2008 Oregon Ducks
Written June 5, 2008 by Jason Lowry
Jason Lowry is ready to makes his 2008 Oregon Ducks predictions, but before he jumps straight to the conclusion, he is going to take a look at what both sides of the ball are bringing to the team this season. The Ducks had a great season turn bad when QB Dennis Dixon suffered an injury and the team wound up losing 3 straight before capping off the season with a win in the Sun Bowl against South Florida to finish the season at 9-4. With the loss of Dixon and star running back Jonathan Stewart, head coach Mike Bellotti will have a lot of work to do in his 14th season at Oregon. The bright spot is the team is returning 15 starters and should still be able to compete with everyone but USC in the Pac 10.
Offense:
There is some big shoes to feel in the passing and running game, as it stands now it looks like sophomore Nate Costa will be the starting QB but don’t count out Justin Roper once he is healed from knee surgery. As for the running game look for senior Jeremiah Johnson to take most of the load, and junior college transfer LeCarrette Blount to help out, as he looked impressive in spring workouts. Senior Jaison Williams and his 844 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns will be the go to target at wide receiver, but don’t be surprised to see more passes head in the direction of junior tight end Ed Dickson, as he should be one of the best at that position in the Pac 10. The offensive line looks like it will be a solid unit in 2008, as they return two studs in left tackle Fenuki Tupou and center Max Unger.
Defense:
In a big turn of events look for Oregon’s defense to be the strength of this team, as they are returning 7 starters. A big boost to the defense came when SS Patrick Chung decided it would be best to play one more year of college football. Chung led the team in tackles with 117 tackles last season. The team will be returning both corners Walter Thurmond III and Jairus Byrd who should help the team improve on its 86th ranked pass defense. Senior DE Nick Reed who led the Pac 10 in sacks with 12 will anchor the defensive line. The team will have two seniors stepping in at the tackle positions, and they will probably go a long way in how this team performs on this side of the ball. At linebacker the team is pretty set as you will have returning starter John Bacon and junior Kevin Garret on the outside. Where things get interesting is if senior John Bacon can hold off sophomore Casey Mathews in the middle, either way the future is bright with Mathews.
Prediction: 3rd in the Pac 10
If the team wasn’t coming in with a new starting QB we would likely of put them ahead of Arizona State in the 2 spot, but its to early to know just how good Costa will be. The defense should keep them in games, and they have enough weapons on offense to put up enough numbers to feed on the weaker teams in the Pac 10. If the team catches the injury bug like it did last season, then this team could fall all the way to 6 or 7 in the conference.
If you are looking to get a head start on the NCAA Football season, be sure to head over to Bodoglife.com and get an account up and going. Also be sure to check back as professional handicapper Jason Lowry will continue to roll through his team-by-team 2008 NCAA football predictions. As always feel free to leave any comments in our comment box.
There are a couple of great blogs to check out for Oregon football news, Ducks Attack and Oregon Live.