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It was a beautiful sight. Vernon Adams dancing off the field; smiles everywhere — it was fitting. Make no mistake, the Oregon Ducks are a top 10 team with a healthy Vernon Adams at quarterback. Not to mention Mark Helfrich has solidified himself as one of the PAC 12’s top coaches. 38-36 Oregon over Stanford; that seemed like a bit of stretch not too long ago.
All season long, fans cried for University of Oregon Director of Athletics Rob Mullens to terminate Mark Helfrich and defensive coordinator Don Pellum. A large chunk of Oregon’s fan population believed that Helfrich was the wrong man for the job, begging media to believe that this staff wasn’t capable of leading a team.
Sure, those cries weren’t dumbfounded, but they also had no backing in the place where it matters the most: the locker room. Players kept fighting through adversity. This team is led by its core group of seniors; fans should take a second and realize that even this was a foreign situation for the seniors. Players claimed accountability, and continued to fight for their coaching staff. They were going to attempt to win out for pride, not because of postseason implications. They did just that. Close situation after close situation, this team never gave up.
After last night’s win, in very uncharacteristic form, an Oregon Ducks player answered a question about whether he thought the Ducks are the best team in the conference.
It was Adams.
“Yes we are.”
Yes, the Ducks are flying right now.
Next: Pac-12 Has Played Itself Out of the Playoff
Oregon and USC face-off on Saturday, both teams are on four game winning streaks. Kickoff is set for 12:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN.