Pardon the cliché, but the Ducks truly are masters of their own destiny from now on.
After the surprising victory over Michigan last week, Oregon is flying high, possibly even more so than at any point during the team’s 11-1 season of 2001. Michigan, No. 3 last week, was Oregon’s biggest nonconference opponent since Notre Dame 20 years ago.
Michigan has the most tradition of any team the Ducks have played in recent years or will play in the future. The Wolverines have an aura about them that exceeds expectations.
But now, the Ducks have broken through to the big time. The win against Michigan gave the Ducks a chance any team in the nation would love to have.
That is, they really can control how their season shapes up.
That’s not necessarily a tribute to Oregon’s overall ability, but rather the less-than-stellar performances expected out of Pacific-10 Conference teams.
Before I go any further, you have to remember that the Ducks don’t play USC this season. The No. 3 Trojans are the best team on the West Coast, bar none, even though their quarterback has little experience and their secondary was lessened by Troy Polamalu”s graduation after last season.
So, theoretically, the Pac-10 could have two undefeated teams. Oregon and USC are the two most prominently ranked unbeaten teams so far, with 2-0 Stanford rounding out the Pac-10’s perfect teams.
OK, so Stanford has played BYU and San Jose State. But you can’t
expect them to stick around much longer with an inexperienced quarterback, Trent Edwards, under center.
For the Ducks, a perfect season is a possibility that no one really wants to mention, but hey, why not? Oregon has cornered the market on fan noise, so Washington State, California, Stanford and Oregon State could have problems this season when each team visits Autzen Stadium. The Ducks have to put up with taller, stronger Cougar receivers Saturday. That should be the key to a close game for either side.
The other three programs, especially Cal and Stanford, have shown visions of spectacular play this year, but haven’t dominated teams as in years past. Cal has yet to show the same depth that allowed them to come back from the Pac-10 cellar last season, and Stanford is young and inexperienced. Also, aside from Steven Jackson and James Newson, the Beavers have struggled offensively.
Here’s where the interesting part comes. The Ducks have to go on the road for several tough games. Of course, the Ducks travel to UCLA for the third season in a row, and play at Washington on Nov. 1. They’ve also got an Oct. 3 date with Utah and a trip a week later to Arizona State.
That’s where the ability to control their destiny comes into play. The Pac-10 has always maintained parity and, as pointed out before, that characteristic means more now than any season before.
The fact that the conference has four teams ranked this week is an enigma. In other words, it’s probably not going to be something that happens very often this year. Therefore, if the Ducks can truck through the regular season at Autzen and defeat Utah on the road, they can set themselves up with big games against Washington and UCLA, and possibly even Arizona State — if the Sun Devils can bounce back from a 21-2 shellacking by Iowa last week.
The Huskies always get up for Oregon, whether either team is 1-10 or 10-1. UCLA, meanwhile, always seems to give the Ducks fits in Los Angeles, even though it seems the largest contingent of Oregon fans show up at the Rose Bowl.
Oregon has defeated the Bruins by a combined two points the last two games, 21-20 in 2001 and 31-30 last season.
The Ducks are expected to be on a high after defeating Michigan last week as most teams do after beating a top-five squad. The win gave them a sense of confidence lacking since the 2001 season.
More importantly, the win gives the Ducks an even bigger opportunity. That is, an open template to make the 2003 season their own. It’s going to be interesting to see what they make of it.