Oregon was the only undefeated FBS team this season, and yet it feels like the Ducks have been repeatedly ignored on the national stage. Part of this feels warranted as the Ducks have done exactly what they were supposed to do every single week: win. Even Mr. FishDuck took a break from his fun at Bet Sixty to share his displeasure about the national sports media concerning Our Beloved Ducks.
The only game in which the Ducks were the underdogs was against Ohio State, the week that followed started out celebrating a brilliant performance by Oregon. Then the narrative quickly changed to Dan Lanning’s underhandedness with the exploitation of a rule that helped the Ducks seal the game with his 12 men on the field ploy — which was absolutely a stroke a genius and was Mad Man Dan at his best, but it became a way to lessen Oregon’s victory over the Buckeyes.
Even other pundits, namely Joel Klatt, questioned the offensive pass interference call, but no one seemed to mention the missed interception by the refs.
After this game the Ducks settled back into West Coast obscurity. The West Coast is, after all, an afterthought on the grand stage of college football, and if the Ducks were in the old Pac-12 this year I guarantee they wouldn’t be the No. 1 team overall.
After Ohio State, reporting on the Ducks on the national stage went silent. The Ducks continued to win and win decisively with a shutout of Purdue, a ranked win over Illinois, a beatdown of Michigan in “The Big House”, and a flag-ridden victory over Maryland.
Oregon’s offense celebrates a score against the Huskies.
(Photo By: Craig Strobeck)
It wasn’t until Oregon’s near-loss to Wisconsin that the Ducks made an appearance in the national narrative. Even then, to the credit of most pundits, the discussion of Oregon was rather brief. Oregon found a way to win when everything was going against them. Good for the Ducks.
Then when Oregon rolled the Huskies, there wasn’t even so much as a peep out of the non-Oregon-centric media, as everyone was obsessed with Ohio State’s loss at the hands of Michigan — which was certainly headline-worthy.
The B1G Championship Game
When it came to the B1G title game, Oregon was the favored team, though we were certainly stepping on the toes of our new B1G brethren by seizing the championship in Year 1. Penn State fans certainly outnumbered Duck fans in Lucas Oil Stadium by an insane margin.
Even during the broadcast it felt like the Ducks were the underdogs and were getting away with non-calls. There were comments that the Ducks were a “finesse” team that needed to play fast. Obviously these commentators were blind and have been out of the loop on Oregon football for about a decade. The Ducks aren’t a fineness team but play a physical brand of football — ask Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin or Penn State, all of whom tried to out-physical the Ducks. And Oregon hasn’t played up-tempo, at least not consistently, since Mark Helfrich was fired in 2016.
Lanning likes to employ varied tempos to take advantage of the game situation. At the end of the half the Ducks are playing fast, as they want to get more points on the board before the break, but come the fourth quarter the Ducks are milking every second off the clock. The Ducks never trailed the Nittany Lions and strangely felt in control of the entire game, even when Penn State was driving the field to try to tie the game.
Even with a big win on championship weekend, where there were only a handful games, the Ducks found themselves overshadowed again — this time by Georgia and Texas. That game did have more drama with Georgia’s starting quarterback going down at the end of the half and then somehow finding a way to win the game in overtime. But there was plenty of narratives to be found in the B1G Championship Game as well, other-than James Franklin failing to win another big game.
Awards Season
The Ducks are the No. 1 team in the country and locked in for the playoff. One would think awards season should abound with good news for the men of Oregon. However, that is not the case.
Gabriel looks to pass against a stout Wisconsin defense.
(Photo By: Isaac Wasserman)
It was nice that Dillon Gabriel was a Heisman finalist and came in third in the voting. It is worth noting that Gabriel was the only player who received an invite from either of the Power Two Conferences that play the toughest schedules, and he plays on the only team that went undefeated. The Heisman is all about the hype and star power, and sadly for Gabriel, just like with Bo Nix, the Oregon Ducks offense just isn’t flashy enough, but it is ruthlessly efficient.
Beyond the Heisman, Oregon was up for some other awards. The Joe Moore Award for best offensive line went to Army. The AP Coach of the Year Award went to Curt Cignetti, who did have a fantastic season and an incredible turnaround in his first year with Indiana.
As for the AP All-America Team, there were no Ducks on the first team. Only Derrick Harmon made the Second team. Then on the Third Team, Josh Connerly and Gabriel both made an appearance. Ohio State, who lost to Oregon, had five players make this All-American list.
So are the Ducks getting their due? No.
But the Ducks have taken the B1G crown and all of this is fuel for the fire. The Ducks can absolutely make a run at the National Championship this year, though if you look at any pundit’s analysis it has Texas or Georgia winning the whole thing. But the reality is that the games are played on the field. Maybe it’s time to remember what Coach Lanning said last year before the Colorado game.
“They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins. There’s a difference, right. This game ain’t going to be played in Hollywood; it’s going to be played on the grass.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
David Marsh
Portland, Oregon
Top Photo By Eric Becker
Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in technology in SLC, Utah.
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David Marsh is a high school social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher he is known for telling puns to his students who sometimes laugh out of sympathy, and being both eccentric about history and the Ducks.
David graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with Majors in: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. David began following Ducks Football after being in a car accident in 2012; finding football something new and exciting to learn about during this difficult time in his life. Now, he cannot see life without Oregon football.