After a monster 2010 season, the Oregon Ducks snatched their second straight PAC-10 Championship by going undefeated, but fell just shy of grabbing a National Title after they were beat out by the Auburn Tigers. <\/p>\n
2011-2012 PAC 12 | Oregon Ducks Football Preview<\/strong> The \u201cEugene Machine\u201d steamrolled its opponents, scoring at will with a Chip Kelly offense that confused and disoriented defenses, piling on yardage at a remarkable rate.<\/p>\n Not to mention deploying a defense that made it nearly impossible for teams to keep games close.<\/p>\n Kelly\u2019s Ducks are now 22-4 over the past two seasons. And although they have just 11 returning starters, Oregon still possesses enough players that are more than capable to lead the nation in most offensive statistical categories on their way to another spectacular season.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a look this year\u2019s squad both offensively and defensively, as I give my prediction on where I see Oregon finishing the year in the newly formed PAC-12.<\/p>\n In 2009 the Ducks opted to pound their opponents on the ground, but after the departure of Jeremiah Masoli who was a key component to a potent rushing attack, critics wondered of the Ducks could repeat that game plan, let alone find their way to a BCS Championship game.<\/p>\n But sophomore Darron Thomas stepped in and quelled all doubts with an impressive first season under center. Thomas not only threw for 2,881 yards with 30 touchdowns, but he was third on the team with 486 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.<\/p>\n With a full season under his belt, Ducks fans can expect an even bigger season from Thomas as he helps anchor Oregon\u2019s offensive assault that will employ the services of junior running back LaMichael James, who ripped off 1,731 yards and 21 touchdowns en route to finishing second in the Heisman chase last year.<\/p>\n The running game also brings back junior Kenjon Barner, who was second on the team with 551 yards and six touchdowns, as well as enlisting redshirt freshman Lache Seastrunk and true freshman De\u2019Anthony Thomas. With so many capable options, Kelly\u2019s only problem will be trying to decide who to hand the ball too.<\/p>\n Not a bad dilemma to have, considering the team will be without Jeff Maehl (77 catches, 1,076 yards, 12 TDs) to make the tough, clutch catches on third down, as well as the always dangerous D.J. Davis (42 catches, 470 yards, 3 TDs).<\/p>\n That will put added pressure on returning senior tight end David Paulson who pitched in with 24 receptions for 418 yards and four scores in 2010. He will be aided by fellow upperclassman Lavasier Tuinei who had a solid junior season with 36 catches for 396 yards as well as juco transfer Rahsaan Vaughn.<\/p>\n The receiving corps will need to step up to the challenges it faces as Thomas could be forced from the pocket earlier than anticipated due to some question marks along the Ducks offensive line.<\/p>\n Oregon has a few holes to fill on an O-line, but it shouldn\u2019t take too much time for juco transfer Karrington Armstrong to settle in over the ball and anchor what should still be one of the top lines in the conference.<\/p>\n The Ducks will face their biggest challenges of the 2011 season on this side of the ball, and starting up front, they will have some large holes to fill. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Senior defensive end Terrell Turner will lead a young squad as the lone starter returning along the line. Terrell along with fellow senior Brandon Hanna will bookend sophomores Ricky Heimuli and Taylor Hart. Heimuli had nine tackles, including one for loss, and broke up one pass while playing in all 13 games as a true freshman last season as part of a deep rotation at that position, and should improve those numbers as a full time starter<\/p>\n The entire line will need to play to their fullest potential as Oregon looks to plug up some holes left by the departure of two of its biggest defensive threats from a year ago in linebackers Casey Matthews and Spencer Paysinger. The duo combined for 155 tackles, and ranked first, and third respectively on the team in that category.<\/p>\n That will place more responsibility on returning senior Josh Kaddu to not only step up his own game –he had just 32 tackles last year\u2014but also lead a linebacking corps that consist of freshman Anthony Wallace and junior Michael Clay who had 42 tackles as a backup last year.<\/p>\n If the front seven can come together as expected, it will force opposing teams to try to beat the Ducks through the air. And although not one of the Ducks better strengths last season, they should see improvement as they return two of the best defensive backs in the PAC-12. Juniors Cliff Harris and John Boyett. Harris led the team with six interceptions, while Boyett was second on the team with five interceptions and a team-leading 78 tackles in 2010.<\/p>\n While there are some concerns on defense, I expect the offense, much like last season, to carry the Ducks. <\/p>\n However, back-to-back undefeated regular seasons would be an amazing accomplishment for this program, and with an away game at Stanford\u2014the only team to force Oregon to come from behind\u2014I see them dropping at least one, maybe two, to finish second in the north.<\/p>\n 2011 Oregon Ducks Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n 9\/3\/11\t 8:00 PM ET\t @LSU College football preview guide for the 2011 Pac 12 Oregon Ducks CFB betting season. College gambling guru Matt Martz weighs in with his ncaa football predictions, and BCS championship handicapping analysis\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":27327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[50218,44530,49957,50316,50320,2300,2737,50317,50318,50319,50219,50220,50221],"class_list":["post-40239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2011-pac-12-football-previews","tag-2012-bcs-lines","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-ducks-bcs-futures","tag-ducks-predictions","tag-oregon","tag-oregon-ducks","tag-oregon-football-predictions","tag-oregon-gambling-odds","tag-oregon-schedule","tag-pac-12-football-predictions","tag-pac-12-odds","tag-pac-12-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40239"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40245,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40239\/revisions\/40245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCoach:<\/strong> Chip Kelly
\n2010-11 Record:<\/strong> 12-1 (9-0)
\nOregon Ducks Gambling Odds from Bodog to win BCS: 12-1<\/strong>
\n Oregon Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2011 Schedule –><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nOffense: <\/h3>\n
Defense: <\/h3>\n
2011 Oregon Prediction: 2nd PAC-12 North<\/h3>\n
\n9\/10\/11\t 3:30 PM ET\tNEV
\n9\/17\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\t MSBS
\n9\/24\/11\t 9:15 PM ET\t @ARZ
\n10\/6\/11\t 9:00 PM ET\tCAL
\n10\/15\/11 12:00 PM ET\tARZST
\n10\/22\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @COL
\n10\/29\/11 12:00 PM ET\tWSHST
\n11\/5\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\t @WASH
\n11\/12\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @STAN
\n11\/19\/11 8:00 PM ET\tUSC
\n11\/26\/11 12:00 PM ET\tOREST\t <\/p>\nClick here to check out MORE 2011 college football previews for the 2011-2012 NCAA Football Season!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"