There shouldn’t be any question about whether or not the Oregon Ducks are a good team anymore.
After the first week of the 2022 season — an embarrassing and unforeseen 49-3 loss to the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs — it was a legitimate wonder to ask how good of a team Dan Lanning had on his hands in his first year in Eugene. However, after a string of 5-straight wins, all in an impressive manner of some sort, I think that everyone can confidently say that we overreacted a bit back at the start of September; the Ducks are a good team.
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Are they a great team, though? That is not something I think we can answer just yet.
Give it two weeks.
On October 22, the undefeated UCLA Bruins are coming to town. I will maintain that they are one of the most confusing teams in college football because while they own a top-25 ranking and impressive wins over Washington and No. 11 Utah on Saturday, there have been weeks where they just don’t look the part.
In Week 1, they trailed Bowling Green 10-7 after the first quarter and went into the break up just 24-17 before eventually turning things on in the second half. In Week 3, the Bruins needed to score 9 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to squeak out a 32-31 victory over South Alabama at home — an empty Rose Bowl stadium. These outcomes led me, and a lot of other national media members, to call UCLA one of the least impressive undefeated teams in the nation. They’ve apparently taken offense to that, and turned around with a pair of remarkable upsets in the past two weeks.
Now it looks like Chip Kelly and the Bruins are the real deal. QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson is slinging it, RB Zach Charbonnet is having his way with opposing defenses, and UCLA continues to find ways to win. Now they will have a showdown with the Ducks in Autzen Stadium after both teams enjoy a bye week between now and then.
It’s likely to be a site for ESPN’s College GameDay to come and set up shop. It’s a game that will feature two of the best teams in the Pac-12, and what will likely be a pair of top-15, maybe even top-10 ranked teams when the time comes.
It’s a game where either team, UCLA or Oregon, can prove that they should be taken seriously on a national level if they were to come out on top.
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I’m going to look at this from an Oregon perspective because, well, that’s my job. Ever since the Georgia mishap to start the season, they’ve turned things around. They have one of the best rushing offenses in the nation, a dark-horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy, and a defense that is finally rounding into shape.
A lot of the success that Oregon has had this season has come against respectable teams, but none of those games were on a big stage, against arguably “really good” teams, all due respect to BYU and Washington State. But in two weeks’ time, if GameDay comes to Eugene and the Ducks can emerge victorious against the Bruins with the world watching?
Then I think it’s time that we start having a conversation.
I’m ready to say that I think Oregon will make it to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Championship Game. I’m even ready to say that I think they belong in a New Year’s Six Bowl when all is said and done. If they can stand up against UCLA on the 22nd, though, and prove that they are capable of beating a top-15 team on a big stage, I think that the national media will be ready to join me.
The past five weeks have laid the groundwork for us to know that the Ducks are a good team. Now we get the chance to see if they’re great.
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