Tag: Oregon

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CFB 2022: The Bo Nix Redemption Tour

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The Heisman race this season is tighter than ever. Players like CJ Stroud, Hendon Hooker, and Bijan Robinson are highlighted across the media. But in Eugene, an unlikely name is making their case late in the year. Bo Nix has had a resurgence in Oregon after a less than ideal start to the season and it shouldn’t be ignored.

Bo Nix started the year with an ugly start against Georgia. It wasn’t just the Oregon quarterback, the entire team struggled against the reigning National Champions. Since then, the Auburn transfer has been on an absolute tear. He has thrown for 1,359 yards and 12 touchdowns with just one interception during the Ducks last six games.

Nix is coming off of a huge victory against UCLA, picking apart the defense and throwing five touchdowns while doing so. Everything is falling into place for the senior this season, and he had what some might say was his “Heisman moment” last weekend in a statement victory. As it stands, the Ducks have two top ten victories under their belt and are looking to add to that in the near future. 

Oregon is in an excellent spot currently, and could contend for a playoff berth. Their last real match up comes on November 19th when they take on Utah, who as this is being written ranks 14th in the nation. There is also the increasing possibility that they could see USC in the PAC-12 Championship game. Setting the stage for Bo Nix to just add to his case for Heisman

So why has Nix been so successful recently? 

It could be the fact that he has only been sacked once this entire season so far. That is not a typo. One can see that clearly his pocket presence has greatly improved. And not only that, but Nix has shown off his ability to evade the crashing pocket and make plays with his legs. The quarterback has 382 yards on the ground this season and has found the end zone eight times as well. Among all other quarterbacks, Nix holds the highest rushing grade with an 84.4 on the year.

To add on to his accomplishments, Nix became the third quarterback since 1996 to throw for at least five touchdowns in multiple games in a season. The last two quarterbacks were Oregon alumni Justin Herbert (2019) and Marcus Mariota (2014). Clearly that is an impressive feat as no other quarterback in the Heisman race this season has matched it. 

The Oregon Ducks quarterback deserves his name thrown into the ring for the prestigious Heisman Trophy. He’s focused, he’s having fun, and the Ducks are winning. He really is a Heisman candidate this season and has the trajectory to catch the likes of Stroud or Hooker. This season Nix has flipped the narrative on his ceiling. His play has improved so much, and with the right tools around him he is showing the college football world just how far he can fly.

By Will Lane – @TheWillieLane.

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CFB 2022: Georgia vs Oregon Preview – Will Lane

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Week 1 is finally here, and what better way to start off the new season than with a matchup between the defending champs and a very competitive Oregon team. A lot of stories have developed on both sides over a long offseason, with questions that will undoubtedly be answered over the coming weeks. 

Many have their concerns about Georgia, a roster that seemed to be picked apart by the NFL Draft not too long ago. But the Bulldogs aren’t going away anytime soon, the star studded roster has possibly the best defensive tackle in Jalen Carter, alongside names such as LB Nolan Smith and CB Kelee Ringo. On offense teams will still have to worry about TE Brock Bowers and Center Sedrick Van Pran, both of which are at the top of their respective positions. 

Will Oregon have enough names of their own to keep up with the defending champs? The talent is definitely there to keep this an interesting one. The Ducks are coming off a somewhat successful 10-4 campaign, and are entering the 2022 season as a contender out West. It was just last year that they pulled off a major early-season upset against Ohio State who were ranked #3 at the time. 

Oregon is entering this game with one of the most talented offensive lines that Georgia will see all season. Who will be under center is still a bit of a mystery as former Auburn quarterback Bo Nix has been battling it out with red-shirt freshman Ty Thompson. This vital question may not be answered until game time, so it is definitely something to keep an eye out for. The defense is led by linebacker Noah Sewell, who excels at patrolling the middle of the field, he has the size and the ability to be an NFL linebacker, running a 4.60 second 40-yard dash. His game will only show improvement under the coaching of former Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, who just assisted Georgia in their run to end their 41-year National Championship drought. The Oregon defense will be looking to overwhelm quarterback Stetson Bennett who still has questions hanging over him, despite last year’s Natty.

