Recruiting: Ducks set to host big weekend vs Colorado

It is shaping up to be a huge recruiting weekend for Oregon as they have a bevy of talent visiting Eugene and attending the Ducks’ game against Colorado at Autzen Stadium.

Among the recruits in attendance will be 5-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr., the nation’s No. 1 offensive tackle, 4/5 -star edge-rusher Cyrus Moss, the nation’s No. 4 edge-rusher, 4-star junior college defensive back Keionte Scott, the nation’s No. 1 JC cornerback, Westview High School wide receiver Darrius Clemons, the No. 1 prospect in the state of Oregon, and 4-star defensive lineman Nyjalik Kelly, the nation’s No. 10 defensive lineman.

The atmosphere at Autzen will be very important. In 2018, current Duck and likely Top 5 NFL draft pick Kayvon Thibodeaux committed to Oregon after his experience attending an overtime thriller against Washington, calling it the best atmosphere he’d ever experienced among his visits to collegiate games.

Sunny skies are in store Saturday and hopefully the 12:30pm kickoff time will draw a near full-house at Autzen.

The fans in attendance will hopefully be less critical of starting quarterback Anthony Brown. During Oregon’s last home game fans serenaded Brown with a chorus of boos and chanted for freshman quarterback Ty Thompson. Head coach Mario Cristobal called out the fans for this behavior and rightfully so. Treatment of that sort to a home player will not give the recruits the idea of a supportive fan base.

Incidentally, the Ducks need to show up and show out. The reason the home fans have been frustrated is that the Ducks have had an irksome habit of playing down to the level of competition. It almost cost them a game against a subpar California team and did cost them against an equally mediocre Stanford squad. Recruits like to feel they are coming to a “big dawg” program that feasts on lesser opponents. Time for Oregon to assert themselves and handle Colorado the way they should.

All in all there will be some top-tier talent around and given Cristobal’s history there could be several verbal commitments in the coming week. Maybe even more.