Dan Lanning shares where Oregon's punting battle stands

Fall camps across the country feature key positional battles with multiple players fighting out to earn the starting role come Week 1. At Oregon, one of those battles came at the punter position.

The Ducks have three punters in the program in Luke Dunne, Ross James and Matt Rigney. Head coach Dan Lanning said during his press conference Monday that a starter has not been settled with Dunne and James at the front of the pack.

“I think we’ve had a really good competition there at punter,” Lanning said. “I’d say Ross and Luke have both really stuck out and both had really good camps. I think there’s a great chance you get to see some of both. If somebody separates themselves or is performing better than the other, then they’ll probably play more.”

Dunne is a true freshman out of Australia who participated in the impressive ProKick Australia program. James is a redshirt sophomore who punted eight times last year for a 41.88 average per punt. He joined the program after one season at East Central Community College in Dacatur, Miss.

Rigney is a transfer from Austin Peay. He earned All-ASUN Conference honors last season and All-OVC second team honors in 2021.

The Ducks open their 2023 season this weekend with a matchup against in-state opponent Portland State. The game kicks off at Noon PT time Saturday in Eugene, Ore., with next week’s non-conference battle versus Texas Tech looming in the background.

The success of the team will fall at least somewhat on the shoulders of veteran quarterback Bo Nix, who enters the year as a preseason favorite for the Heisman. Oregon has even put up billboards across the country to get his Heisman campaign off the ground early.

“It’s a lot bigger than me,” Nix said recently. “But it is a blessing to be in that opportunity. To be in that position. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates, first of all, to even be in this situation that somebody even wants to do that for me.

“It speaks to the university. It speaks to the football program. It speaks to how prestigious it is to go to a place like Oregon and how one time you’re on one side and you get to a school like Oregon and all of a sudden how things can change and how your story can change. So I’m just blessed.”