The Oregon Ducks are 3-2 in postseason play in the first three seasons under head coach Dan Lanning, including conference championship games and bowl games. Each year, the end result of the season has improved, but Lanning is still searching for his first win in the College Football Playoff.

As No. 5 Oregon prepares to take on the No. 12 James Madison University Dukes in the first round, the added pressure of getting Lanning his first playoff win starts to take shape. That being said, Lanning’s track record of improving his outcomes each year gives confidence to the Ducks as they embark on another CFP journey.  

In the first season under Lanning, 2022, the Ducks finished the regular season 9-3, emphasized by a home loss to Washington in the rookie head coach’s first taste of the rivalry. Their final game was a 38-34 loss to Oregon State, which cost them a trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game.

The then-No. 15 Ducks finished the season in San Diego against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in the Holiday Bowl. It was a neck-in-neck battle between two future first-round draft picks at quarterback in Bo Nix and Drake Maye, but with a last minute touchdown on fourth down, the former did just enough to secure a 28-27 victory for Oregon.

The following season, the Ducks sat at 11-1 by the end of the regular season. They got their revenge on Oregon State with a 35-7 beatdown at home to secure a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game, where they fell short 34-31 to Washington, who they had also lost to in the regular season, and missed the CFP.

Then-No. 8 Oregon finished the season in the Fiesta Bowl against No. 23 Liberty University. That game presented a similar matchup to what JMU is expected to bring this Saturday. Liberty dominated its conference in 2023, but hadn’t faced any opponents that were as high-level as the Ducks. It scored on the opening drive, but it was all Oregon after that, and the Ducks went on to win 45-6.

Last year was Oregon’s first season in the Big Ten, which did not affect its ability to win. It finished the regular season 12-0 for the second time in school history, which clinched a trip to the Big Ten Championship Game. 

This time, the Ducks handled business in the conference championship game, defeating then-No. 3 Penn State 45-37 to clinch the No. 1 seed in the CFP.

After almost a month of rest, Oregon made its CFP debut under Lanning when it met a red-hot Ohio State team in the Rose Bowl. The defense could not handle the Buckeyes’ explosive plays and the offense proved flat-footed as OSU put up 34 points before the Ducks finally got on the board just before halftime. They improved in the second half, but the deficit was too big to mount a comeback. Ohio State would win 41-21 and go on to win the National Championship.

This Saturday, the Ducks will be coming off three weeks of rest as they look to redeem their playoff reputation in the first-ever CFP game at Autzen Stadium. For Lanning, the preparation is no different from any other game.

“The process has to be very similar to a normal game,” Lanning said. “But the stakes are certainly really high, knowing that if you don’t take care of business, you don’t get a redo. I think the piece for us is to focus on what allows you to have success and what creates the result you want, and that’s maintaining that process.”

A win over JMU would send Oregon to the Orange Bowl, where it would play Texas Tech University on New Year’s Day. It would be Oregon’s third straight appearance in a New Year’s Six Bowl Game. If they beat Texas Tech, that would send the Ducks to the Peach Bowl for their first semifinal appearance since 2014.