After beating the Texas Tech Red Raiders 23-0 in the Orange Bowl, Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks are preparing to face the Indiana Hoosiers in the CFP semifinal. While this clearly showcases a path for players to make a season breakout, the opening of the transfer portal appears to have forced Lanning to lose another key piece.

“Oregon CB Daylen Austin is entering the @TransferPortal,” reported Hayes Fawcett of On3 on Saturday.

Already, five other Ducks defensive backs have declared they will test the transfer portal in the New Year, so Austin entering the portal may not be that surprising. But what stands out (not in a positive light) is that he won’t be part of the program for the rest of the playoffs.

With this decision, he may either be showing frustration with the Ducks or signaling loyalty to what’s next; we don’t know…

But one thing is clear: Oregon could feel the sting in the Peach Bowl, losing Austin, who has been a rotational DB and a key contributor on special teams.

Austin’s stats back that up.

On the field, he made his mark across 30 games with the Ducks, with 23 tackles and 2.5 TFLs. To cap it off, Austin was a prized piece of Dan Lanning’s 2023 class, flipping from LSU as a highly ranked four-star recruit. But he redshirted his first season, leaving him with two years of eligibility at his next stop.

Austin’s eligibility and talent make him a fit for several programs after his portal move, but he leaves a hole in the Ducks ahead of the semifinal. That’s a real concern for Lanning. The coach can later fill the gap by stacking talent from the portal, but for now, losing a player at this crucial point could cost the team.

What amplifies the concern is that Austin becomes the 11th Oregon player to announce his intent to enter the transfer portal. The program has 81 projected scholarship players in 2026, including 14 defensive backs.

Austin finishes his 2025 season with 10 tackles. But what pushed him to make this decision after spending three seasons with the Ducks remains unclear.

Here, the NIL era, with new opportunities and paychecks, could have played a role, or a lack of playing time even after three seasons, or the legal issue during his time at Oregon could have been a factor as well. Whatever the reason, Austin prioritized a fresh start over a breakout season.

In February, Austin pleaded not guilty to fatally striking Frank William Seaman with his SUV on April 15, 2024. The case took another turn when the Oregon Supreme Court denied the college player’s petition, setting a pretrial hearing for Jan. 29, 2027, and a trial for Feb. 2, 2027.

Now, exactly how these legal issues affect interest from programs in the transfer portal remains uncertain. But don’t worry, his talent speaks volumes.

Last season, Austin played in all 14 of Oregon’s games. In total, he played 252 snaps and notched 10 tackles. While the 200-pound CB now seeks a fresh start, Lanning still has depth at cornerback, and Oregon is now focused on revenge in the Peach Bowl.

Oregon head coach’s next goal

With the CFP semifinals looming, Dan Lanning has little time to dwell on the transfer portal. While Thursday’s Orange Bowl provided a welcome boost, the Ducks dominated Texas Tech, showcasing a defense that was suffocating from start to finish. The Raiders managed just 215 total yards, and Oregon forced four turnovers. Even without Daylen Austin, who didn’t play in the first two CFP games, the Ducks looked sharp. And the stage is set for revenge.

Back on Oct. 11, Indiana handed Oregon a 30-20 loss. That sting hasn’t faded, and Lanning knows exactly what’s at stake. The Ducks have a chance to settle the score on a national stage, with everything on the line.

“It always starts with us,” Lanning said after the last win. “That’s where we’re going to go back and look at this game and say, ‘OK, what did we do really well? Let’s go to the doctor. Let’s figure out what kind of medicine we’ve got to take for the next game,’ because I think that’s always the greatest indicator of what you have to improve, when you start to analyze what you have in front of you.”

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Now, while confidence is high and the defense is humming, Oregon is ready to make Indiana pay.