Oregon is known possibly as much for their uniforms as they are for their football. The “University of Nike” seemingly has a new uniform design every week, yet, in football they haven’t gotten back to an elite level since 2014. That is the last year they had an elite QB with Marcus Mariota; since then, their QB play has been severely lacking. This year, their QB play returns to an elite level, and with it, may come more success for their program.

Prestige Ranking (If NCAA Football 19 existed): 5*… Oregon has 0 championships in football throughout their history. However, in the very recent past, they were one Ezekiel Elliott away from a national championship, and they are still one of the most recognizable brands in all of college football.

Last Year’s Record: 7-6 (4-5 Pac 12)

Projected Returning Starters:

Offense: 6

QB Justin Herbert, WR Dillon Mitchell, WR Johnny Johnson, OL Shane Lemieux, OL Jake Hanson, TE Jacob Breeland

Oregon has to replace  roughly half of it’s offense, but in my opinion their offense will be fine in 2018. While they lose their top runner, they return the biggest piece of their team, QB Justin Herbert. His missed time last year due to injury, which was one of the main reasons Oregon’s year didn’t go as planned. He will also return three of his top four leaders in receiving yards: Mitchell, Johnson, and Breeland. Lastly, he will only return two linemen, but in what will most likely be a pass heavy offense, I’m sure the offense will survive.

Defense: 7

DL Jordon Scott, DL Jalen Jelks, LB Justin Hollins, LB Troy Dye, LB Kaulana Apelu, LB Lamar Winston, DB Thomas Graham

The Ducks will bring back a ton of people from two sections of their defense. They bring back six of their front seven, including all four linebackers. Unfortunately, they replace three of four defensive backs. They bring back five of their topsix tacklers, including Dye, who led the team in total tackles and tackles for loss. They bring back their sacks leader in Jelks, and despite bringing back only one DB, they bring back the right one as Graham led all DBs in tackles last year (3rd on the whole team) and was 2nd in INTs. The Ducks defense could be extremely good this year, which will only bolster their elite offense in 2018

Special Teams: 0

This will be a problem area for Oregon in 2018. They have to replace  everyone from this unit. They are looking at having the same person, Adam Stack, to be both a kicker and punter for them.

Key Losses:

RB Royce Freeman, WR Charles Nelson, LB Jimmie Swain

Royce Freeman is their biggest replacement on the offensive side of the ball. He was elite and versatile last year, running for almost 1500 yards (and 16 TDs) and receiving for over 100 more yards. Nelson was their 2nd leading receiver last year, as well as their punt returner and part time kick returner. Jimmie Swain played a lot of snaps, rotating in at LB last year, and he ended up finishing 2nd on the team in tackles.

Five Year Recruiting Rank (Bill Connelly): 19

This isn’t too bad of a ranking for Oregon, in fact, it’s pretty good. With the departure of multiple coaches over the past 5 years (Helfrich and Taggart). In addition, with Pac 12 foes USC and Washington becoming elite over the past few years, they have made it harder for Oregon to recruit west coast talent. However, with such good recruiting classes, Oregon should have pretty good depth in 2018.

Alcohol Prediction for Fans By Seasons End:

Bud Light Lime with 100+ different koozies. You expect it to be better every time, but it continually falls short of expectations.

The Tyroil Smoochie-Wallace All Name Team:

Calvin Throckmorton. For Oregon it was too easy just to pick some Hawaiian name that no one can recognize, so I instead went with a name that’s just so much fun to say.

Outlook: Oregon’s non conference schedule is a joke this year. Their “gauntlet” is Bowling Green, Portland State, and San Jose State. Their conference schedule sets up very nice for them. The other tough teams in the Pac 12 in 2018 will be Washington, Stanford, USC, and Arizona. Oregon will avoid USC completely, and they get Stanford and Washington at home, while only having to travel to Arizona. Their November looks to setup well for a potential last push to the playoff with UCLA (in a down year), Utah (who should be decent actually), and then finishing off with bottom feeders Arizona State and Oregon State. Look for Oregon to make a push to the Pac 12 Championship game and possibly even the playoff in 2018.