The 2015 College Football season is not far off and predictions for everything from awards, to potential players of the year, to season predictions are making their way onto blogs and message boards. One of the latest of these comes from Don Smalley from Today’s U Sports who believes that the Oregon Ducks are running out of time to win a National Championship.
I agree, and also disagree. While Smalley points out all the reasons for Oregon to pretty much ‘go for it’ this season, he does not discuss what Oregon has in the pipeline. Mariota is gone and has moved to the NFL. As of now, Jeff Lockie is the leader of the team, until Vernon Adams joins and works in Fall Camp to earn the job, but there is more to it than that. He also has to build chemistry with his teammates and coaches, which if you have seen any film on him, should not be a problem.
While the Oregon Ducks return talent on the Offensive Line and at Wide Receiver. While some will return, the Ducks will have some work to do next offseason with the loss of a Quarterback in Adams, but in the area of recruiting the team is already working toward the future with several top tier Defensive recruits who have committed to Oregon. Of course, time will tell if these young men will pan out, but keep in mind the best three star recruit can pan out into the second NFL Draft pick in 2015.
Oregon is also fighting it out with every other team in not only the Pac-12, where USC is returning to form, as well as Arizona and Arizona State making moves to take the top spot, but to say that the window for Oregon is closing is like saying it never rains in Eugene. I would go as far to say that it could become more challenging in the years to come for the Oregon Ducks to compete in a once again Conference of Champions.
The regular season begins for the Oregon Ducks on Saturday, September 5th against Eastern Washington. (5pm Pacific Time, Pac-12 Networks)