The Ducks may not have made the Playoff, but aside from the short-lived disappointment the Oregon football program is sitting pretty.
In 2019, they beat their rivals in Washington and Oregon State, won the Pac-12 Championship and have secured some of the most highly touted recruits on the West Coast — their 2020 class sits second in the conference with a chance to leapfrog Washington, pending a commitment from cornerback Kelee Ringo or Dontae Manning. Most importantly though, the Ducks have the opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl for the first time in four years.
“[It’s] something I always dreamed of since I was a kid,” Oregon native Brady Breeze said, whose father played in the 1995 Rose Bowl against Penn State. “It just means the world to me, and I know it means the world to my teammates to be in the granddaddy of them all. It’s something that we will never forget.”
Breeze echoes a similar sentiment to that of his teammates and coaches. Sure, the bowl doesn’t give the program a chance to compete for a national championship, but it’s the next best thing. Unlike the Las Vegas Bowl or Redbox Bowl of year’s past, the Rose Bowl gives Oregon a chance to perform on the big stage.
A Rose Bowl win carries weight — weight that will aid tremendously along the recruiting trail and help continue the revitalization of Oregon’s brand.
The New Year’s Day matchup gives Oregon another chance to see how they stack up against elite competition from other conferences. They faced Auburn from the SEC in the season opener and are now set to face another smashmouth team which excels in the trenches — the Big Ten’s Wisconsin Badgers.
Wednesday’s game will present one final platform for the talented Ducks roster to show off their development and skills to fans, their coaches and more importantly, NFL scouts.
For a select few Ducks, the game could be the difference in leaving or staying in school, going undrafted or getting a shot at an NFL roster, or shooting up into the top half of draft boards.
Nose Tackle / Jordon Scott
No Ducks player is more unheralded or overlooked than Jordon Scott. But that’s the life of a nose tackle. As the anchor of the line, rarely do they possess plus pass-rushing skills or make splashes in the run game. More often they eat up blockers, freeing their teammates up to make plays.
Scott is capable of breaking that mold.
He’s a monster on run downs, as he uses his massive 320-pound frame to dominate at the point of attack.
“When he cranks up the motor and wins with first contact he is capable of resetting the line of scrimmage,” one NFL Draft analyst wrote.
His impact in the run game will be on full display against Wisconsin’s explosive ground attack featuring Jonathan Taylor, and while he’ll likely return for his senior year, a good showing could help his NFL future tremendously.
Quarterback / Justin Herbert
No surprise here. Justin Herbert elected to stay one final year at Oregon, but unfortunately may have compromised his draft stock in doing so.
Those who have watched can clearly see the improvements that he’s made to his game in 2019. Yet after being a potential top-three pick in last year’s draft, many analysts now see him sliding towards the end of the first round, behind fellow quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and in some mock drafts, Utah State’s Jordan Love.
Herbert’s teammates love him, his coaches rave about him, and the Oregon fan base, for the most part, adores him.
Scouts, on the other hand, aren’t totally sold. His frame and athleticism set him apart, yet his lack of standout performances in big games makes it hard to evaluate his potential impact on the next level.
Wednesday’s Rose Bowl will be without a doubt the biggest game of Herbert’s four-year career as a starter as he faces perhaps the best defense he’s seen in college.
Oregon’s offensive line
With the exception of Outland Trophy winner and consensus All-American Penei Sewell, Oregon’s entire starting offensive line is set to graduate, each with their own NFL aspirations.
Guard Shane Lemieux is widely regarded as one of the better interior linemen in the draft, likely slotting in as a second rounder with a chance to slide into the back end of the first.
Lemieux’s running mates in center Jake Hanson and the multi-positional Calvin Throckmorton — who’s played just about every position along the line over the course of his 40-plus starts — both hold mid-round grades as well. The duo is frequently mocked between rounds 2-4.
Even former Alabama transfer Dallas Warmack could find his way onto an NFL roster, although more likely as a late-round pick or undrafted free agent.
With so much talent, it’s easy to see why Alex Mirabal’s group received so much preseason hype. They’ve had their moments in 2019 but didn’t fully reached their potential until recently when they steamrolled the vaunted Utes’ run defense.
If the upward trajectory continues and the unit can find success against the robust Badgers’ front line, they could pave a way to victory, benefitting their stock along with it.
Linebacker / Isaac Slade-Matautia
While he’s not draft eligible, Isaac Slade-Matautia — who has recorded multiple tackles in every game this season — is in a unique position.
After glimpses of greatness in 2018, an injury derailed his season. In 2019, he’s been healthy and has acted as a key cog in Andy Avalos’ defense. Senior Troy Dye is leaving, though, and next year Slade-Matautia will be the adult in the room in a front seven that could suddenly feature up to five underclassmen.
Slade-Matautia is in no danger of losing his spot, but unlike 2019, he will be the one the younger players turn to, the leader of the group.
Freshmen Mase Funa and Kayvon Thibodeaux both had breakout freshman campaigns and will likely be joined by incomers Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe — the most prolific linebacker recruits the Oregon program has ever seen.
The Rose Bowl will be Slade-Matautia’s last chance to play with seniors Troy Dye and La’Mar Winston Jr. and an opportunity to glean the last bits of techniques and advice he can.
