Oregon started this season at No. 2, with the highest preseason ranking in program history and the expectations that come with it. Five games later, the Ducks are outside the Associated Press Top 25. Sunday’s poll, released October 11, dropped Oregon from No. 13 to unranked after a 17-15 loss to UCLA at Autzen Stadium. It is the first time the Ducks have been absent from the rankings since September 2022.
For Oregon fans, the frustrating part is how much of Saturday’s damage was avoidable. The Ducks surrendered seven turnovers, changed quarterbacks and still got within a two-point conversion of tying the game. UCLA left Eugene undefeated, while Oregon fell to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten. Now the Ducks have a home date with Nebraska and considerably more to fix than a missing number beside their name.
A Four Year Ranking Streak Ends in Eugene
The last time Oregon disappeared from the AP poll, Georgia had handed the Ducks a 49-3 loss in the 2022 opener. Oregon went into that game ranked No. 11 and came out unranked, a difficult introduction to Dan Lanning’s tenure that the program eventually put behind it. This October, the concern is a second loss in five games after beginning the year with a much stronger national position.
Oregon had not lost two of its first five games since 2016, when the Ducks started 2-5 and finished 4-8, according to the AP. That comparison describes the record, not a prediction that this team will follow the same path. There is still plenty of football to play, but a second defeat this early leaves considerably less room for the mistakes that have slowed Oregon’s start. The UCLA loss gave voters another reason to question whether the Ducks belong among the country’s best teams.
Seven Turnovers Undercut Oregon’s Comeback
Oregon’s defense kept the game within reach while the offense struggled to keep possession. UCLA finished with 140 rushing yards and three turnovers of its own, and the Ducks blocked a field goal. Those contributions gave Oregon chances to win a game in which its offense repeatedly stalled. Seven giveaways were too much to overcome.
The official box score records five lost fumbles and two interceptions for Oregon. Dylan Raiola completed 6 of 19 passes for 43 yards before Brock Thomas took over in the fourth quarter. The Ducks finished with 272 total yards, compared with UCLA’s 345. Even with the final margin at two points, Oregon spent too much of the afternoon without sustained offense.
Thomas, a Eugene native, gave Oregon a late lift, completing 11 of 15 passes for 156 yards. His 44-yard touchdown pass to Evan Stewart with 2:16 remaining cut UCLA’s lead to 17-15 after the Ducks had trailed 17-6 early in the fourth quarter. Oregon had worked its way back into a game that appeared to be getting away from it, only to miss the tying conversion. The Ducks’ final possession ended with another lost fumble.
The Big Ten Acknowledges a Late Officiating Error
There is also a legitimate officiating complaint attached to the finish. On Sunday, the Big Ten acknowledged that officials applied a UCLA facemask penalty incorrectly on Oregon’s late two-point conversion. The conference said the ball should have been moved halfway to the goal from the end of the initial run. Instead, officials measured that distance from the original line of scrimmage.
The error made Oregon’s retry more difficult at a moment when a successful conversion would have tied the score. It cannot establish what would have happened with the proper spot, and it does not erase Oregon’s seven turnovers. But the Ducks were entitled to have the penalty enforced correctly. Our earlier coverage of the Big Ten’s admission explains how that mistake affected the final attempt.
UCLA Climbs While the National Poll Shifts
UCLA received one of the week’s biggest rewards, jumping nine positions to No. 12 after improving to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play. Oregon’s exit leaves six Big Ten teams in the poll. Ohio State is No. 4, Indiana No. 5, Iowa No. 17, USC No. 19 and Northwestern No. 25, with UCLA joining that group.
The change at the top was just as significant. Georgia took over No. 1 after beating Alabama 20-17 in Tuscaloosa, receiving 66 of the 70 first-place votes. Notre Dame moved to No. 2 after a 58-7 win over Stanford, followed by Miami at No. 3. Texas dropped from first to seventh after losing to Oklahoma, while Alabama stayed sixth despite its loss to Georgia.
| Rank | AP Top 10 for October 11, 2026 |
|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia |
| 2 | Notre Dame |
| 3 | Miami |
| 4 | Ohio State |
| 5 | Indiana |
| 6 | Alabama |
| 7 | Texas |
| 8 | BYU |
| 9 | Ole Miss |
| 10 | Texas Tech |
Kentucky also made a major move, returning to the poll at No. 15 after beating LSU 35-34 in overtime. LSU fell from No. 10 to No. 22. Wake Forest entered at No. 21 with a 5-1 record, while Northwestern’s appearance at No. 25 is its first ranking under fourth-year coach David Braun. Florida and Pittsburgh joined Oregon outside the Top 25 after losses to South Carolina and North Carolina, respectively.
Oregon’s Playoff Prospects and the Nebraska Game
Falling out of the AP poll does not formally eliminate Oregon from the College Football Playoff. The playoff selection committee produces its own rankings, with the first 2026 release scheduled for November 3. Still, two losses leave the Ducks with a weaker case than the one they expected to build this fall. Oregon needs wins to improve that case, and another performance like Saturday’s would make the task considerably harder.
The immediate decision is at quarterback. Dante Moore missed the UCLA game after suffering a concussion against USC, and Thomas’s fourth-quarter performance gives the coaching staff another option to evaluate. After Saturday’s loss, Lanning said it was too early to decide who would start against Nebraska. He pointed to film review, practice and Moore’s availability as factors in that decision.
Nebraska arrives at Autzen Stadium on Saturday, October 17, with a 5-1 record and a 2-1 mark in the Big Ten. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Pacific on FOX, giving Oregon another home opportunity to respond. Protecting the football would be a good place to start, along with finding an offense that can function before the fourth quarter. The Ducks have six days to turn those corrections into a better performance against the Cornhuskers.
