5 Thing to Watch: Boise State

EUGENE, Ore. — Year five for Oregon football under Dan Lanning opens Saturday, and the Ducks never before have been so well positioned to chase their biggest goals.

The UO football team takes a No. 2 preseason ranking into the 2026 campaign, which begins Saturday against Boise State in Autzen Stadium. The Ducks and Broncos will kick it off at 12:40 p.m.

Oregon is coming off back-to-back College Football Playoff berths, looking to build on a quarterfinal appearance in 2024 and a run to the semifinals in 2025. The Ducks are considered to have one of the most talented rosters in the country, led by Heisman Trophy candidate Dante Moore at quarterback.

The Broncos are back in Eugene for the second time in three years. The Ducks scored touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns in that game, and won it on a field goal at the final gun for their first victory in four all-time meetings with Boise State.

Saturday's game will be televised by CBS, with Brad Nessler providing play by play, analysis from Charles Davis, and Jenny Dell reporting from the sidelines.

Some storylines to watch when the game kicks off …

1. Earlier this preseason, Lanning talked about the Ducks having telescope goals and microscope goals. There are obviously big-picture goals Oregon will pursue over the course of the season, those viewable through a telescope — including playing its best football into January — but it will take achieving short-term goals along the way in order to get there. Hence, a microscope.

Saturday is a chance to set the tone for that, focusing on the task at hand without getting caught up in the expectations for what the Ducks could achieve this season.

"Really, how we play to our standard, our standard of play," Lanning said of what he'll be watching for Saturday. "You know, beginning of the year, games generally have a lot of penalties; beginning of the year, games have missed tackles. (I'll be) looking for us to play to that standard of, what's the technique necessary? Are we achieving that at a high level?"

2. The Ducks will be looking to spoil Boise State's debut game as members of the new-look Pac-12 Conference, and to avoid the fate Oregon teams of the past endured against the Broncos.

Oregon's narrow victory in the 2024 matchup was the program's first win in series history, after some memorable upsets by the Broncos earlier this century. This season, Boise State is looking to extend the longest active streak in the nation for winning seasons, currently at 28.

"It's a really well-coached team," Lanning said. "Spencer (Danielson) does a great job of getting his guys ready. They play with an attitude and a toughness that shows up all over film. They've got some really dynamic players that do a really good job, and it seems like it's a really cohesive unit. So, everything you expect from a Boise State team seems to be showing up on film."

3. The Ducks returned an elite quarterback in Moore, the running back duo of Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill, a receiving corps bolstered by a healthy Evan Stewart and a defense headlined by four superstars on the line and standout defensive backs Brandon Finney Jr. and Koi Perich.

Talent evaluators judge this to be one of the deepest rosters in the country, if not the best. That talent extends to the offensive line, but because the Ducks will have a handful of new starters up front in 2026, it might be the unit under the brightest spotlight as this season approached.

The Ducks are starting from a strong foundation with the return of center Iapani Laloulu. Young returners like Fox Crader, Gernorris Wilson, Ziyare Addison and Douglas Utu have shown flashes of potential. And newcomers such as transfer Michael Bennett and freshmen Tommy Tofi and Immanuel Iheanacho figure to be in the mix as well, sooner or later.

"If you look at every position on our team throughout the years, you've seen changes throughout the season," Lanning said. "Do we have some guys we feel comfortable going into the game with? Yes. Are there still guys playing above-the-line ball at multiple spots? Yes. So will you see one group? No, I don't. I think you'll probably see some different guys in the lineup throughout, and that's because they've earned that."

4. The Ducks aren't the only team in Saturday's matchup with a proven veteran at quarterback.

Boise State's Maddux Madsen is one of three active FBS quarterbacks to play at least 35 games at the same school. This fall, he's looking to become the first quarterback since Trevor Lawrence of Clemson in 2018-20 to lead his team to three straight conference titles.

Two years ago, Ashton Jeanty was the engine for Boise State's offense in Autzen Stadium. Madsen was 17-of-40 for 148 yards that day, and the experience he's garnered since should make him unfazed by the environment.

"He's a really capable quarterback," Lanning said. "When it's not there, he does a great job of being able to take off and run with it. And I think he's only gotten better since we played him."

5. Saturday is a precious opportunity for the Ducks given their goals for this season, and it's a precious opportunity for Oregon fans as well.

The long offseason is over, but there could be only seven chances to watch the UO football team in Autzen this season. The Ducks are looking to extend the nation's longest active nonconference home win streak, currently at 39 games, and to take a productive first step toward their goals for 2026 against a Boise State team looking to pull off the upset.

"They're well coached, and we expect their best," Lanning said. "What I'm counting on is our fans to show up, pack the place, make it a special environment like I always see in Autzen Stadium. It'll be fun to be out there on the field again with our guys, and time to hit somebody else."