In 2022 the Oregon Ducks were the exact elucidation of pick yourself up when defeated and be resilient. What started week 1 in Atlanta as a complete and utter desecration of a football team with a 49-3 loss to Georgia, finished as a 10-3 season. A thrilling 28-27 victory over North Carolina in the Holiday Bowl put an exclamation point at the end of the Ducks triumphant turnaround. That week 1 loss would have deflated most teams but not this Ducks team, led by HC Dan Lanning and Heisman hopeful QB Bo Nix. Yes! The same Bo Nix that was run out of Auburn and dismissed by most of the college football world as a wash.
Lanning did what he does best to inspire and motivate his team to a 8 game winning streak, starting with a 70 pt explosion in week 2 vs Eastern Washington. Yes I get it…its Eastern Washington…but it’s also 70 pts from a team that 1 week prior was left for dead! QB Bo Nix went on to command that the college football world put some damn respect on his name! Nix finished the season with a 71% completion rate, 3,500 yds passing, 43 total TDs, while only throwing 7 INTs. I’m pretty sure we can put the Auburn days to rest now!
I’m not saying it was all butterflies and pompoms for the Ducks in ‘22, things crumbled a bit as they lost two out of the last three games of the regular season. Losses to the Michael Penix led Washington Huskies and to the Oregon State Beavers (who completed a whopping 6 passes). These losses knocked the Ducks out of PAC-12 Championship contention. So I believe there is a sour taste left in the mouths of players and coaches in Eugene this off-season.
Now let’s fast forward 5 months to a Ducks team that had a top tier recruiting class / transfer portal. These Ducks are bringing back a highly talented offensive line, a legit Heisman candidate QB in Bo Nix, and a 2 headed monster in the backfield with Noah Whittington & Bucky Irving. These backs combined for 1800 yds and 14 total TDs. With so much promise, why is it that all the media wants to talk about in the PAC-12 is USC & Colorado?
Dan Lanning was in his bag this offseason locking down 5 star WR Jurrion Dickey & 5 star EDGE rusher Matayo Uiagalelei. Highly sought after 5 star QB Dante Moore chose UCLA over Oregon but, make no mistake about it the Ducks got themselves a dawg at QB with 4 star recruit Austin Novosad, hailing from Dripping Springs, TX. Lanning was making his presence felt early and often!
Offense wasn’t the issue for the Ducks in ‘22, unfortunately even with future NFL talents like Noah Sewell, DJ Johnson, & Christian Gonzalez, the Defense was less than mediocre. The defensive unit ranked 71st in yards allowed per (381), 75th in points per game allowed (27), and only managed 18 sacks (123rd) on the year. Lanning hit the portal hard to build up the defense and bring in guys to fill their major holes. Lanning was able to get Iowa LB Jestin Jacobs, South Carolina Gamecocks EDGE Jordan Burch, Alabama DB Khyrue Jackson to fill the roles of the gentlemen aforementioned.The Ducks also brought in Fresno State Safety Evan Williams, brother of Bennett Williams.
The elephant in the room is the newly hired OC Will Stein who is tasked with replacing former OC and newly hired Arizona State HC Ken Dillingham’s high powered offense. This isn’t Stein’s first rodeo and he has been putting up big boy numbers like Dillingham. At UT San Antonio, Stein’s offense averaged 36.8 PPG and over 470 yards of offense. I believe Stein is ready to hit the ground running!
The 2023 schedule starts off on the lighter side with games vs Portland State and Hawaii at home w/ a road game in Lubbock vs The Texas Tech Red Raiders sandwiched in between. Next, the Ducks will be met with their biggest test of their early season as they face a newly revamped Colorado Buffaloes team w/ Coach Prime & QB Sheuder Sanders.
After Colorado, the Ducks will be on the road to face Stanford and their rivals, the Washington State Huskies who will be lead by QB Michael Penix Jr. To me, this will have huge PAC-12 championship game vibes w/ 2 Heisman hopefuls at the helm of their respective teams in Nix and Penix Jr.
The Ducks get games vs Washington State, Utah, and Cal before they begin their critical stretch run of facing USC at home in Eugene, and heading to Arizona State to face former OC Dillingham on the road. After those 2 matchup, the stretch ends with a possible redemption game vs Oregon State to close out the season. The Ducks will need a 10 win season to be in the Pac-12 championship conversation and it will all begin Sept 2nd. For now, let’s enjoy these spring games and some practice!!!
