Oregon looks to climb Top-25 win Win Thursday

The Oregon Ducks are playing like a team possessed after an opening game loss to the now #1 LSU Tigers. We all knew the Tigers had a tremendous defense heading into the season, but no one would have guessed they’d be this good. Oregon found out how incredible they are when they scored a season low 27 points and had just 335 yards of total offense. The Ducks actually finished with more total offensive yards than LSU in that contest, but lost the game by 13 points due to 4 costly turnovers. Now that the loss in week 1 is well in the rear view mirror the Ducks can focus on making their way back towards the top of the AP top 25.

College football is the only sport where losing early is favorable to potential Championship teams. Not losing at all is preferable, but as we’ve seen over the last decade there generally aren’t two undefeated teams left when the smoke clears. Remarkably the Ducks have made their way inside of the top 10 in the country after 3 weeks, and are now in a position to move closer as we are guaranteed to see teams ahead of them lose before the season is over. LSU and Alabama have a difficult schedule to navigate in the SEC and Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Oklahoma St still have ranked teams to play. As for Stanford, the Ducks will do their best to remove them from the top 10 on their own as they play the Cardinal November 12th at Stanford Stadium.

College Football experts take every aspect of a team’s offense, defense, special teams and schedule when making pre-season rankings. Placing Oregon as the 3rd best team had much to do with their 2010 season as well as the return of 13 starters and most of their playmakers on offense.

The combination of quarterback Darron Thomas and running back LaMichael James is enough to strike fear in any defensive coordinators heart. However, the California Golden Bears didn’t look to intimidated in last season’s match-up when they held Oregon to just 15 points in what turned out to be the Ducks closest game of the year. Cal has 6 of the 11 starters from that team back for the 2011 season, but only 1 linemen. Being able to stop the run is critical against the Ducks which is why Oregon has been listed as 24 point favorites by NCAA football handicappers on Thursday.

This may appear to be a blowout waiting to happen as Oregon has won their last contests by an average score of 60-19. The Bears were 20+ point underdogs last year as well, but didn’t look as good as this year’s squad. Wins over Fresno St and Colorado were good tests for Cal, but the most significant game for their confidence may have been the 63 point outburst against Presbyterian 2 weeks ago. Games versus week division 2 opponents often make teams gel on both sides of the ball. An 8 point loss to Washington last week was a major let-down, but it was clearly a case of the Bears looking ahead to this game against Oregon.

Cal has gone to the air to score points with a capable Zack Maynard leading the way. Maynard is off to a fast start this year with nearly 1100 yards passing and 10 touchdowns. The key to Maynard’s success has been predicated on his attention to not turning the ball over, and his improved accuracy. Maynard finished the 2010 year with 18 touchdowns, but added 15 interceptions to negate most of the positive things he did in leading this offense. A 3-1 start and a capable QB may be all that Cal needs to have the confidence needed to give the Ducks a close game.

Tune in Friday as the Ducks host the Golden Bears in a rare PAC-12 weekday match-up.

 

Related posts:

1. Oregon & Stanford in Pac-10 Top-25 Showdown
2. Pac-10 Thursday Night Battle: Oregon vs. UCLA
3. Oregon vs. UCLA: Can Oregon Duck a Bruin Upset Bid?
4. Oregon takes on California in PAC-10 Showdown
5. PAC-10 Game Day Battle: USC vs. Oregon

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