Autzen Zoo
Fansided

Oregon Football: Best, worst and most likely scenario for 2021 season

By Connor Muldowney

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 02: (L-R) Deommodore Lenoir #0, Travis Dye #26, George Moore #77 and Anthony Brown #13 of the Oregon Ducks leads teammates onto the field before the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Iowa State Cyclones at State Farm Stadium on January 02, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cyclones defeated the Ducks 34-17. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 02: (L-R) Deommodore Lenoir #0, Travis Dye #26, George Moore #77 and Anthony Brown #13 of the Oregon Ducks leads teammates onto the field before the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Iowa State Cyclones at State Farm Stadium on January 02, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cyclones defeated the Ducks 34-17. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
Jan 2, 2021; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks safety Verone McKinley III (23) against the Iowa State Cyclones in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 2, 2021; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks safety Verone McKinley III (23) against the Iowa State Cyclones in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Worst-case scenario for Oregon football

Now onto the bad news. Oregon could very well be a huge disappointment in the worst-case scenario and, well, let’s just hope this doesn’t happen.

We all know about the Ohio State game and even in the best-case scenario, I have the Ducks losing a close one to the Buckeyes in the second week of the year. In the worst case, the Ducks are clobbered by the Buckeyes in Columbus and suffer an identity crisis. The quarterback situation has more questions than answers after the loss and Oregon struggles with confidence.

Oregon bounces back to beat Stony Brook and Arizona because both should be punching bags but a road game at Stanford could get tricky. In the worst-case scenario, the Ducks lose to the Cardinal in their first real test in Pac-12 play.

They’ll bounce back to beat Cal after a bye but then a road game against UCLA screams “trap” with Colorado and Washington on the horizon. Oregon sneaks by UCLA in a tough one (maybe even needing overtime) before taking down Colorado but losing at Washington. The rivalry game will not go as expected as the new-look Huskies will be Pac-12 title contenders.

Sitting at 6-3 before facing Washington State, the Ducks will need to do some soul-searching. They’ll take down the Cougars before losing to Utah on the road the following week and end the season with a win over rival Oregon State.

In the worst-case scenario for this team, they stumble to a four-loss season and no titles or meaningful postseason games.

Worst-case: 8-4 with slightly above average bowl bid

Home/Oregon Ducks Football