Ducks Must Avoid the Big Letdown

Darren Perkins Editorials

Arizona in 2018. Arizona State in 2019. Cal and the Beavers in 2020. All games in which the Ducks were the better team but did not show up to play and lost. 

If ever there was a season to go undefeated in the Pac-12, this would be it. Quite simply, the conference stinks, while the Ducks are ascending into becoming one of college football’s premier powers. True, the Ohio State win probably affords the Ducks the right to lose one game and still make the College Football Playoff, but best not go that route. 

While Fresno State is proving to be a quality opponent, it’s safe to say Oregon did not play near the level they are capable of playing in that game. And even though the Stony Brook game turned into a blowout, the sputtering the Ducks did in the first half could spell disaster against a better team. 

Moving forward this season, the Ducks will possess the superior players and coaches in every game they play. Other teams cannot beat the Ducks. The Ducks can only beat themselves. 

Therefore, I hereby declare that the next step in the evolution of Mario Cristobal as a head coach is to avoid The Big Letdown.

Darren Perkins
Spokane, WA
Top photo credit: Craig Strobeck

Andrew Mueller, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in higher education in Chicago, Illinois.

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