Joel Klatt claims Oregon is 'a legitimate national title contender'

The Oregon Ducks ran through the Big Ten in 2024, winning the conference championship and earning the top seed in the College Football Playoff. Then, they dropped their opening game in the College Football Playoff and since then, seemingly, have been overlooked. Now, analyst Joel Klatt is looking to shine a light on those Ducks.

During The Joel Klatt Show, Klatt looked at a few teams he thinks are being overlooked. That included Oregon, which he described as a potential national championship contender.

“Oregon, folks, is a legitimate national title contender,” Klatt said. “How do I put this? So, I’m doing Oregon-Northwestern this week. It’s given me… So, I watch game film on my iPad all week long. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I watch games for teams that I’m not gonna cover. I watch, obviously, the games of the teams that I am gonna cover. The big games from the last weekend.

“I like to see what did Ohio State do on offense. Hey, how did LSU beat Clemson? It’s awesome. As I’m starting to prep for this week’s game, I’m like, ‘Alright, let me just start watching all of the Oregon film.’ And it was pretty obvious early, to me, that they are built exactly how you would build a team to win the national championship.”

Oregon has jumped out to a 2-0 start in the 2025 season. The recognition that Klatt doesn’t seem to think the Ducks have gotten is seemingly about to change, though. In the latest AP Poll, the Ducks jumped up to No. 4 following their win over Oklahoma State.

“This is a better version of Oregon from a year ago. This is a version of Oregon that reminds me a lot of Michigan two years ago,” Klatt said. “And Ohio State last year. This is absolutely a team that can win it all. Dan Lanning is gonna be pissed that I’m saying this. I’m sorry, Dan. I call balls and strikes. This is what I believe.”

One of the key reasons why Klatt is so high on Oregon is quarterback Dante Moore. A former five-star recruit in the Class of 2023, he’s now in his second year with the team. Already, he’s hit the ground running.

“They are built with power on the line of scrimmage, both sides. Speed on the outside. And Dante Moore, ladies and gentlemen, is a quarterback that I think could be better than the quarterbacks that Lanning has had at Oregon in the last few years,” Klatt said. “And I love Bo Nix and I love Dillon Gabriel. So, that’s saying a lot.

“He’s already been there, remember, he transferred and sat last year behind Dillon Gabriel. So, he’s got enough of the offense and enough of a grasp on the offense under Will Stein, the offensive coordinator, that they’re already doing things that Dillon Gabriel never got to because Gabriel had to come in and learn the offense so fast for his first year. So, this is more of what they ran schematically under Bo Nix… and Dante Moore has more talent than he does.”

The defensive side of the ball is also a strength for Oregon. That’s a key for Klatt, who says that the blueprint for any national championship team is on that side of the ball.

“What I really love about Oregon is how they’re built defensively… to do that, you need to have a unique combination of power in the middle to stop the run,” Klatt said. “Ferocity on the edge to rush the quarterback, speed at the second level to be hybrid against everything an offense does, and then enough in the back end where you can be multiple in your coverage… That’s really the blueprint. Alright? It’s what Michigan had. It’s what Georgia had a couple of years ago… first of all, they’ve got eight guys that can rotate throughout the defensive line. Really, four guys in the internal part of that defensive line… they can just roll guys through. On the outside, they’ve got pass rushers.”

There’s not a weakness that Klatt has found on Oregon’s roster when watching film. Even the offensive line is the best he’s noticed to this point. So, it’s difficult to make an argument against the Ducks.

“On the offensive line,” Klatt said. “They’ve rebuilt that offensive line with three transfers. I watch that offensive line and I’m like, ‘That’s the best offensive line I’ve seen on film so far.'”

Oregon is getting ready to open Big Ten play on the road against Northwestern. Being their first game away from home this season, that should be a good test as the season is now in full swing this season.

“I’m just telling you guys, Oregon might win it all,” Klatt said. “And I don’t think anybody is talking about that… Of the teams that I have watched on film, that’s the best team.”