Fresno State Just Stole a Recruit From Oregon and the Timing Is Brutal

Oregon had a hell of a week on the recruiting trail. Then Thursday happened.

The Ducks, coming off back-to-back wins over SEC programs for top-100 prospects, took an unexpected L when Manase Brown picked Fresno State. Brown is a two-way lineman out of Draper, Utah who had been on Oregon’s board since January. Dan Lanning and his staff made him a priority. They wanted him in the trenches. Instead, the newest Pac-12 school walked in and closed the deal.

Brown isn’t a five-star but he’s pushing for a four-star rating with an 89 composite score. And Fresno State beat out Arizona State, Cal, BYU, and Utah to land him. The Bulldogs officially joined the Pac-12 on Wednesday, so this feels like a statement win. Maybe not to the national recruiting sites, but definitely to the people inside that program.

Oregon’s Utah problem is suddenly real

This isn’t an isolated miss. The Drops also lost four-star athlete Bode Sparrow to Oklahoma. And four-star wideout Blake Wong from Norco, California shocked everybody by picking BYU over the Ducks. That’s three recent losses in a row for Oregon. Two of them from the state of Utah, where Lanning has tried to build a pipeline.

So the Ducks are 0-for-2 on Utah prospects this cycle. That stings, especially when you consider how much attention the coaching staff has poured into that region. Lanning has openly talked about wanting to dominate the trenches with guys from Utah. But so far, the results haven’t matched the ambition.

That said, Oregon’s 2027 class is still loaded. Five-star Hayden Stepp and four-star Tae Walden both picked the Ducks over Alabama, LSU, and Georgia earlier this month. The Ducks sit at No. 3 in the 247Sports rankings and No. 4 per On3 and Rivals. So it’s not like the sky is falling. But these misses are reminders that even the best recruiters can’t win them all.

Fresno State is making noise

For the Bulldogs, this is a massive get. Brown had offers from Pac-12 programs and still chose a team that just joined the conference. That says something about how the coaching staff sold the vision. Fresno State has been competitive in the Mountain West for years. Now they’re stepping up a level, and recruiting like it.

Brown’s decision might not move the needle for the national rankings. But for a program trying to establish itself in a new league, beating Oregon for a local kid is the kind of win that builds momentum. The Bulldogs officially moved into the Pac-12 on Wednesday. A day later, they stole a recruit from one of the conference’s top dogs. That’s how you announce your arrival.