Oregon Football: 5 takeaways from Ducks’ 2017 regular season

5. College football is more fun when Oregon is good

They aren’t a traditional power that hit a down time, like the Nebraska Cornhuskers for instance, but the Ducks have become a mainstay of college football over the past two decades.

Oregon rose to the top of modern college football with their flashy Nike uniforms, beautiful stadium and star power players like Marcus Mariota and Joey Harrington. Much like a smaller-scale version of the Florida State football head coach position, the Ducks hadn’t had to look for a leader outside of Eugene since 1977’s hiring of UCLA assistant coach Rich Brooks.

The Ducks had to open the door in the offseason of 2017 and hired Willie Taggart. He, in his first year in Eugene, finished 7-5.

The Ducks’ success as a power picked up in 2001. Mike Bellotti’s 2001 team was snubbed for a spot in the national championship — a spot that saw the Nebraska Cornhuskers get demolished by the Miami Hurricanes in the Rose Bowl. The Ducks finished No. 2 in the country in 2001.

When Chip Kelly took over the Ducks, their offense changed from the Mike Bellotti pro style to a spread zone option attack that focused on Southern California speed. That was carried on from Kelly by Mark Helfrich and both coaches took the Ducks to the national championship. Kelly lost to the Auburn Tigers in 2011 and Helfrich lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes and their third-string quarterback in 2014. From there the Ducks took a down turn dropping to nine wins and then four as Helfrich was fired mid-season.

While Oregon has never reached the pinnacle and won a national championship, the college football world became accustomed to the Ducks being a double-digit winner from 2008-2014. The fancy uniform combinations aren’t quite as charming when you’re only winning four games. It’s good to see Oregon back on track because college football is more fun with the Ducks in the conversation.