DSC Inside Read: First 3-2-1 Look at 2026 Season

 

As we head into July this week and start to think more seriously about the 2026 season, DSC will begin turning some of its attention away from recruiting and back toward football.

As many regular readers have probably noticed, I have put a lot more time and energy into recruiting coverage over the last several months, starting with the Polynesian Bowl. There was a reason for that beyond the obvious reality that, during the offseason, recruiting is often the main thing to discuss.

We created the premium Substack site to provide a home for deeper thoughts, long-form recruiting stories and the kinds of player evaluations my readers have enjoyed in the past. That part of the coverage is not going away. But as the season gets closer, and as the 2027 recruiting board begins to narrow, we will start shifting more attention back toward the upcoming football season.

I enjoy doing both types of content. Recruiting gives us a look at the future of the program, but the season is where all of those bigger-picture conversations start to become real. And as we begin to integrate some of the former FishDuck writers into what we are doing, there may also be an opportunity for even more free content as we move forward.

This week on the Inside Read, I wanted to take a different kind of July look at the season with a 3-2-1 format.

THREE GAMES TO WATCH AND WHY

1. USC

The Trojans have been good, but not great, over the last few seasons. That makes this game easy to undersell if you are only looking at recent results. I would be careful with that.

USC has continued to stockpile talent, and the Trojans return Jayden Maiava, who has already started at UNLV and USC and gives Lincoln Riley a veteran quarterback in his system. This is also a game in Los Angeles, early in the season, against a program that has a unique kind of motivation when it comes to Oregon.

The Ducks have taken a lot from USC in recent years. Not just games, but oxygen. Recruiting momentum. West Coast relevance. Big Ten positioning. National perception. Oregon has become what USC thought it was supposed to be when the Trojans made their own move into the Big Ten.

That does not mean USC is better than Oregon. On paper, Oregon should be the better and deeper team. But this is the kind of September road game that can tell us something about how ready the Ducks are to absorb an early punch from a talented opponent with something to prove.

2. Ohio State

This is the obvious one.

Early November in Columbus can be brutal, and that is before we even get to the football part of the conversation. The weather can be uncomfortable. The environment can be difficult. And Ohio State will have the kind of talent, depth and coaching that forces Oregon to be clean in ways it may not have to be in some other games.

This may not be Oregon’s first test of the season, but it feels like the first true playoff-grade road test.

By the time the Ducks get to Columbus, they should already know quite a bit about themselves. They will have gone through the nonconference schedule, played USC on the road and worked through the middle portion of the Big Ten schedule. But Ohio State is different because there are fewer places to hide.

You do not beat Ohio State on the road in November with only talent. You have to handle pressure. You have to win situational football. You have to respond when the game becomes uncomfortable. And if Oregon can go into that environment and find a way to win, it may tell us a lot about what the postseason could look like.

3. Illinois

Bret Bielema teams are physical. They are usually comfortable playing ugly. And Illinois may not be the best team Oregon faces this season, but that does not make this a game to ignore.

Late October road games can be strange. By that point in the season, teams are banged up. Depth starts to matter. Weather can become a factor. And the emotional rhythm of a season can make certain games more difficult than they look from a distance.

As of now, Oregon will likely be a heavy favorite. I also do not really want to call this a trap game because it does not cleanly fit that definition. The Ducks play Nebraska at home before it and Northwestern at home after it, so this is not a classic look-ahead spot.

But it does feel like one of those tricky road games where the longer an underdog hangs around, the more uncomfortable the favorite becomes.

If Illinois can keep it close into the second half, this could start to feel like the kind of game Oregon has had to survive in recent seasons. Think Iowa last year or Wisconsin the year before. Not necessarily because Illinois is the same team, but because the game could carry that same grinding, physical, uneasy feel where one or two mistakes can change the entire tone of the afternoon.

TWO SURPRISE BREAKOUT PLAYERS

1. Nasir Wyatt

I do not know if “surprise” is even the right word with Nasir Wyatt because the talent has been obvious for a while. But there is a difference between having flashes and becoming a real factor, and I think Wyatt has a chance to move from one category to the other this season.

What we saw from him last season was a raw, sudden pass-rush specialist who had some bright moments. He had the first-step quickness. He had the burst. He had the kind of edge speed that makes you notice him even when he is only on the field for a limited role.

But what I have seen through the offseason is a player who was not content with moments.

His physical and mental growth showed during practices leading up to the spring game. He looked more comfortable. He looked stronger. He looked more prepared to do more than simply chase the quarterback in obvious passing situations.

The comparison that comes to mind is Matayo Uiagalelei and the jump he made between his freshman and sophomore seasons. That does not mean Wyatt will have the exact same role or production, but the developmental arc feels similar. There is a point where a young edge player stops looking like a talented prospect and starts looking like a weekly problem.

Wyatt may be getting close to that point. And he may be even more explosive off the edge.

2. Iverson Hooks

Everyone knows what Dakorien Moore is capable of. We already saw Jeremiah McClellan start to break out during the second half of the 2025 season. That makes it easy to look at Iverson Hooks as more of a luxury than a necessity.

I am not sure that is the right way to view him.

Hooks has a chance to fill a role Oregon did not fully have last season. I do not want to simply call it the Tez Johnson role because that can become unfair to both players, but there are elements of that profile that matter. Oregon needs someone who can work inside space, separate quickly, stress leverage, create after the catch and give the offense answers when defenses are trying to take away the more obvious vertical shots.

The more I watched Hooks, the more I liked the fit.

I do not know that he is going to put up the kind of numbers Johnson did at Oregon, and he does not have to. But he can be a problem in a different way. He can be the player who keeps the offense on schedule. He can be the one who punishes soft coverage, turns short throws into efficient gains and gives Dante Moore another option when the first read is not there.

Oregon has plenty of headline talent at receiver. Hooks may be the player who gives the room a different texture.

ONE BIG QUESTION THAT WILL SHAPE THE SEASON

It would be easy to talk about the offensive line here. I have talked about it a lot, and I will continue to talk about it because it matters. Oregon has to be good enough up front to protect Dante Moore, run the ball with consistency and survive against the best defensive fronts on the schedule.

But the bigger question, at least to me, is whether Moore is built for the pressure that comes with this level of expectation.

We know the talent is there. We know the arm is there. We know the knowledge has grown. We know he took major steps last season and gave Oregon a chance to reach the final stages of the College Football Playoff.

But the next question is different.

Can he carry a team that expects to win the Big Ten? Can he handle being the quarterback every opponent circles? Can he stay poised when the game tightens, when the first read is taken away, when protection is not perfect and when a defense forces him to win after the easy answers disappear?

We will get pieces of that answer before November. USC will tell us something. The early road trip to Oklahoma State may tell us something. The middle stretch of the Big Ten schedule will tell us something.

But we may not get the clearest answer until Oregon sees a defense like Ohio State’s in Columbus.

That is where the season could turn.

The issue is not whether Moore is talented enough to lead Oregon to something special. He is. The issue is whether the growth we have heard about and seen in flashes holds up when the game becomes heavy.

Against Indiana in the CFP semifinal, there were moments that showed how thin the margin can become at the highest level. The talent was still there. The production was still there. But the game also created pressure points that Oregon will have to be better prepared to handle if the Ducks are going to take the next step.

That is the question that shapes the season.

If Moore answers it, Oregon’s ceiling is as high as anyone’s in the country.