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Where does the time go. I can't believe a new season starts this month.
There's plenty of reasons to be optimistic for this year. The talent is off the charts and I expect the defensive to be even better.
Devils Advocate: The Ducks lost Even Stewart their number one WR and Dante Moore has rather horrible stats from his rookie season.
In reality the Ducks have far better WR's than they ever had with Chip even with Even out for a long time. Dante is more of a question mark although everything coming out of coaches, players, and analysis seems to suggest he is the real deal. He had to deal with his mom's cancer diagnosis while starter his time at UCLA. UCLA completely lacked the Ducks level of talent at nearly every position group for that matter.
What are your expectations for the Ducks this year?
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Looking forward to the season. I honestly have not many expectations for this season with all the new faces and a new relatively unproven QB taking the reins.
Think the strength of the offense will be the running game. Depth is crazy and if the line gels, the Ducks may not look all that fancy but will rack up yards and points and run the clock down accordingly.
I agree the defense will be the best unit out there as the line and linebackers are proven commodities that should hopefully keep pressure off the secondary as they mature. Keeping points off the board will be key considering the perceived limits of the offense.
Schedule is favorable at this point, think 9-10 wins is the floor with another playoff appearance the ceiling. Don't think they take the B1G this year.
And I'll get this off my chest now- I am no fan of Lupoi. He is a great recruiter, but no defensive guru. His flaws are masked to a degree by the talent on the field, but Buddy Ryan he ain't. And if Lanning is going to be taking high risk/reward chances, Stein better draw up some better plays for those situations.
Will be in the stands for a couple games this season, which is a change of pace for me. Hope the stadium experience is a good one!
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I'll start with the Ducks schedule.
Montana State
Oklahoma State
AT Northwestern
Oregon State
AT Penn State
Indiana
AT Rutgers
Wisconsin
AT Iowa
Minnesota
USC
AT Washington
The following information provided by James Parks and Cleveland.com
Big Ten preseason predictions
# 18 Purdue
The only consensus across any rankings is that the Boilermakers sit firmly in the Big Ten basement, coming off a win-less conference season and overseeing an exodus from this roster. Head coach Barry Odom is a promising hire, but he faces a rebuild.
# 17 Northwestern
Some promise on the offensive side of the ball after acquiring transfer QB Preston Stone and retaining lead rusher Cam Porter, but the Wildcats could prove susceptible against the pass in a reworked secondary.
# 16 Maryland
Another squad due for a rebuild with a new QB and needing to redesign a defense that allowed more than 36 points per game last season.
# 15 UCLA
Nico Iamaleava transferring in from Tennessee is a huge upgrade at QB, but second year coach DeShaun Foster needs to give him more help at the skill positions and along the defensive line to get anything out of him.
# 13 (a tie between Rutgers and Michigan State)
Rutgers
The continuity at QB helps, but the Scarlet Knights lose the star of their ground game and face a much tougher schedule this time out.
# 13 Michigan State
Aidan Chiles is an intriguing piece to build the Spartan's offense around, a unit that averaged fewer than 20 points last season but get two notable transfers at WR to change that.
# 12 Wisconsin
Luke Fickell is just 13-13 through two years and returns an offense that posted just 23 points per game and a run defense that was 17th in the Big Ten last season.
# 11 Minnesota
Expect the Gophers' offense to rely a ton on R.B. Darius Taylor while they sort out the QB position, but at least this offensive line returns three of its five starters from a year ago.
# 10 Washington
Demond Williams Jr. is a QB to watch after posting over 1,200 all-purpose yards with limited action last year and he's aided by returning back Jonah Coleman and WR Denzel Boston.
# 9 USC
Jayden Maiava embraces the QB1 role for good, in tandem with Makai Lemon and Ja'Kobi Lane at receiver, but the Trojans need much better offensive line play and for D'Anton Lynn's defense to keep getting better.
# 8 Nebraska
It's usually around the third year at a school that Matt Rhule starts turning things around and he certainly has the pieces to pull it off with Dylan Raiola back under center after an inconsistent but promising debut and with Dana Halgorsen calling his plays.
# 7 Iowa
Mark Gronowski has the arm to make this Hawkeye offense, which doubled its scoring output a year ago, move a little more, provided he has enough target after the departure of running back Kaleb Johnson.
# 6 Indiana
Curt Cignetti's historic first season saw the Hoosiers make the CFP and while there's some roster turnover to consider, incoming QB Fernando Mendoza is a key pickup and there's some important continuity on this defense.
# 5 Michigan
We'll see if Sherrone Moore can get something, anything, out of his passing offense. Bryce Underwood, college football's top recruit who Michigan plucked from LSU's waiting arms, could be the answer.
# 4 Illinois
Coming of a ten win season, the Illini return the bulk of their production, including QB Luke Altmyer and edge rusher Gabe Jacas and play an easier schedule that could put this team in playoff contention if they can handle the pressure.
# 3 Oregon
Dante moore steps into the QB position and the Ducks have another solid rotation of play makers on both sides of the ball, including a potential difference-maker in transfer tailback Makhi Hughes.
# 2 Ohio State
College football's defending champions replace both coordinators, their QB, two thousand yard rushers, two elite edge blockers and two blue chip edge rushers', but they have arguably the nation's top wide receiver room and what should be another solid secondary
rotation.
# 1 Penn State
If offensive continuity gets you into the playoffs, then we should see the Nittany Lions make another deep run, returning their QB and two star running backs, but a key question remains whether they can improve their receiver play.
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@Jeff - you'll like the Autzen experience. the AD has been working to steadily improve the past five years, and responding to feedback solicited from season-tic holders. more, better, and more accessible food choices throughout the stadium. a cold (expensive) beer you can take back to your seat. more water stations (lines at restrooms & porta-pottys still too long). better crackdown on behavioral issues that ruin the experience for surrounding patrons. no cash anywhere; always card or phone.
I still don't care for the DJ thing, and the need to fill every two minutes of TV stop-action with distractions for the fans. but everybody else seems to enjoy.
I think Dante will work out fine, esp if we get the run game going to set up the pass and give him time to read. interested to see which receiver will emerge as the go-to guy, like Tez or Troy. I expect Kenyon to catch a lot of balls on 3rd down, but a WR needs to step up. Jurrion Dickey was highly rated as a recruit and has the highest ceiling.
Ducks play 7 of the top 11 conf teams from the rankings Bedupivi posted. no real easy ones in conf play, except maybe the Mildcats. I expect some rugged, competitive football.
ScoDucks
FEBU
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Thanks for all the great post and info.
In terms of playing in the B1G the schedule doesn't look that bad considering they only have to play 1 of the top rated 5 teams in the conference. Looking at what bedupivi posted it's amazing to see the depth and think of a team like Michigan State being all the way down to #13. Every single year is going to be a tough road in-conference.
Non-conference looks pretty easy this year. Oklahoma State was bad last year and from a brief search in their fan forums the fans don't have much hope for this year.
We should know a lot more about this team having to travel to Penn State on the 4th game. That's going to be a tough game.
One nice thing to start the year is that the first 3 games all start and 1 or earlier.
Go Ducks