FanPost

Roadblocks on Oregon's schedule that provides chances to impact this season

The 2014 College Football season can't get here soon enough. Instead of counting down the wait by weeks, months it has now come down to days. Oregon has a lot to prove, also a lot to gain. Marcus Mariota is the new favorite as the Heisman front runner to win the award. A few wins over top notch opponents could be enough to win him over, with luck provided. A scary backfield with explosive threats along the edges at receiving can make this another fun and heart stopping scene in Eugene again this fall. Some question marks have still yet to be answered. But, now it's time to express thoughts on this year's major games that lie on this year's schedule.

September 6th vs Michigan State- The defending B1G and Rose Bowl Champion will make its way into Autzen Stadium for the first time. Both teams early on will try to make a statement, while also stating a claim about themselves to the nation.

Last year's Michigan State Spartans might have had the best defense in all of College Football. With hard hitting safeties, lock down corners, Michigan State most of the 2013 season had its way with every opponent they faced on the defensive side. The loss of star corner back Darqueze Dennard to this year's draft leaves the corner back position a little young. Still, the implemented "No Fly Zone" slogan won't lose much luster. As both the FS and SS positions for Michigan State grew with an All-American candidate Kurtis Drummond will try to shutdown any breakdowns Mariota finds over the coverage. Defensive end position might create the most caous for Oregon up front, either Tyler Johnstone or Jake Fisher will have to be on their game in trying to stop Shilique Calhoun who was selected 2nd on the All-American ballot with 37 tackles and 7.5 sacks.

Sparty's offense on paper doesn't at all bring the same daunting threat as does their defense. But, they do return a few play makers that willingly can be just enough to force a defense into a few miscues. Connor Cook is one of those guys, who by many is looked down upon. Entering now as a Junior, Cook has seen a variety of defenses thrown his way. One reason why Connor Cook doesn't get the same overall attention he deserves is that sometimes that stingy MSU defense provides, tends to overshadow the low scoring offensive output. More of pocket passer Cook won't beat you with his big arm down field nor with his legs on the ground. Cook last season relied mostly on his fellow tailback Jeremy Langford in the backfield who is similar built to UO running back Byron Marshall runs exactly the opposite way Marshall does. Not much at all of a speed back, Langford will beat you with his physicality allowing himself to become more elusive later on in games. (Yes Michigan State is almost like a Stanford, but scores at an even more slower rate).

Michigan State is a good tune up to what they'll have to face later in the season vs Stanford in Autzen. Since MSU has a knack to generate more points by their defense instead of their offense, Mariota making smart decisions with the ball is vital. If the offense runs smoothly by scoring, Spartans won't keep up with Oregon's pace.

October 11th at UCLA- UCLA started and ended their season almost the exact same way Oregon did. Like Oregon, UCLA caught fire early on in September, October by winning a few tough games outside their favorable confines. Brett Hundley up to midway point of the season actually had an offensive line that could protect him and a ground attack to help off-set. This in fact was shown when the Bruins went into Autzen Stadium the last week in October and went neck and neck with the high powered Ducks up to the 4th quarter where depth began to separate itself. Just like how the UCLA season rose with hope it also nose-dived in November. Right after the loss to Oregon, injuries mounted causing then Junior running back Jordan James to go down way back in September that left a true freshman Paul Perkins alone.

Brett Hundley, who is also a Heisman candidate, got plagued with a nagging injury in the lower body by trying to carry the less potent offense by himself, literally. When UCLA's offense is fully functioning it is just as good as Oregon's maybe better. UCLA probably doesn't have the same amount of play makers all around to fully beat Oregon blow by blow. Both of their offensive and defensive lines are still young very young, only one true senior will be starting on the line. Though the Bruins do return 7 starters on both the lines combined.

Overall, UCLA on paper has all the right tools to win the Pac 12 Title and very well beat Oregon in Pasadena. Even if Oregon were to lose another potential shot at the Bruins is in the conference championship game. Yet, Mariota is much more polished of a passer and runner than Hundley is. Doesn't matter the ground attack, UCLA doesn't have that one guy at receiver that can consistently snag Hundley's passes. Most likely, this will be a National Broadcast on perhaps Saturday Night Football so all eyes will be glued to see if both contenders are for real and what everyone expects to see.

November 1st vs Stanford- We're all getting mighty tired of Stanford and the way they run things around here. First they broke our hearts in front of thousands at home, then nicked up our quarterback. There is a lot to swallow about this year's Cardinal, even though they might have taken a step back in terms of war in the trenches. Kevin Hogan will be returning again which means smart decisions with the football and mixed air attacks. Hogan's two main weapons that he threw to will be back for their final season in Paolalto. Both Ty Montgomery and Devin Cajuste have to be on Ifo Ekpre Olomu's radar to try to block the physical receivers from hurting Oregon again. Oregon this time has the luxury to mix and match bruisers to penetrate the Cardinal defense, with true freshman Royce Freeman and sophomore Thomas Tyner. Jake Fisher and the entire O-Line upfront gained another year of experience to help shut down Stanford's front 7.

If Oregon takes the same approach the way they did with Michigan State they should be in good hands on defense to try to stop Stanford's ground attack with Barry Sanders. The last two years it has been more of the Duck's offense folding than their defense lose the battle up front. Marcus Mariota's 24-3 overall record in his career has had two blemishes by the same Stanford team and until he shows that he is able to drag the weight off his shoulder, than the Heisman trophy may very well never come.

I've been saying this for 2 straight years and have been proven awfully wrong. But it's tough to beat a team with the same working parts and play makers for three consecutive years. Oregon has significantly grown every year on the line. Their defense matches a lot of the 2010 Duck defense that was much more physical than people gave them credit for. The saving grace is that this time around it will be held in Autzen Stadium and not on the Farm, which widens the marhin even further.

November 29th at Oregon State- I was ever so tempted to list the game up in Salt Lake City as a trap game, but decided to go back to the rivalry with the Beavers. Brandin Cooks got drafted but Sean Mannion decided to stick around for his final year in Corvallis. As long as Mannion is the man slinging the football around, defenses must be aware at all times. A fairly young receiving core has a slight chance to cause ripples into the Oregon secondary. Richard Mullaney is now the man in charge to replace Cooks at wide out (no small task).

With limited sources for Mannion to throw to, OSU offense doesn't appose a whole lot of danger. A stellar and veteranized line backing core keeps the Beavers outlook afloat.

Michigan State and Stanford at home plus a trip to the Rose Bowl to face UCLA are the top three games Oregon faces in their way of a conference crown and a possible shot in the inaugural College Football Playoffs.


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