It would have been easy to forget Oregon football still has a game to play.
Former Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal is gone. So too is most of his former staff and a host of key players from the 2021 Oregon football team.
There’s significant buzz behind the scenes surrounding the future head coach of the program, the zealous Dan Lanning. He’s been maniacal on the staffing front, adding several highly-touted coaches over the past week. Evidently, he’s passed phase one of his test as the Ducks’ new leader too, helping retain a host of players who considered forgoing their final year with the program, or leaving altogether.
Lanning has spurred the Ducks’ off-field momentum.
A win Wednesday night in San Antonio in the Alamo Bowl vs. No. 16 Oklahoma — a duel of interim coaches and fragmented rosters — could provide Oregon’s on-field product, which lost two of its last three games, a much-needed springboard into next season.
“This part of the year is about finishing,” Oregon interim head coach Bryan McClendon said. “You have a clear opportunity to finish something that you started… You still have so much to play for.”
The Alamo Bowl is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. PT on Wednesday, Dec. 29 and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
When Oklahoma is on offense:
These programs mirror one another and not just at the top; both programs will be led by interim coaches in Oregon’s McClendon and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops.
Much like the No. 15 Ducks, the Sooners’ national ranking was often shot down despite their excellent record, due to unconvincing one-score wins early in the season against inferior opponents.
And both in Eugene and Norman, consternation surrounded the quarterback position all season.
Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler, a former 5-star recruit, was benched just six games into the season, midway through the Red River Showdown against rival Texas. That’s when the electrifying freshman, Caleb Williams, took over.
“He’s a guy that has a ton of arm talent… can make all the throws,” Oregon defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. “And yet, he can really, really run. He’s got tremendous poise, more so than you would expect from a guy who is only a freshman. Presents a lot of problems.”
The similarities halt when it comes to offensive philosophies. The Ducks spent 2021 doubling down on a commitment to the power run game. The Sooners meanwhile did what they’ve done for years and aired it out.
“It’s quite a chore to try to defend [Williams],” DeRuyter said. “They’re a different football team since he’s been in.”
Through seven games (six starts), Williams threw for 1,670 yards and 18 touchdowns, adding over 400 yards with his feet. Five Sooners caught at least 30 passes, led by Marvin Mims who accounted for 648 yards.
Oklahoma junior running back Kennedy Brooks did compile his third straight 1,000-plus yard season this year, but it’s the Sooners’ proclivity to do damage through the air that could derail Oregon’s hopes of a win Wednesday.
Oklahoma’s offense is ranked No. 28 in total offense, the third highest of any Ducks opponent this season, (Ohio State (1), Fresno State (13)). The Sooners also rank No. 10 in scoring offense and are tied for No. 11 in turnover differential.
The Ducks’ defense is missing 17 players including starters Kayvon Thibodeaux, Popo Aumavae, Mykael Wright, DJ James, Steve Stephens IV and Keyon Ware-Hudson and key reserves Keith Brown, Adrian Jackson and Jackson LaDuke.
The missing players unquestionably restrain the unit’s potential, but hands younger players, those previously outside of the rotation, a chance at in-game experience. Freshman offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson — who played on both lines at the high school level — was moved to the defensive line to help bolster it.
“It’s been a theme of our whole year,” DeRuyter said of the absences. “That’s the beauty of football. It’s never about who’s more talented. It’s about who plays better that day and who plays together as a football team… To have one more opportunity to show what they can do, I know these guys are relishing [it].”
The Ducks will get one key player back for Wednesday’s matchup: safety Bennett Williams, who spent the last two months recovering from what was once thought to be a season-ending lower leg injury. Williams was well on his way to a breakout season, hauling in three interceptions in the four games prior to the injury.
“We’ve had kind of a long season,” safety Verone McKinley III said. “Lot of ups, lot of downs, but we’ve always stayed together. Going out with a bang.”
When Oregon is on offense:
No position on the Ducks has been hit harder by injuries and NFL Draft opt outs than the wide receiver group. Leading receiver Devon Williams recently announced his decision to turn pro, leaving an already-depleted group, down three starters, in even worse shape.
With 29 career catches for 401 yards, sophomore Kris Hutson is now the Ducks’ most experienced weapon on the outside. True freshman Dont’e Thornton and Troy Franklin are set to start alongside him.
Behind the trio, the cupboard is virtually bare. The other three active receivers, and converted running back Seven McGee, have combined for just 11 career catches.
Oklahoma’s roster has been hit as well, primarily along the front seven where the Sooners are down four starters, standout edge rusher Nik Bonnito chief among them. Their top three leading sack producers are gone, and so is leading tackler Brian Asamoah, from a defense which is tied for the national lead with 21 forced fumbles.
Pending the availability of guard Ryan Walk, Oregon’s offensive line is poised to take advantage of the Sooners’ makeshift front. Running backs Travis Dye and Byron Cardwell Jr. are both healthy and should be conduits for offensive output Wednesday.
“This is the closest we’ve been the whole season,” Oregon center Alex Forsyth said of the offensive line. “We had a lot of moving parts on that line, I went down, and some other guys got dinged up. I think that just made our whole unit, our whole room better just because it forced guys to step out of their comfort zone and really step up.”
On the back end, the Sooners’ remain largely intact. Safety Pat Fields, second on the team in tackles (71) and interceptions (2), leads a secondary which throws out a heavy mix of man and zone coverages.
“Very physical, talented,” Ducks’ quarterback Anthony Brown said. “They play through the ball and are very instinctive. They’ve made a lot of plays where sometimes they take some risk which can be a good and a bad thing, but they’ve been good with it all year.”
According to Forsyth, one of football’s universal truths is that in every single game, the outcome is determined by the individuals, the team, who really wants it. Who has more on the line? Who’s invested more time into making their goals a reality?
Wednesday’s game is a curtain call for a host of Oregon coaches set to move on from the program. It’s also one last chance for that same program to continue the swell of positive momentum that’s arisen throughout the last two weeks. One last chance to shore up the foundation.
“The criticism makes the season seem a lot worse than it is,” Brown said. “We’re a 10-win team which is very hard to do in college football.”
On Wednesday in the Alamodome, Oregon can stamp win No. 11.
