Speculation, but I'm one Duck fan who is going to be very proud if we end 11-2 on the season with one of our only losses coming to the #1 team in the nation. We have the opportunity to go 9-1 in conference with another Pac12 Conf Championship. Incredible, during a "rebuilding year." The Big Ten is having a bit of a down year and there is no traditional dominate powerhouse. We're looking at a potential Oregon vs Michigan St or Penn State matchup. I've watched both of those teams, and I'm drooling at the matchup. 2011 could be a huge year for Oregon. Time to seal a BCS Bowl win through a 12-2 season!!
Yeah, a lot of schools wish they were as good as us. Despite not quite being #1 material, we're top 5. I only wish we could face USC again in the Pac12 title game. Hopefully the Ducks have learned a lesson, don't recruit your kickers from Taco Bell. Get a new kicker, please! I'm also a bit worried about this teams' recieving corp. We missed Jeff Maehl this year, and next year, we'll be without Paulson. We have Mr. No Speed and Mr. No hands out there.
If it's a rebuilding year returning 13 starters, and both K and P, couldn't you just call every season in college a rebuilding year? Especially when you bring back arguably your top 3 or 4 players.
I'm with you, Targus. At the beginning of the season a lot of fans were saying they would be dissapointed with the Rose Bowl????? Are you fucking kidding me? I have thought from day one that a trip to the Rose Bowl would be awesome in a rebuilding year. It sucks to lose, especially at home. However, USuCk is a very good football team with a lot of talent.
No game is a sure thing, but if this is the year we actually win The Rose Bowl...wow! Right up there with 2001, in my opinion. I hear ya, Sin, but we have a ton of returning starters next year. I think we'll miss Tuinei - but we'll have Huff, DAT, Hawkins, Lyerla, Sumler, Dungy, Cantu, Blackmon (if they all qualify ) and a few of those guys should step up.
If they win the Rosebowl, it will be a successful season. After that horrible first game, they improved so dramaticaly and raised our hopes so much.......and then the other shoe dropped. I can't decide if we all over-rated them, or if they just screwed the pooch against USC.
Respectable? Absolutely. Disappointing? A little bit. I had dreams of returning to the Natty before the season began, but those were pretty much ended when LSU beat us. I've tried to keep my expectations tempered a bit, but recently I had once again hoped that we could get back to the Natty. Guess it just wasn't meant to be. I think we have a lot to be proud of, and there's a lot to look forward to, but I really thought that getting LMJ, Darron, etc back for another year would give us a good shot at a championship. Reality set in and I had to accept that the team just wasn't as good as it was last year. We have too many young guys who need a little more experience under their belt. Either way, I think we have shown that we aren't just some upstart and that we will be around for a while.
Yep, we are a relatively young team. LMJ will most likely declare. No reason for a RB to put another year of poundage on his body when he could be making millions in the NFL. Barner will come back to elavate his stock. The drop off between LMJ and Barner isn't much. Though I have not been impressed with that freshman, Tra Carson. The problem with all those recievers you mention though, is that most of them have not shown much. Tuinei is one of the slowest WRs I've ever seen in my life. Huff is a good athlete, but not a good WR. Lyerla has looked pretty good, but we'll really miss Paulson. I hope Darron Thomas decides to enter the draft so Bennett won't have to spend another year rotting on the bench. When I see Thomas play, I see so many openings where I know Bennett could have taken off and gotten the 1st.
I'd definitely feel pretty good about a Rose Bowl win. A third loss would be tough, but a few more recruiting wins would help me feel better. Ed O.
I agree on all points, except maybe Carson. I think he's shown flashes, but he hasn't really been given much of an opportunity to show what he can do.
I said after the LSU loss that I would be happy with a Conference Title and a Rose Bowl Win. I never dreamed we could even climb back in the NC discussion back then. I didn't think we would run the table after the LSU game (even good/great teams come out flat once or twice a year - last year it was Cal, but we escaped somehow) and get back into the top 3. I thought we would lose to ASU, Stanford, or USC. Granted, I didn't feel that way after we thumped Stanford last week, but still. That's College Football. It's a Super Bowl every week in this ridiculous system that is the BCS, and it's hard to stay up after a huge win. That said, UO still hasn't won the Rose Bowl in this era that has been so rich with success. It would be nice to finally pick up that "W" in the Grand Daddy of Them All! I also have to admit that SC was better than I thought, especially on defense. We made some mistakes, but there just weren't as many gaps on Saturday as there has been the last couple of times we've faced that team. I expected SC would score 30 on us, I just thought we'd get 45 or 50.
If you guys win the Rose Bowl that would be the biggest UO win in 50 years so I don't know how you'd consider it a dissapointing season. Even if you beat USC you werent getting in the title game over 'bama. I'm glad with the loss it makes the civil war more meaningful so my Beavs can try to do the unthinkeable and send the ducks to the Holiday Bowl!
2001 was a pretty successful year too. BCS wins are always nice. But, in my opinion, the Fiesta just isn't the Rose Bowl. Go Ducks!
Bullcrap. The Fiesta Bowl win was a much bigger win. Had Nebraska somehow beat Miami, some voters were going to vote UO over NU for the AP title. I'll even argue that beating OS last year to get to an actual national title game was a bigger win. Going to the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin would have been a letdown, IMO. Winning a Rose Bowl to go 11-2 and probably a Top 5 finish would be great, but finishing #2 after beating the #3 BCS Colorado squad in that Fiesta Bowl was the biggest win in program history, and will be until if/when UO wins a BCS title game.
