The Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes will matchup in the Rose Bowl for a place in the College Football Playoff semifinals. Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi spoke on Friday about the challenges that this talented Ohio State team can cause and how his defense will approach playing the Buckeyes a second time. 

The Oregon Ducks beat the Ohio State Buckeyes played in a thrilling 32-31 game at Autzen Stadium in October. Ducks defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi was asked how his defense will be approaching round two. 

“The best thing we can do is strengthen the things we did well at and be curious about the things where we faulted, starting with me,” Lupoi said. “What can I do better as far as calling the game and putting our guys in the right situation…That might be manipulating a coverage, might be doing something a little different up front, or go back to what we did successfully and try to apply that again.”

The Buckeyes have one of the most talented offenses in the country with wide receivers Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka and running backs Quinshon Judkins and Treveyon Henderson. Quarterback Will Howard had one of his best performances in their October matchup. Lupoi noted that practicing against the Oregon offense has helped prepare them for that. 

“They (Ohio State) got great skill players. We see great skill players every day,” Lupoi said. “Thankfully facing our offense, we get to see first rounders every day ourself.”

Ohio State is coming off a 42-17 win over Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Oregon meanwhile hasn’t played since the Big Ten championship on December 7th. How have the Ducks dealt with this layoff?

“We had an extremely physical practice last week,” Lupoi said. “It’s how we practice, how we prepare, and we got top continue that trend if we want to be successful come Wednesday.”

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Lupoi has seen major improvement with the Oregon defense as the season has progressed. What has been a key to this?

“The confidence of the system…When you get into the 14th game of the season, you start to see that confidence,” Lupoi said. “Nikki (Defensive Back Nickko Reed) is a great example kid that. (Derrick) Harmon is a great example of that. . . . Some guys that play with a chip on their shoulder and a confidence and understanding the specifics of every call.”

Lupoi went into depth to talk about the improvement he has seen in Nikko Reed. 

“Another great example of a guy trusting and believing the process. His improvement has been awesome. To see him, the way he competes day in and day out…The main thing that jumps out, he’s always been an extremely competitive individual,” Lupoi said. “His belief and knowledge within the scheme of how he is applying his technique, and then just his ability to cobra finish on a consistent basis. It’s been really cool to see his improvement.”

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Founded in the UK in 1970, Opticron is a family-owned business with over 50 years of experience in consumer optics. The Oregon 4 PC Oasis 10×42 is a budget-conscious monocular that promises good optics and attention to detail, giving the user an easy, convenient, yet high-performing piece of equipment.

The 334g weight means the Opticron 10×42 is not the lightest in its class, but this wasn’t an issue during our tests. Bird hides often have shelving at chest height where you can rest your elbows to steady the optic, which dramatically reduces image shake and wobble — although this was never too severe an issue for us in the first place.

The PC Oasis 10×42 has a roof prism design with BAK- 4 fully-coated optics. This enables the Opticron 4 to work well in low light conditions, with excellent visual clarity.

Design

• Roof prism design
• BAK-4 fully coated optics
• Nitrogen-filled waterproof construction

The Oregon 4 is a well-constructed, rubber-cased optic with a top-mounted external focus wheel.

It has BAK-4 coatings, a helpful step up from the BAK-7 prisms often included on units at this price point. Phase-corrected prism coatings with Opticron’s high-light transmission coatings make for excellent clear images. These features give the monocular a very capable, quality feel that makes you want to use it.

There is little need to worry about undue shake or wobble at this magnification. Still, it’s worth noting that there are no fixings for a monopod, so to steady the image, observers may find it necessary to use the shelves in hides as described above or lean against posts or other solid structures.

The neck strap is made of tough nylon with padding on the neck area, which makes it handy for traveling. It’s shorter than we would like, as we found hanging the device over a shoulder and the neck much better for climbing over stiles. This stops the unit from hitting your body while it swings about. There is an included belt hoop on the carry case, though, which may be an option.

