In the late hours of September 3, not long following Oregon’s 49-3 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. it was overreaction central in Duck Twitter circles.
The loss was appalling, yes, but it led to many fans crying that the season was over, and that Dan Lanning was in over his head, and that Bo Nix was one of the worst quarterbacks to play in Oregon since before Joey Harrington came to town.
I preached patience. I encouraged worried fans to give it a couple of weeks, and see how the team looked after the BYU game on September 17. If they still looked like a dumpster fire squad incapable of competing in the Pac-12, then you could hit the panic button.
It’s crazy what patience will get you, isn’t it?
After routing the No. 12 BYU Cougars on Saturday by a score of 41-20, the Ducks are back up into the nation’s polls, and being taken seriously once again. The offense looks great, the defense is getting the wheels turning, and Lanning looks like one of the best young coaches in the game.
A positive side effect of this is that Oregon is getting back into the conversation when it comes to bowl season. Each week, ESPN puts out a list of bowl projections based on the latest standings. This past week, the Ducks’ dominant win had one voter, Mark Schlabach, feeling bullish enough to place Oregon in a New Year’s Six game — the Rose Bowl.
Here’s what Schlabach had to say:
Oregon was left for dead after its ugly 49-3 loss to Georgia in Atlanta in the season opener. The Ducks weren’t competitive in coach Dan Lanning’s first game, but give them credit for bouncing back. Oregon crushed FCS program Eastern Washington 70-14 last week, then took down No. 12 BYU 41-20 at home Saturday. The Oregon offense was balanced and the defense surrendered only 61 rushing yards to the Cougars. The Ducks are right back in the Pac-12 championship hunt.
Should the Ducks find a way to go on the road and beat a very feisty Washington State team this weekend, the aura around them will only continue to grow. They have one of the easier conference schedules in the Pac-12, and could very well run the table until late in the season when they host No. 24 Washington and No. 14 Utah in back-to-back weeks at Autzen.
Should they make it out of that without any new blemishes, the bowl projections are going to be something to see.
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