Thanks for sharing. Very surprised with USC at #2 -- all because of three flat quarters and a missed FG. I kinda like being the underdog. HA! Ducks #3 and underdog...never thought I'd see the day.
The way I see it we'll have to see USC twice next year and that's two wins over a top 10 school and that puts our Ducks in the national championship! Next year USC will be the only thing we focus on! Lane vs Chip? I like our odds!!
I wonder how much lower the Ducks will be in the next preseason rankings that come out, since now both James and Thomas will be gone. I'm guessing they'll be placed in the 10-15 range. I'm also guessing they'll be much higher than that at the end of the season.
I just don't see much of a drop off this year at QB, and the D-Line will only be better and stronger. Replacing LMJ is going to be tough, though, but having DAT on the field for every play should help out Barner. I also expect great things from Huff and at least one of the RS WRs, and Lyerla is going to be a beast. Hopefully White or French can help out a young QB as well.
Oh, I think they'll be better next year than this one, for all the reasons you stated. But I doubt the national media will see it that way. They'll undoubtedly start out the season as the clear #2 pick in the conference. I relish the opportunity they'll have to try to prove the pundits wrong.
You know how gooooooooooood it would feel to beat USC with a true freshman QB! HAHAHAHA! Talking about taking a stake to the heart if you're LAME Kitty and Matt Barkley.
I think that you can compare how USC did against UCLA and how Oregon did against UCLA and there's a bit more support for USC being considered the better team. The Ducks, of course, got the big win against the Badgers, but USC ended the season on fire last year. And they get their starting QB back. Ed O.
USC and Oregon splitting next year would be pretty crappy if both are undefeated going into their first matchup... Ed O.
USC lost at home to Stanford, and UCLA had nothing to play for against USC. They had already clinched the South. Daisy chain arguments are weak, IMO.
The USC games next year will be great... I think having Bennett at QB gives us a slight advantage actually against USC. He is a threat to run the ball DT wasn't. USC's D will be on their toes all game.
Bennett's ability to run the ball will add a whole new dimension to our offense. There was so many times this year where I was yelling at my TV for the DT to run the ball and he didn't.
Of course, my concern will be that his running ability will prevent him from properly and fully utilizing what appears to be a potentially devastating corps of receivers and tight ends. We've heard that Bennett has a great arm--I really want to see him use it.
He has a mammoth arm. Just needs to work on the accuracy. I remember in the Colorado game he overthrew DAT... On a go route lol
I think all Chip needs to say to Bennett is, go through your check offs, if covered, pitch the ball to Barner or Dat, if the LB's are sitting soft ten follow the pull block and pick up 1 st downs with your feet. I think the worry that he'll be a dyslexic DT are fair. I think that's only cause he's young and doesn't want to throw a pic. That will calm down as he takes 1st string reps and understands his O line better! That said, don't count Marucs out of this QB hunt just yet and realize both of these kids are super quick with good arms.
it's more accurate at this point to say that Bennett has a big arm. Dude certainly has a fastball to go with all the other physical tools. Whats yet to be established is how good is his accuracy and decision making. For Oregon to maintain the level they've been playing at they'll need their QB to complete a higher % of their passes then the 54% BB averaged this season I'll be rooting for Bryan and all the other Ducks come Spring practice, but it's my guess that Mariota wins the starting job. Like Bennett, he's got a big arm and all the other physical tools. For reference as to what type of athlete he is, he rated 101.79 on Nike's SPARQ test... Tim Tebow scored a 96.92 coming out of HS. Marcus also sported a 3.75 GPA in HS. From what I've read from his HS coach and think I've observed in the highlight tapes, he's a really smart QB. Whats between the ears is probably more important then any physical trait. the cherry on top with both young QBs is they ran spread attacks in HS largely based on Oregon's system. [video=youtube;tXFHH1DkfS8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXFHH1DkfS8[/video] [video=youtube;xUmxqGaqK1A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUmxqGaqK1A[/video] STOMP
They don't want to rank USC below us because we lost head to head, but on the other hand, we whipped Stanford in Stanford who beat USC at USC. And we won the Rose Bowl. They seem to be giving USC a lot more credit for beating us than they give us for beating Stanford and Wisconsin.
In Bennett's highlights, the passes he makes at 3:06 and 4:23 are unreal. Each one is essentially a 25 yard out, on a rope, to a racing to the sidelines Paulson. Darron Thomas could not make that throw IMO. Mariota's highlights are extremely impressive. He throws the deep ball extremely well and his mechanics look extremely sound.
the deal is the same whether they're ranked ahead of or behind the Trojans in preseason. To play in the MNCG the Ducks will have to run the table which probably means beating them twice. Really all that matters is that UO is ranked high enough to be in position for such a run and anywhere in the top 20 will accomplish that. STOMP
