Oregon Football: Ducks Bring Revitalized Offense to Seattle

It’s Husky Hate Week, and Oregon already planned on bringing their top-ranked defense into Husky Stadium, but the Oregon offense showed up against Colorado and proved that the Ducks are truly a complete team.

After some slower showings for the Oregon offense in the Montana, Stanford, and Cal games, some pundits questioned just how long Andy Avalos’ Nightmare defense could carry the load for a team with national aspirations.

There was a lot of talk about play-calling, wide receiver health, and I even explored some of the hardships at the running back position. But the general consensus—prior to last Friday night—was that the Oregon offense was riding the struggle bus.

And then the CU Buffs came to town.

Against, Colorado, the run game got back on track to the tune of 252 total yards—171 of those came from our one true starting running back, CJ Verdell. Cyrus Habibi-Likio vultured himself three touchdowns by hitting holes harder than he hits Autzen streakers. And Herbie took care of the Buffs’ secondary for 261 and two scores.

It really feels like Arroyo is finally feeling free and dynamic in his play-calling. It also was clear that Verdell and the O-line are both looking fully healthy, and the Oregon offense looks like they’ve found their groove at exactly the right time: Washington Week.

There is no doubt that the rivalry between Oregon and Washington has always been intense between the fans. I’m sure Duck fans have already grown tired of hearing Huskies fans say things like:

"“7328 uniform combinations, 0 titles!”“Duck hunt!”“70-21!”"

And I’m self-aware enough to know that ‘Doog’ fans are sick of hearing ‘Quooks’ say:

"“Kenny Wheaton’s gonna score!”“12 years in a row!” AND/OR “0-12!”“Peyton Henry went wide right!”"

For all of the pettiness, bitterness, and at-times hard to define hatred, the last 25 years of this Border War has honestly lacked the ‘on-field’ passion that most of the great rivalries across the country usually sustain.

But the past four years have done wonders for spreading the contempt throughout the locker rooms, too.

Justin Herbert, Troy Dye, and so many seniors on this Ducks’ team were on the field in 2016 when Jake Browning pointed the Huskies to a streak-breaking 70-21 blowout.

And most of this UDub team lost in Autzen last year thanks to CJ Verdell’s touchdown in overtime.

There is a deep desire on both sides for one side to beat/dominate/upset the other, and this year’s matchup in, “The Most O.K. Setting” in college football looks to be as competitive as ever.

So with their biggest test since the Auburn game coming up, the rebirth of the Oregon offense couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

After an incredible performance in all facets of the game against Colorado, four out of five Oregon offensive linemen were named to Pro Football Focus’ Pac-12 Team of the Week. Washington is going to have to deal with all that beef up front, including the presumptive Outland Trophy front-runner, Penei Sewell, who was also listed to PFF Midseason All-American Team.

The O-line will control the line of scrimmage from the start, open up the holes for Verdell (and Dye, and Felix, and CHL) to run very effectively, and that will give Redd, Pittman, and JJ3 plenty of chances to catch some Herb-bombs downfield.

On a bittersweet note, Sewell’s fellow PFF Midseason All-American, Jacob Breeland, is officially out for the year.

The Ducks’ leading receiver and Justin Herbert’s favorite target sustained a leg injury against Colorado, and it looks like Junior TE Hunter Kampmoyer will be stepping into his role for the rest of the season.

There is no doubt that the rest of the team is hurting for Breeland. It just sucks. It doesn’t even suck to lose our top receiver—although, that didn’t bode well for us last year. It mostly sucks to watch such a good guy get hurt like that in the middle of an incredible run. Breeland is a true leader, a great man, and I know that he’ll get his shot to play on Sunday.

Even without Breeland, I’m confident that Arroyo and Herbie are seriously starting to get the Oregon offense into a place where the Ducks look so much more than just a defensive team.

Avalos’ Nightmare defense might be the personality of this Oregon team so far, but there is a special kind of rivalry passion, renewed offensive productivity, and I maybe even a little bit of ‘Win-One-for-Breeland’ spirit that will drive every single Duck to play their most complete game of the year up in Seattle.

38-10, good guys.

Go Ducks.