Outside of perhaps the most ardent Ohio State Buckeye haters among the Oregon faithful, we all wanted Ohio State to make mince meat of Texas to help ease the pain of Oregon’s Rose Bowl debacle.
It did not happen.
In fact, Texas played the Buckeyes tough until the end, leaving Oregon fans to bemoan, “Why the hell couldn’t we do that?!”
Well, I sure did. But, rest assured, there is a template in existence that should inspire hope for the Ducks.
Let us look east, to Virginia…
2025 Oregon Football Must Tap Into Its Inner 2019 Virginia Basketball
One of the first thoughts I had the morning after the Ducks’ Rose Bowl meltdown was the 2018 Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team. Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament. I believe the feelings Oregon fans have must be very similar to what those basketball fans were feeling in 2018.
The good news: Virginia came back in 2019 to win it all for their first national championship.
Can Oregon football do the same?
SEC Tears
The SEC will not have a team in the championship game for the second straight year. NIL and the transfer portal are leveling the playing field. Nick Saban knew this and jumped ship. Makes you wonder what shenanigans and manipulations the SEC will try over the next few years to minimize the chances of this happening moving forward.
Penn State is the Poster Child of Second-Tier Blue Bloods
They consistently win 10 or more games a year, but James Franklin’s record against Top 5 teams is 1-15.
Ouch!
A Total Facial Disgracial
LSU coach Brian Kelly’s reason for leaving Notre Dame three years ago: “I want to be in an environment where I have the resources to win a national championship.”
That did not age well.
Darren Perkins
Spokane, WA
Top photo credit: Eric Becker
Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in technology in SLC, Utah.
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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.