I was watching a bit of the Georgia Tech/Georgia game last night when I got a bit of a pit in my stomach. With the heavily favored Bulldogs struggling with the Yellow Jackets (I didn't see any of the overtime), it made me think back to similar situations the Ducks have been placed in. It doesn't help that Oregon is coming off a game where they just barely survived a sub-.500 Wisconsin team, while the sting of two close fought losses to Washington last season were the only thing that kept them out of the much more exclusive playoff situation.

This year is different, though! It's very different. A loss isn't necessarily the most devastating thing it could be in most previous years. (I try to tell myself this every time things get tight, with mixed results.) Of course, with a #1 ranking, there's really nowhere to go but down, so at this point the end of the season can't come soon enough.

Fortunately, the Ducks have plenty to focus on in their final regularly scheduled game of the season. The dreaded Huskies have been much more of an annoyance in the past decade than the previous ones. A couple of zigs instead of zags against these fools last year could have sent Oregon to previously unreached highs. This game must have been circled on the proverbial calendar all year long, and it's the only one I truly feel that has to be a blowout. With apologies to Atticus Sappington (yes, that's the real name of the Oregon kicker), domination on the field is required tonight.

Let's hope no Kenny Wheaton style heroics are needed.

 

I probably say this every year at this time, but man, this college football season has really flown by. It's a relatively short season compared to other sports I follow, but you really get to go through the changing of the seasons as the weeks progress. We start things off in late August or early September in t-shirts and shorts and now, all of a sudden, it feels like winter outside. Autumn always feels like the shortest season to me, at least with Portland's weather.

Of course, I'm here to talk about college football, not the weather. The Ducks are flying high after another win last week and take a 10-0 record to Badger territory this week. Wisconsin has had an up-and-down season and for the most part hasn't really been in close games. They've been on both sides of a lot of blowouts. If the trend holds, let's hope that they're on the wrong side of a blowout tonight.

It's also the time of the season where the injuries have piled up, and the Ducks have their fair share. Oregon is still expected to be without ace receiver Tez Johnson this week, and there are a few other key stars that showed up on the injury report as "questionable" early this week: Marcus Harper and two Jordans (Burch and James.)

Here's a bonus card this week thanks to Dennis! This was sent to me in advance of the last meeting between Wisconsin and Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 2020. The Ducks pulled off the big one point win in Justin Herbert's final game, and then it was all downhill from there that year as I recall. Let's hope that there isn't another worldwide health crisis coming after this one.

 

Back in August, I received a large box of cards from TribeCards central. David is part of the old-school realm of baseball card bloggers, and as a team collector is someone I can identify with from a hobby perspective. The cards were actually from a giveaway he started way back in 2020, so there were surprises all around.

Here's a couple of Cardinals pitching prospects that I added to my collection. The dude on the right is a bit more familiar than the one on the left. Alkire's card isn't technically a Cardinals card, but he was a Cardinals draft pick and I usually end up throwing these types of cards in my binders even if I don't seek them out. Ankiel, of course, features on a Cardinals minor league affiliate card, which was definitely on my want list.

The big prize ended up being this Kyle Tucker Immaculate Collection card from 2019. It features an on-card autograph and five distinct (?) jersey swatches. Even though it's a Panini thing, this is quite a card! It's been earmarked for a certain Astros collector out there.

Thanks again to Dave for keeping the ol' card blog thing going, and for the free cards, obviously!

Fortunately, the Ducks are still firing on all cylinders (I need to come up with another metaphor) despite losing their #1 option at wideout in Tez Johnson last week to an apparent shoulder injury. I was pretty convinced that Tez had broken his collarbone during the Michigan game, which was tough because he's the most exciting Oregon player this season in my eyes. (No offense to Dillon Gabriel, who is kind of... boring... because he's incredibly accurate and dare I say robotic in his efficiency at this point.)

I'm guessing we won't see Tez anymore this month unless he happens to make a surprise pop-up appearance against Washington somehow, but there are plenty of other reasons to be excited about the Ducks on both sides of the ball. Jordan James and Noah Whittington make a fearsome rushing tandem while still feeling like they've been underutilized. Having fresh ball carriers in November is definitely nothing to sneeze at. Terrance Ferguson is back wreaking havoc alongside newcomer Kenyon Sadiq, making a pair of tight ends that might not be rivaled. And Gabriel still has a plethora of talented targets on the field while we wait for Tez to return. Yes, it's a great time to be a Duck right now. There's still plenty of work to be done this season, however.

 

The Ducks bolstered their #1 standing with an impressive takedown of Illinois last Saturday, but there is plenty of work left to do. Next up: the defending champion Michigan Wolverines. Now, of course, Michigan enters today's game with a new head coach, a new quarterback and three losses. But they have excelled at something that should at least give most Ducks fans pause: keeping the scoring down. Oregon has put up a decent amount of points in most games this season, but that's because the opportunities have mostly been there. If you match up against an opponent that limits those opportunities, that should give you some pause.

There's plenty of good news, though. The Ducks could see the return of two key players in defensive monster Jordan Burch and gigantic tight end Terrance Ferguson. These are both two skilled players who should thrive in the massive Michigan stadium no matter what the situation.

There's only a few games scheduled after this. It has been a whirlwind of a season. In some ways I'm still getting used to it not being summer anymore. Here's to hoping Oregon can hold steady in November to get a decent shot at the new playoff system.

Notes and such: 

Fortunately, Oregon has been firing on all cylinders. Some early defensive concerns look like they've been addressed, even with a couple of key players sidelined due to injuries. The "Next Man Up" concept only works in practice if those reserve players are capable of fulfilling those roles, and for the most part I've liked what I've seen on the field with the less familiar names on the backs of the jerseys.

With a tough ranked team this week and, presumably, next, I don't think anyone wearing Ducks colors is going to be looking too far ahead to the Washington game. If there's any side benefit to Oregon's B1G move, it could be that the lack of familiarity with many of these opponents and their schemes could effectively keep them on their toes. In other words, I don't think we have to worry about the Ducks dropping a game to, I don't know... Cal(?) out of sheer boredom.

The Ducks survived losing start DE Jordan Burch last week due to an injury he suffered in practice and will likely be without him for a stretch. Other players stepped up well in his absence, but as the season goes long, the depth chart always seems to wear thin.

I'm still not used to this Friday football stuff. I'm not sure that I'll ever like it, but it does free up my Saturday a bit and lets me enjoy flipping around through other games without being stressed about it.