Oregon Football: Ducks’ 2017 season preview and predictions

The 2017 Oregon football season is right around the corner and here’s the preview, with some predictions for the upcoming campaign.

If you’re a casual college football fan and you predicted Oregon would suffer as mightily as it did in 2016, you might either be crazy or just an evil genius. Not many saw the Ducks’ demise coming, especially since Mark Helfrich had shown no signs of slowing down as the head coach, leading them to the playoff not too long ago.

However, a poor season led to his dismissal. Oregon finished 4-8 after winning the first two games of the season. Not much went right for the team as it changed starting quarterbacks halfway through the year and the defense couldn’t seem to stop anyone.

The Ducks are moving in a different direction, though. Former South Florida head coach Willie Taggart has taken over and many believe he’s the answer to the Ducks’ current problems. The team is looking to rebound immediately, and there’s a good chance it can do so with the talent it currently possesses.

Taggart helped turn USF completely around during his time there and he’s hoping to do more with a program in a better position and with more resources. Things are looking up in Eugene, but what does the 2017 season forecast bring?

Will there be much winning to be had in Eugene next season or will it be gloomy all year round? Take a look at the preview, and predictions, for the upcoming campaign.

Offense

We all know Oregon has had talented quarterbacks over the years, but one thing the Ducks have been known for is the run game. Luckily, they return Royce Freeman for a senior year.

The fourth-year starter has been a solid contributor since he was just a young, inexperienced freshman and looks to be the main source of offense in 2017. He had 945 yards and nine touchdowns during a season in which he missed some time last year. He will be backed up by the talented Tony Brooks-James who finished with 771 yards and nine touchdowns on 7.6 yards per carry.

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Wide receiver Darren Carrington will no longer be with the program as he was charged with a DUII and kicked off the team. He has since transferred to fellow Pac-12 program, Utah.

That leaves Charles Nelson as the leading receiver with 52 catches for 554 yards and five scores last year. He will lead a young group of guys such as Dillon Mitchell, Alex Ofodile, Malik Lovette and Darrian McNeal.

Sophomore Jacob Breeland is expected to start at tight end. He had six catches for 123 yards as a freshman. He will be backed up by freshman Cam McCormick.

Lastly, the offensive line returns all five starters and could be a major bright spot for the Ducks.

Justin Herbert, the breakout star?

Coming to Oregon via the 2016 class, Justin Herbert was just a three-star quarterback who was overlooked by a number of programs. However, the Ducks took a chance on him and he stepped up to deliver in his first year on campus.

Dakota Prukop, a JUCO transfer, was looked at to be the answer at quarterback, but he didn’t impress the coaching staff enough and eventually lost his job after leading the Ducks to a 2-3 start. Herbert came in and played much better, but the Ducks’ record didn’t reflect that, mostly due to a porous defense.

Herbert passed for 1,936 yards and 19 touchdowns with only four picks. He also completed 64 percent of his throws and had 161 rushing yards and two more scores. Can he continue his growth and be one of college football’s top breakout stars in 2017?

Defense

Oregon’s defense was one of the worst in college football last season. In fact, they finished 126th in overall defense, allowing 518.4 yards per game, which meant only a few teams were worse.

Gone is defensive coordinator Brady Hoke and a new system is in place. There’s nowhere to go but up from where the Ducks finished in 2016 and it starters with the front-seven who could take some pressure off the secondary.

Senior Henry Mondeaux is the lone returning starter on the defensive line, projected at end. He finished with 35 tackles, four for loss and one sack last season and should have an even more productive 2017 campaign. Elijah George will anchor the other end spot and Clemson grad transfer Scott Pagano will start at tackle — he started four games for the national champs in 2016.

At linebacker, we have returning star Troy Dye, who we will talk about later, and senior A.J. Hotchkins. The latter finished with 35 total tackles last year. Fotu Leiato, Jonah Moi and Jimmie Swain should all be in the rotation as well.

The secondary returns three starters to a unit that ranked 113th against the pass last year. Arrion Springs and Ugo Amadi project as starting cornerbacks, both returning, and Tyree Robinson returns at safety. Freshman Brady Breeze could win the other safety spot. This unit has to improve.

The rise of Troy Dye

As a freshman in 2016, Troy Dye made a seamless transition to the starting linebacker position. Not only did he play well enough to get All-Pac-12 consideration, but he also led the entire team in tackles with 91. On top of that, he had a team-high 12 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.

Not many young players can start for a struggling team and put up the type of numbers he did, especially when the rest of the defense was so poor. He was the best player on that side of the ball even though Oregon’s unit ranked 126th in total defense in 2016.

If he can continue to rise, he will be an All-Pac-12 first-teamer at the end of the season and Oregon’s defense will feed off him. Let’s see if he can become a sophomore sensation and avoid the dreaded second-year slump.

2017 schedule

The schedule for Oregon this season seems promising after a rough 2016 campaign. In fact, there are just two games on the entire schedule that seem out of reach for Oregon, but there’s always a chance to win each game when it comes to conference action. The Pac-12 has been crazy like that over the past few years.

Looking at the schedule, the Ducks could, and probably should, win the first six games of the year, even though a road game against Arizona State and home contests against Nebraska and Washington State won’t be easy.

If that’s the case, that will give them confidence when they face Stanford on Oct. 14. That signals the toughest game of the season and will likely be a loss. Traveling to Pasadena the next week to face UCLA won’t be any easier — although the Bruins struggled as much as Oregon did in 2016.

Utah and Washington will be tough tests in the weeks leading up to the bye. That four-week stretch is as tough as any in the Pac-12. Luckily, though, they don’t have to face USC.

Arizona and Oregon State round out the winnable final couple of weeks in Eugene to end the regular season.

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Prediction: 8-4 (5-4)

An inverse record is what I’m expecting from Oregon in 2017. The Ducks finished 4-8 last year, but I think Willie Taggart has enough talent on his roster to reverse that mark. I see the Ducks winning the first six games of the season before hitting a four-game slide in Pac-12 play. They’ll end the year, after the much-needed bye week, with two consecutive wins in Eugene and go bowling for the first time since 2015. No more missed bowls for this program.