College Football Predictions – Oregon Ducks 2021 College Football Preview
Created July 21, 2021
2020 Recap
Record – 4-3
ATS – 3-4
“There ain’t no pictures on the scorecard.” – anonymous golfer
The Ducks rattled off three consecutive wins to start the season and looked to be in fine shape in the PAC 12 North before DISASTER STRUCK and the Oregon St Beavers took them down in a very entertaining game (L 41-38). They lost the following week at California and it seemed that the season was down the CRAPPER. Not so fast my friends! The Washington Huskies were unable to field a team for the title game and that allowed Oregon to sneak in like a THIEF IN THE NIGHT and take down USC (W 31-24) for all the PAC 12 marbles. Iowa St beat them in the Fiesta Bowl and they finished the year at 4-3.
Oregon Ducks 2021 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Ducks were average on offense by their standards LY (#7 PAC 12 rushing, #4 passing) and hope to get back their MOJO in 2021. Former starting QB Tyler Shough is off to Texas Tech and it will be Anthony Brown’s show this year (28 starts at BC). He’s got great mobility and can do enough in the THROW GAME. The 1-2 punch at RB is rock solid in Travis Dye and CJ Verdell and note that these guys rushed for a combined 1,878 yards and 8 TDs in 2019. There’s also impressive depth at the position. The WR group is potent and returns almost everyone from LY’s squad. Johnny Johnson is one of the best in the PAC 12 (#2 receptions LY) and recall that he led the Ducks in receptions and receiving yards in 2019 (57-836, 14.7, 7 TD). WR Devon Williams averaged close to 20 YPC in 2020. The entire starting offensive line returns and note that they were very inexperienced LY. We expect improved production and an offense that looks more like “Oregon”.
DEFENSE
Oregon took a big step back on defense LY (406 YPG, #5 PAC 12) and struggled stopping the run (#7, 170 YPG). New DC Tim DeRuyter (scooped from Cal) has seven returning starters to work with including one of the best players in all of college football in DE Kayvon Thibodeaux who’s booked 12 sacks and 23.5 TFL in 20 games. He’s a 780 STAR POWER LOCK to get drafted early in round one of next year’s NFL draft. They lost some DT talent so it’ll be interesting to see how much (or if) the run defense improves. The back two levels of the defense look solid. LBs Isaac Slade-Matautia and Noah Sewell (P12 DEF FR POY) were the top-two tacklers LY, and a talented secondary features star CB MyKael Wright (1st Team P12, 9 PBU). We also expect improvement on this side of the football.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There’s continuity across the board. PK Henry Katleman hit 4/4 FG LY and P Tom Snee had a decent 39.4 net. The KR and PR units were average.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – One of the most interesting non-conference games on the entire FBS schedule takes place on September 11 when the Ducks visit Ohio St. They miss USC but have to face Utah in Salt Lake City.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Colorado (October 30th)
The yuuuge game with Washington is on deck and we will probably avoid laying the home chalk in this spot.
Season Win Total
per 5Dimes July 21
Over 9 -110
Under 9 -110
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
This is clearly one of the top teams in the conference on paper but the road docket is nasty (Ohio St, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, Utah).
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Auzten Stadium, home of the Ducks since 1967, was named in honor of Portland businessman Thomas J. Autzen who was a graduate of OREGON ST. Wacky trivia nugget, yo.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
Mario Cristobal has put together a number of excellent recruiting classes and it’s already paying dividends with back-to-back PAC 12 Championships. This team is loaded with talent but it remains to be seen if they’re good enough to challenge for a spot in the College Football Playoff. If they can find a way to beat Ohio St early on then the sky may indeed be the limit. QUACK QUACK!
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