Lanning is entering his first year in Eugene with an Oregon team that isn’t rebuilding, but a team that is looking to be taken to the next level under new leadership. Using the transfer portal early in the offseason, the new Head Coach looked to really strengthen the offense and bring in guys like four star receiver Chase Cota from UCLA and fellow pass catcher Caleb Chapman from Texas A&M. It feels only fitting that Lanning’s first matchup is against his former team, which is already setting us up for an exciting story. 

So what can fans expect from this game? Well, a lot of defense. Both sides are bringing high-powered units to this fight and will be looking to absolutely smother their opponents’ offense early. The Bulldogs will look to show no rust after a successful campaign in 2021 and will have to take over in the second half to assert their dominance if they want to win this one comfortably. As for Oregon, they need to get out to a lead early and let their defense work their magic. Will they have the offensive firepower to do so? Ducks fans are looking on with interest to see who the QB is before answering that, but either way they’re looking to soar to new heights in 2022.

By Will Lane – @TheWillieLane

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Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference Team

Welcome to the final instalment of our Power-5 All-Conference series! We have loved putting these articles together and making our picks, we hope that your appetite is sufficiently whetted for some football.

We will end things with the Pac-12 conference selections here with our man, Lee Wakefield making the picks. However, if you want to go back and have a look at the previous four articles in this series, check out the college section of the site here and have a browse. Don’t forget to let us know what you think and have your say in the Twitter comments!

Here come the picks:

Here is how Lee has justified the selections that he’s made;

We all know that the Pac-12 is firmly positioned as the fifth of the Power 5 conferences, however, I do feel like this team could mix it with the best in college football. Cam Rising will be a name on the lips of a lot of people come January and is about as talented of a passer that Utah have had, since Alex Smith almost 20 years ago.

The skill positions are packed with production and a good mixture of size profiles, with Rome Odunze and Benjamin Yurosek providing the size/speed profiles, with a pair of receivers who are both under 6′ (probably), who combined for over 3,000 yards last year in Jordan Addison and Jacob Cowling – Although both were outside of the conference last year with Addison in the ACC with Pittsburgh and Cowling in Conference-USA with UTEP.

Zach Charbonnet rounds out the weapons and he was an absolute revelation last year at UCLA, and he’ll be looking to build upon this over the next season.

The offensive line has a lot of talent too, with the headliner being USC’s Andrew Vorhees, who could be a first round pick when April rolls around. Outside of Vorhees, Washington Tackle, Jaxson Kirkland has a lot to prove over the next few months, but he has the talent to get it done, although he could probably benefit from an extra 10-15lbs of weight being put on. LaDarius Henderson will be a draft riser whereas Myles Hinton and Alex Forsyth are very solid and join a number of their team mates on my All-Conference team.

Defensively, I feel like there’s star power at every level with Korey Foreman, Noah Sewell and Clark Phillips.

Foreman is the former #2 recruit in the 2021 class – He has athletic abilities that are off the charts and is already in possession of an NFL edge rushers’ frame – He only registered 2.5 sacks as a Freshman but he is set up to have a more prominent role moving into 2022.

Noah Sewell is one of the better players in the conference as a whole and should be the heartbeat of the Ducks’ defense this coming year. A player who can do it all, he’s going to accumulate the tackles, shut down run plays in his sleep and if Oregon uses him to his full potential, he could be used as a weapon in the blitz games too. Sewell, much like his older Brother, should be a first round pick when he declares for the NFL Draft.

Finally in this rundown of the defensive stars, Clark Phillips is a top-5 corner prospect and will be a playmaker for a Utes team who I have down as the conference champion – I think he will be an elite nickel defender in the NFL but whilst I he playing in Salt Lake City he’ll be an outside corner and a problem for quarterbacks throughout the conference.

Elsewhere on defense, don’t forget my other edge defender, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, ZTF has recovered from an achilles tear but he returned before the end of last year and he’ll be another player looking to kick on and show his full potential in 2022.

Thanks for reading this, we hope you enjoyed this and the rest of the series! Check back later today, as we are dropping part 2 of our writer’s preseason takes! Part 1 can be found here.