Ducks are Ready to Take Flight
Last year, the University of Oregon Ducks fell short in their journey to becoming National Champions. The Ducks fell to Stanford in a heartbreaking loss and then they were dominated by Arizona down in Tuscon. Though the Ducks came up short last year, they still can make this season one to remember.
Last year was the first year Oregon had Mark Helfrich as a head coach. Now that he has coaching experience under his belt he may be able to get the Ducks performing at the highest level.
One thing that definitely will benefit Oregon is their relatively weak schedule. Oregon has the games that will be traditionally tough (Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA & Washington) but a lot of those teams have lost players that played a big role in their success. Stanford lost star players Shane Skov and Tyler Gaffney to the NFL. Washington lost running back Bishop Sankey to the NFL and Oregon State lost star wide out Brandin Cooks. The Ducks didn’t loose many stars but they did loose almost all of their top pass catchers. De’Anthony Thomas and Josh Huff are now in the NFL and Bralon Addison tore his ACL this spring. The Ducks must have a “next man up” mentality at the Wide Receiver position in order to be successful.
The Ducks also need to figure out their defensive identity. Oregon’s defense would be stellar one game and allow 30+ points the next. They must find out who they are so they can play at a high level every game. The return of star corner Ifo-Ekpre-Olomu will be key to Oregon’s secondary success. Olomu was the top cornerback on the NFL draft board but decided to stay for his senior year.
If Oregon can put all of this together before the season start then the sky is the limit for the team from Eugene. You can catch the first big Oregon vs. Michigan State on September 6th at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX. If Oregon can get a convincing win at home against MSU then this team is ready for the spotlight. Oregon fans will be pumped to fill the Autzen Zoo all year. The Ducks have come up short every year but this season they just want to do one thing… Win The Day.
What has the organization done to improve their defense in the off season?
They have picked up 2 ESPN Top 300 recruits at secondary and they are returning a 6’7 300 pound Defensive End with lots of potential