My impressions of the Ducks’ 2021 schedule are being made through the visual lens that the Ducks will play up to their talent and potential in 2021. I had written this past fall that with all the Covid-19 craziness tearing apart the 2020 season, that I considered last year to be a practice-season. Now it’s time for the Ducks to step-up and play like the national championship contender we know they should be.
Sept. 4: Fresno State
Sept. 11: at Ohio State
Sept. 18: vs. Stony Brook
Sept. 25: vs. Arizona
Oct. 2: at Stanford
Oct. 9: bye
Oct. 15: vs. Cal (Friday)
Oct. 23: at UCLA
Oct. 30: vs. Colorado
Nov. 6: at Washington
Nov. 13: vs. Washington State
Nov. 20: at Utah
Nov. 27: vs. Oregon State
1) Upon first glance at Oregon’s 2021 schedule, the game at Ohio State on September 11th and the November 6th game at Washington strike me as being the two most difficult.
2) The Ducks can probably lose one of those games “respectably” and still make the College Football Playoff if they win the rest of their games.
3) If the Ducks don’t have their stuff together come September 4, the Fresno State game could certainly become a very dangerous situation.
4) Yikes, Stony Brook. I don’t like these games against significantly weaker programs, but I understand why they schedule them. It’s all about having that seventh home game and the cash that comes with it.
Revenge on the Beavs will be sweet.
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5) I miss the intense rivalry with Stanford, which now seems like the “good ole’ days.“
6) No USC or Arizona State on the schedule. The Ducks get a big break here as they miss playing what will most likely turn out to be the two best teams from the Pac-12 South. Of course, this also weakens Oregon’s strength of schedule. Hmmm…
7) At Utah on November 20th also has me worried, as it is rarely fun to play the Utes in Utah.
8) Only one Friday night game, and with a bye the previous week.
9) As long as Chip Kelly is at UCLA, the game will always have a little extra meaning. It’s now his fourth year in Westwood, is this the year the Bruins finally breakout under Kelly’s regime?
10) Much like in 2017, the Ducks should smash the Beavers following a loss to them the year before. Can’t let those heads in Corvallis get too big.
The Ducks are the most talented team in the Pac-12 and need to play that way. People will get on me for saying this, but there’s no reason the Ducks shouldn’t win at least eleven games. Other schools do it and in tougher conferences. I know running the Pac-12 slate is tough, but if we want the Ducks to become the program we want them to be, as they say at Nike, “Just Do It.“
Darren Perkins
Spokane, Washington
Top photo credit: Eugene Johnson
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Darren Perkins is a sales professional and 1997 Oregon graduate. After finishing school, he escaped the rain and moved to sunny Southern California where he studied screenwriting for two years at UCLA. Darren grew up in Eugene and in 1980, at the tender age of five, he attended his first Oregon football game. His lasting memory from that experience was an enthusiastic Don Essig announcing to the crowd: “Reggie Ogburn, completes a pass to… Reggie Ogburn.” Captivated by such a thrilling play, Darren’s been hooked on Oregon football ever since. Currently living in Spokane, Darren enjoys flaunting his yellow and green superiority complex over friends and family in Cougar country.