Performance

• Excellent light-gathering ability
• Sharp optics thanks to superior glass quality
• Close focusing down to 5.9 ft (1.8 m)

In use, the Oregon 4 is a very capable and convenient monocular. The external, top-mounted focusing wheel and the comfortable weight made it very pleasant to use at our local bird hide. We found ourselves popping it in our pocket while visiting churches and other areas of interest to investigate gargoyles and other features on buildings when outside. Its low light capability makes using it inside a breeze, too.

The Oregon 4’s rubber casing is well applied and feels pleasingly secure in the hand, giving an impression of solidity and quality. It could withstand a few knocks and drops and still be in one piece at the end of the day, making it suitable for use as a family monocular or to hand over to children, who might need to be more careful!

As mentioned, we found the shoulder strap relatively short when traveling with it, and a too-short cord attaches the larger of the two lens covers and can ride up and obscure the vision. It’s easy to push back out of the way, but it kept happening, which had become quite annoying by the end of our time with the device.

Functionality

• Nonslip rubber armor
• Objective lens cap attachment cord is too short
• Heavier than some other monoculars in its class

The Opticron Oregon 4 PC Oasis 10×42 is perfect for putting in your pocket and going for a hike and some serious hide-based birdwatching. It is helpful for many pursuits where a monocular may be a handy addition to a rucksack or pocket, such as watching sports or sitting in a back garden watching a busy bird table.

The close focus of 5.9 ft (1.8m) was helpful when we set ourselves up in the garden. We used it to focus on a bird table only a few feet from us, enabling us to get great results from the visitors to the table as they were feeding.

The lens and prism coatings also helped extend our viewing into twilight when other monoculars may have struggled.

The Opticron Oregon 4 comes with an adequate-quality strap-mounted chest bag/pouch. The unit is built so well that this bag is purely for carrying — it offers no natural protection from being dropped or the weather.

Should you buy the Opticron Oregon 4 PC Oasis 10×42?

It performed very well in all the situations in which we used the Oregon 4. If you are looking for a reasonably priced monocular yet still delivers, this could be the one for you. It has sharp optics, is good at low light, and has rugged construction, enabling it to cope with most situations. It’s straightforward to use, and the external focus wheel quickly captures those elusive subjects, even with sturdy gloves on. It’s worth trying out.

If the Opticron Oregon 4 PC Oasis isn’t for you

If the Oregon 4 is too heavy or the objective lens covers and neck strap is likely to be an issue, consider one of its rivals.

The Opticron Explorer WA ED-R 10×42 is lighter than the Oregon 4 PC Oasis 10×42 at 320g but is a little more expensive.

The Bushnell Legend Ultra 10×42 is almost twice the price of the Oregon 4 but has a tripod attachment and hydrophobic coatings.

How we tested the Opticron Oregon 4 PC Oasis 10X42

When starting our test of the Opticron 4, we visited our local bird reserve, where we found it to be an excellent performer. The top-mounted focusing wheel was an absolute pleasure, with a smooth, one-handed operation, enabling you to quickly focus on birds in flight.

We also tested the Opticron 4 in a cathedral, where its low-light capabilities came to the fore. While in the cathedral, we also noted the convenience of the monocular design, which lends itself to discreet use.

We also took the Opticron to our vegetable plot, where we felt OK hanging the unit from a post while we worked on the beds. Having it to hand like this made it possible to grab it quickly when spotting things of interest, but we could only do this because the Opticron 4 felt like it could handle a little rain and wind without cause for concern. It’s built to very high standards and could easily withstand a few knocks without too much of an issue.

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness highlights the best adventures the Statesman Journal outdoors staff wrote about in 2024.

In this episode, Urness talks about the troubled but beloved Umpqua Hot Springs during its “quiet season” and exploring snow shelters in the winter backcountry near Gold Lake Sno Park. Other adventures highlighted include summer skiing on Mount Hood — even during an extreme heat wave — along with mountain biking a historic road and how to visit one of Oregon’s most beautiful but semi-secret waterfalls.

Look for part II of 2024’s best stories in a new episode around the New Year.

Never miss an episode: Listen to each episode at statesmanjournal.com/outdoors/explore  Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud or Amazon Music and subscribe on your platform of choice to get future episodes.

Find every episode: Find all 158 episodes of the Explore Oregon Podcast online

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.