⚡ CFB Dashboard

Oregon football will enter Friday night's matchup against Portland State as an overwhelming favorite, but the Ducks haven't come close to meeting betting expectations through the first two weeks of the season. Oregon is a 57.5-point favorite over Portland State at DraftKings, the largest spread the Ducks have faced this season. The Ducks have failed to cover in each of their first two games and are coming off an outright loss as a significant favorite. Oregon opened the season as a 24-point favorite against Boise State but needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to escape with a 34-27 victory. A week later, the Ducks traveled to Oklahoma State as a 24.5-point favorite and lost outright, 39-31. That means Oregon was favored by a combined 48.5 points over its first two games and finished those contests with a combined scoring margin of minus-one. Instead of entering Week 3 undefeated and living up to preseason expectations, Oregon returns home 1-1 and looking for a response. Head coach Dan Lanning didn't shy away from the issues Monday night after reviewing the Oklahoma State loss. "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." Lanning said he saw a better response at practice Monday but stressed that it needs to become consistent. "We didn't practice well enough last Wednesday to think we were going to have a great performance on Saturday," Lanning said. "If something happens in practice, somebody has to speak on it. Coaches have to speak on it. They have to demand it. Players have to do it. We all own that. We all wear that." That makes Friday night's game less about whether Oregon wins and more about what the Ducks look like while doing it. A 57.5-point spread illustrates the talent gap between Oregon and Portland State. The Ducks should control the game. The more meaningful questions are whether Oregon plays clean football, starts fast, establishes the run and shows the kind of response Lanning has demanded. "Sometimes you've got to learn hard lessons through hard performances," Lanning said. "This is by far the worst performance that we've had since I've been here — in my career." Lanning added that the loss may ultimately force the kind of response Oregon needs. "Maybe the hard lesson for us comes from the loss, and maybe that's where the response will come," he said. "I felt like our players responded today. Again, you'll see what that looks like on Saturday." Oregon is 6-0 all-time against Portland State and won the most recent meeting 81-7 in 2023.