior quarterback Dante Moore and a deep collection of talent at the skill positions, is averaging 389 total yards per game – just 104.5 yards rushing – 15 first downs and 29.0 points per game, subtracting the defensive touchdown scored against Oklahoma State.In 2025 the Ducks averaged 36.9 points, 452.2 total yards and 198.6 rushing yards.The defense, which returned eight starters, including all four defensive linemen and both cornerbacks, is allowing 33.0 points per game, 414 total yards, 165.0 rushing yards, 21.5 first downs and have made just three sacks.In 2025, the defense allowed 17.9 points, 273.7 total yards and 115.7 rushing yards per game.The Ducks are also 0-6 on fourth-down attempts this season and have committed 17 penalties for 156 yards.Laloulu said the team needs to do a better job preparing and called practices the week before the Oklahoma State game “lackadaisical,” prompting him to “get on the mic and kind of got on the guys.”Moore seemed to back up Laloulu’s criticism of game-week practices so far this season.“Just been some days where, you know, we’ve been on and off,” he said. “I feel like that’s been hurting us.”It certainly did last Saturday in a game Lanning, who is in his fifth season at Oregon, described as “by far the worst performance that we’ve had since I’ve been here.”“Sometimes