Looking at the four new Big Ten football teams: Oregon

Northwestern’s first game of the 2024 season begins on August 31 against Miami-Ohio. With conference realignment shaking up college football, the Big Ten added four new west coast schools into the conference: Washington, UCLA, USC and Oregon. As Northwestern begins its first campaign in a new-look Big Ten, Inside NU is looking at each of these new programs. This week, we will look at Oregon.

Program History

The University of Oregon started its football program in 1894 and was a founding member of the Pacific Coast Conference along with the University of Washington, Oregon State University and the University of California in 1915. That conference would expand to what we know as the Pac-12 Conference.

The Oregon Ducks won 13 Pac-12 conference titles since its founding in 1915, with most of the program’s success coming since the early 2000s. The Ducks, under coach Mike Bellotti, got their first 10-win season in 2000 when they defeated Texas 35-30 in the Holiday Bowl. In 2001, they finished 11-1 and ranked second in the final AP poll. Bellotti’s teams had up and down seasons for the remainder of his tenure, winning ten games in a season in two of the next seven years. In the spring of 2009, Bellotti resigned, and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly took over head coaching duties.

Kelly’s Oregon teams brought the program to national relevance, going 46-7 in his four years as the head coach. His quick tempo and spread offensive scheme revolutionized college football. In 2009, his team ranked sixth in the nation in points scored at 36.1 per game. His 2010 squad reached the BCS National Championship Game and led the nation in points scored at 46.1 per game. His team averaged 46.1 points per game again in 2011 and 49.6 points per game in 2012.

Kelly went to coach the Philadelphia Eagles after Oregon’s 2012 season and offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich took over the program, continuing Kelly’s success.

Helfrich’s best season came in 2014 when the Ducks went 13-2, avenging their only regular season loss to Arizona by beating them in the Pac-12 Championship Game. They then beat undefeated Florida State in the Rose Bowl before losing to Ohio State in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Marcus Mariota was named the program’s first Heisman winner, and the team finished second in the final AP poll.

After a couple less successful years under Helfrich and a one-and-done year from Willie Taggart, the program hired Taggart’s co-offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal as head coach. Cristobal had two double digit win seasons in his four years as coach including going 12-2 in 2019 and winning the Rose Bowl. He won two Pac-12 titles before he left for Miami in December 2021.

So, the team’s current head coach is Dan Lanning. Lanning was a coach at Georgia from 2018 to 2021. He served as defensive coordinator for the undefeated 2022 National Champion Georgia team and was named the 35th head coach of the Oregon Ducks in December 2021.

In Lanning’s first year as a head coach, he led his team to a 10-3 record and a Holiday Bowl win.

Last Season

Lanning’s Ducks started the 2023 season with a bang, pummeling FCS Portland State 81-7. They beat Texas Tech 38-30, Oregon’s only one-possession win that year.

They started the season 5-0, beating Hawaii 55-10, 19th ranked Colorado 42-6 and rival Stanford 42-6 before they went to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies.

This was a heart-breaking loss for the Ducks. Oregon took a 33-29 lead early in the fourth quarter before Washington drove the ball deep into Oregon territory on the next possession. The Ducks found themselves needing a stop on a fourth and goal situation at the 1-yard line. They wrapped up Washington running back Tybo Rodgers for a loss and a turnover on downs.

All Oregon had to do was hold its lead for the remaining six minutes. Unfortunately, Oregon had its own turnover on downs its next possession after Bo Nix threw an incomplete pass to Tez Johnson during a fourth and three at Washington’s 47-yard line. Two Michael Penix Jr. oases later, Washington found itself in the end zone to take a 36-33 lead.

Oregon still had over a minute and a half remaining and quarterback Bo Nix led the Ducks to the Huskies 25-yard line with four seconds left. Unfortunately for the Ducks, Camden Lewis’ 43-yard field goal attempt missed wide right and Washington fans stormed the field.

Oregon won the remainder of its regular season schedule, beating 13th ranked Utah and 16th ranked Oregon State, before facing off against Washington again in the Pac-12 Championship Game with a berth into the College Football Playoff on the line.

However, the script was the same as the number five ranked Oregon Ducks lost to the number three ranked Washington Huskies 34-31.

Frustrated by losing to the same opponent twice by a combined six points and missing out on a College Football Playoff berth, the Ducks faced off against Liberty University in the Fiesta Bowl and won 45-6 to cap off the season.

Future Projection

Oregon enters its first Big Ten season looking to compete for a conference title and finish as one of the best teams in the nation in position to win a national championship. Along with the conference’s other “O” team, the Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon expects to have an explosive offense. Pro Football Focus ranks Oregon’s receiving corps as the best in the nation, headlined by Tez Johnson and Texas A&M transfer Evan Stewart, the Ducks return four of their five leading receivers from last year.

The Ducks also have Pro Football Focus’ second-best returning quarterback in Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel behind center. The sixth-year senior has almost 2,000 career dropbacks during his time at UCF and Oklahoma. He should fit right into offensive coordinator Will Stein’s offense, which relies on play-action. Pro Football Focus also gives Oregon a top five offensive line and a top 10 running back room.

According to CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli, the Ducks projected over/under on total wins is 10.5 and he leans to pick the over.

“The Ducks are uber-talented and will be favored in nearly every game,” Fornelli said.

Oregon doesn’t have an easy schedule, though, including home games against Ohio State and Washington and a road game at Michigan. Besides the October home game against Ohio State, the Ducks should be favored to win every regular season game. They can compete with the biggest programs in not only the Big Ten, but in all of college football.