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The regular season has now come to an end for the Oregon Ducks, and while they are still playing one more time on Friday night in the Pac-12 Championship Game with an opportunity to advance to the Rose Bowl, we wanted to take stock of the season thus far and see which players stand out the most.
We went through this exercise a couple of months ago in our Early Season Awards, where we gave attention to the overall MVP of the team, as well as the best offensive players, defensive players, and position groups. We also identified a most-improved player, and a best unform combination early in the season.
A lot has changed since then, and though the Ducks have continued to be successful, the landscape looks much different than it did at the end of September.
So without further ado, here are our regular season awards for the Ducks. We plan to reconvene after the bowl game and give a final batch of awards for the year as a whole.
Team MVP Award
Winner: RB Travis Dye
(Previous Winner: Verone McKinley III)
Zachary Neel: I have zero problems giving this award to Travis Dye. He has been fantastic this season, especially filling in for an injured CJ Verdell. To be honest, I would probably make Dye the Offensive MVP and put Anthony Brown up for the Team MVP Award, simply for what a QB means for the team as a whole in the leadership role. However, there is arguably no player more deserving of this award than Dye is. Well earned.
Don Smalley: Travis Dye. When CJ Verdell got hurt and was out for the season, no one knew how Dye would do at the No. 1 RB. Was he durable enough? Would the Ducks have to turn to the freshmen? Instead, he took the opportunity and quite literally, ran with it. Dye will probably get second-team all-conference running back with his 14 touchdowns.
Andy Patton: There is no way the team MVP award can go to anyone other than Travis Dye, who stepped up in a huge way when CJ Verdell went out for the season. With Anthony Brown having an up-and-down campaign, Dye was the sole reason the Ducks won some early-season games. He has elevated his NFL stock significantly and is a key cog for this Oregon squad.