When the SEC poached Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12, it sent a shock wave through the college football world and challenged the status quo of the Power-Five Conferences. Speculation and conference realignment talk became the hot topic among college football fans, and rightfully so. Overnight, the Power-Five became the Power-Four. The Big 12, without Texas and Oklahoma, is …
When J.T. Tuimoloau, a five-star recruit out of the state of Washington, announced Oregon as one of his final four schools, the Ducks were hopeful they could persuade him to make the short trip south to begin his college football career. However, Tuimoloau chose Ohio State instead. Oregon was, in truth, always a bit of a long shot but was …
The Pac-12 in 2021 is remarkably difficult to rank. It is probably the most competitive conference in all the Power Five — that is “competitive,” not “best.” Trying to accurately rank the Pac-12, especially in the off-season, is an absolute nightmare, as any team can beat anyone in any given week. There is a reason why Pac-12 After Dark is …
The 2020 season was disastrous for Oregon’s special teams. The kicking game started out bad, return coverage was often lacking, and Oregon just didn’t have much of a return game of their own. At the beginning of last season, Camden Lewis had placekicking responsibilities and basically picked up where he left off — missing easy kicks. At the end of …
By the looks of it, a 12 Team Playoff is the preferred format for expanding the College Football Playoff. Currently it appears that the top twelve teams ranked by the playoff committee would make it into the playoff. This sounds good in theory but also raises further questions. What if the Champion of a Power-Five Conference isn’t ranked in the …
Oregon’s 2021 football team has the hype and personnel to make a run at the College Football Playoff and maybe even a National Championship. Last week, I looked at how this year’s offense stacked up against the 2014 team, and today we turn to the defense to compare 2021’s team to the last Oregon team to reach the Playoff and …
2014 was the first year of the College Football Playoff, and Oregon was the first team to win a CFP semifinal game. The 2014 season was an incredible year for Oregon fans, as Marcus Mariota was the first Oregon player to win the Heisman, which he did while setting QB records — not only for Oregon but for the entire …
On Monday the Pac-12 voted unanimously to approve immediate eligibility for intraconference transfers. In other words, players transferring from one Pac-12 school to another no longer have to sit out a year, but instead will be immediately eligible to play. The ACC recently decided to do away with the rule within their own conference, and the NCAA is considering doing …
Last week I wrote that no starter was safe on Oregon’s offense. One of the positions not mentioned in that article were the running backs. In the Spring Game, there were only three active running backs: the two starters in C.J. Verdell and Travis Dye, as well as walk-on Aaron Smith. Dye looks as dynamic as ever and will absolutely see …
The Oregon Spring Game showed off the years of work Mario Cristobal and his coaching staff have put in on the recruiting trail. Oregon team has the deepest and most talented roster in program history. This led to one of the most competitive Spring Games in recent memory, where the offense narrowly defeated the defense. The competition was not limited …
With every new hire, Mario Cristobal declares it an upgrade. In most cases to date, this seems true. However, was each one of these hires really an upgrade for the Oregon program? In the case of the new defensive coordinator, this would seem to be true. When Mario Cristobal took over the program at the end of 2017, he inherited, …
Spring football is finally here, and Oregon’s new Defensive Coordinator, Tim DeRuyter, is wasting no time adapting the roles of his players to fit his defense. Kayvon Thibodeaux is one of those players on the move within the defense, and he shared the news during Tuesday’s post-practice press conference. This spring, Thibodeaux is moving to more of an outside linebacker …