Oregon football is looking to get to the playoff and that quest starts this spring. Will the Ducks do enough to defend their Pac-12 crown?
The 2020 season didn’t even feel real. For Oregon, it was hoping to dominate the Pac-12 and make an appearance in the College Football Playoff, but after a 3-0 start, the Ducks lost a couple of heart-breakers at Oregon State and at Cal.
Missing out on a playoff appearance wasn’t all that bad because the season was not your normal one and the Ducks knew they were bringing back a ton of talent in 2021.
Plus, Oregon won the conference title with a win over USC before losing to Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl. Overall, there’s a lot to work on with this team, but there’s enough returning and incoming talent to push for another conference crown and make them the favorites to make the playoff from the Pac-12.
Oregon enters spring ball as one of the top teams in all of college football and if I had to guess, I’d say that the Ducks will be ranked in the top-10 or even top-five at the start of the 2021 campaign.
There’s a quarterback battle to keep an eye on, however, after Tyler Shough decided to transfer to Texas Tech. Will it be the returning vet and former Boston College transfer Anthony Brown or incoming freshman sensation Ty Thompson? Or what about the dark-horse Jay Butterfield?
Plenty of questions, including on defense with new coordinator Tim DeRuyter, but what will the Ducks’ record be in 2021 before seeing what they look like this spring?