Oregon football players tuning out the noise as season nears

The college football hype machine is full gear as the 2026 season draws closer to reality.

No team knows that more than Oregon, which is two weeks away from its Sept. 5 opener against Boise State at Autzen Stadium.

The Ducks will enter their game against the Broncos ranked No. 2 in both the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll and Associated Press media poll – the highest ranking ever for Oregon at the start of the season, which has previously debuted at No. 3 four times.

When asked if he ever sits back and appreciates the Ducks' place in the current college football landscape, coach Dan Lanning gave an emphatic and terse response.

"Hell no," he said, quickly moving on to the next question.

Lanning later came back to the topic of preseason polls and gave a longer answer on why he pays them no mind.

"I think it's really easy. Have you ever seen a preseason poll that was right at the end of the year?" he said. "It just doesn't happen very often. Ultimately, it's never right about all of the top 25. The people who make those polls have nothing to do with the results on the field. So let's focus on the things that we control."

Blocking out the noise has also been a theme inside the Oregon locker room during fall camp in August.

On Wednesday, the Ducks led the nation with five players named preseason all-American by USA TODAY Sports, one day after four earned the same designation by The Associated Press.

Among them is quarterback Dante Moore, who is also on the Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list, the Maxwell Award watch list and the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy watch list. He also earned Big Ten Preseason Honors and is, oh yeah, an odds on favorite to be a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Moore said when it comes to handling the hype, he leans into a trick he learned from former teammate Bo Nix years ago.

"Not being on social media," Moore said with a smile. " ... (Nix) wasn't on social media during fall camp, and in our generation, we're addicted to it. We love tablets, we love iPads, and everything. I fall victim to it as well. I love being on Instagram late at night, but sleep's important. I have a lot of priorities and I'm trying to maximize them to go attack."

Edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei has also limited his social media use, but he's taken it one step further than Moore.

Uiagalelei has muted his own father, Dave Uiagalelei.

"Shoot, I'm gonna be honest, I feel like the most posts I see about myself is from my dad," Uiagalelei said. "I didn't want to unfollow my dad but I muted his account so I don't see all his posts. ... He posts a lot. He's always been like that. And I'm not mad at him. He helped me get here to where I am today, but just like Dante said, I don't need to see all that."

Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon football players tuning out the noise as season nears