Oregon Ducks balancing 'chaos' of transfer portal with CFP prep

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The Oregon Ducks are one of a handful of teams in the nation that have won 12-plus games in the last three years straight. They have made it to back-to-back College Football Playoffs and will be playing for a spot in the national championship game on Friday night vs. the Indiana Hoosiers.

Two of the things that have made Oregon so successful over the past few years are talent and depth. While the Ducks still have the most talent of any team remaining in the semifinals going into Friday night’s Peach Bowl, the depth has taken a hit.

Dan Lanning has the transfer portal to thank for that.

Though the portal officially opened a couple of days ago, a handful of players have announced their departures from Eugene over the past month, bringing the total to 12. While Lanning has yet to lose a starter to the portal during his tenure with the Ducks, the same can’t be said for valuable rotation guys who have played crucial roles throughout the season.

Take Daylen Austin, or Kingston Lopa, for example. Both defensive backs have played in 13 games so far this season, but won’t be with the Ducks during the remainder of the CFP because they left for the portal. Don’t blame them, blame the college football calendar.

“Some guys come in, and you hate to see them go,” Lanning said after the portal opened. “We’ve been really fortunate to be able to hang on to the players that we really want to be here and, you know, have success.”

Oregon could stand to benefit from players like Austin and Lopa, along with countless others, sticking around in Eugene to see the season through, but it’s hard to get mad at a player with bigger aspirations for trying to further their career. While this isn’t a problem for a majority of teams in the nation, the four who remain — Oregon, Indiana, Miami, and Ole Miss — have had to deal with this chaotic roster-building all while trying to prepare for the biggest game of their seasons.

For Lanning, that hasn’t been a problem for Oregon.

“We can handle chaos,” Lanning said. “And we’re really malleable, we understand that college football, right now, is about change. There’s going to be a lot of change. The teams that can do the best at adapting and handling what’s thrown at you, we don’t make the rules; we just have to adapt to them.”

While sitting virtually for a Peach Bowl press conference, both Lanning and Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti joked about this, with Cignetti noting that his prep time for the Ducks had been cut short due to the baker’s dozen of transfer players on campus for visits Saturday morning. While Lanning encouraged Cignetti to continue to focus on the transfers, rather than the Ducks, he also admitted that he was dealing with the same issue.

What’s most important, though, is that the players still in the locker room are as unaffected as possible and can still focus on the task at hand.

“Our guys handle that; they’re tough kids,” Lanning said. “They can handle the chaos of the schedule. As much as we can keep it similar and consistent for them, as much as we can be open and honest with them, I think they can handle almost anything you pitch at them.”

Oregon and Indiana will meet on Friday night in Atlanta, running back one of the best games of the year, when the Hoosiers beat the Ducks in October. Not only will it be a battle of two of the best-coached and most talented teams in the nation, but it will also be a war of attrition and a display of who can handle the chaos of the schedule better.

In that matchup, Oregon feels nothing short of confident.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks CFP rematch vs. Indiana with chaos of transfer portal

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