As I’ve said before, I am not generally a person of superstitions. But as the Oregon Duck football season progresses, I can’t help but compare this year to the almost-epic 2007 campaign. I’m sure there are those of you out there who don’t even want to acknowledge the similarities, but that’s why I get paid the big bucks.
So let me briefly re-hash the 2007 season for you, in case you have forgotten, or rather, put the memory so far in the back of your mind that you no longer wish to acknowledge its existence.
The Ducks, led by senior quarterback Dennis Dixon, put together a string of three dominant wins to cap a preseason that was highlighted by the 39-7 demolishing of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Oregon did, however, stumble at home against then-No. 6 Cal, which resulted in the Ducks’ first loss of the season to the tune of 31-24 in favor of the Golden Bears.
The following two weeks featured blowout wins over both Washington schools before the ultimate showdown with the USC Trojans. With both teams in the top-10 — Oregon at No. 5 and USC No. 9 — the Ducks’ 24-17 victory proved they were a national title contender and Dixon’s name was thrown in the hat as a Heisman Trophy candidate. He went 16 of 25 for 157 yards, while also scrambling for 76 yards and a touchdown.
And with another win over Arizona State the following week, the Ducks climbed all the way to No. 2 in the BCS with an 8-1 record overall heading into Tucson, Ariz., to take on the Wildcats. We all know what happened next. It was painful to watch and easily one of my least favorite moments as a Duck fan as Oregon’s national title hopes went out the window and Dixon left the field for good.
His knee injury defined the rest of Oregon’s season as the Ducks dropped their next two games to UCLA and Oregon State before picking up one final win in the Sun Bowl over South Florida.
So why bring all this up again? Well, just looking at the schedule from this year and 2007 made me notice how easily the two seasons resemble each other. That year we faced Cal, Washington State, USC, ASU and Oregon State all at home. This year we face nearly that identical
schedule — yes, I am aware that home and away games alternate each year — and could have some of those same matchups carry just as much if not more weight than they did in ’07.
Oregon has made the climb through the rankings after recovering from the season-opening loss to now-No.4 Boise State earlier this year, and looks to be on course for another meeting of two top-10 teams in Autzen Stadium on Oct. 31. Granted, Chip Kelly and his staff have been preaching the motto of “one-week seasons” all year long, but from an outsider’s perspective, the two seasons seem all too familiar.
There is no question that the personnel is entirely different this year without Dixon and Jonathan Stewart, but Oregon’s trio of junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, redshirt-freshman running back LaMichael James and senior tight end Ed Dickson has shown that it can lead a relatively young and inexperienced squad to the top of the
Pac-10 rankings.
The circumstances are inharmoniously similar, and all signs point toward the showdown on Halloween night, but the Ducks still have one last land mine to sidestep before that’s even a legitimate thought — Jake Locker and the Washington Huskies.
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