The Oregon Ducks have taken the NCAA by storm over the past few seasons, and 2013 should prove to be no exception. The fast-paced, up-tempo offense has been too much for most Pac-12 teams to handle, and even though head coach Chip Kelly has departed for the NFL, Mark Helfrich should be ready to carry forward the winning ways of the past. <\/p>\n
2013 Preview: Oregon Ducks<\/a>\u00a0(Team Link)
\nCoach: Mark Helfrich
\n2012 Record: 12-1 (8-1)
\nOregon Gambling Odds from Bovada.lv to win BCS: 7-1<\/strong>
\n[dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe No. 1 question entering the season is whether or not Helfrich can meet expectations. The Ducks have redefined success since Kelly took over the job in 2009, and anything less than a BCS Bowl appearance will be met with disappointment in Eugene.<\/p>\n
Luckily for Helfrich, he has the tools in place to flourish. He has talent to work with on both sides of the field, and he has a system in place that Kelly left behind. It\u2019s certainly possible that he stumbles along the way, but the fact remains that he\u2019ll likely have a top-5 program to start the year.<\/p>\n
Team Strengths:<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s no secret that the Ducks are known for their offense, and quite frankly, it\u2019s no secret why. The Ducks return redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcus Mariota in 2013, and he\u2019s expected to be a Heisman hopeful from the first game of the year. In his first season, Mariota threw for 2,677 yards with a completion rate of 68.5 percent. That equated to 32 touchdowns and just six interceptions, and a QB Rating of 163.2.<\/p>\n
As good as Mariota is throwing the ball, he\u2019s extremely effective on the ground as well. He knows how to make something out of nothing when the play breaks down, and he complements star tailback De\u2019Anthony Thomas nicely. The question for Thomas will be if he can maintain his production throughout an entire season. He\u2019s become known for starting hot before coming back down to Earth, but with Kenjon Barner in the NFL, the No. 1 spot in the backfield is his to claim.<\/p>\n
On the other side of the ball, the Ducks are an under-the-radar team, but they have talent all over the field. ESPN has named Ifo Ekpre-Olomu as the nation\u2019s top cornerback, and sophomore Arik Armstead has a chance to make up for what the team lost when Dion Jordan was selected No. 3 in the NFL draft. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n
One thing that has to change for the Ducks is getting to the quarterback. Last year the team was just 50th in the nation in that category, and an improvement there will take a ton of pressure off both the secondary and the ensuing offensive possessions.<\/p>\n
The Ducks enter the 2013 season without the strength of schedule on their side. The nice part, however, is that they\u2019ll likely start the year as a top-5 team. A strength of schedule is only needed when you have to improve your perception, and for the Ducks, winning out will do the trick.<\/p>\n
The toughest game on the schedule is easy to find. On Thursday, Nov. 7, Oregon travels south to take on the Stanford Cardinal\u2014the only team to defeat it in 2012. Last year, the Ducks landed in the Fiesta Bowl\u2014a game in which it took down the No. 5 Kansas State Wildcats 35-17\u2014and with an NCAA title as the ultimate goal, defeating Stanford becomes that much more crucial.<\/p>\n
If the biggest question in Eugene is regarding coach Helfrich\u2019s transition, the second-biggest question is whether or not the team can take down the Cardinal. If you believe they can, the Pac-12 title is essentially theirs, and an NCAA championship is in their future. If you believe they can\u2019t, the conference title likely falls to their rivals down south, and a second-tier BCS bowl becomes their ultimate destination.<\/p>\n
2013 Oregon Schedule<\/h3>\n
Sat, Aug. 31 vs. Nicholls St.
\nSat, Sept. 7 @ Virginia
\nSat, Sept. 14 vs. Tennessee
\nSat, Sept. 28 vs. California
\nSat, Oct. 5 @ Colorado
\nSat, Oct. 12 @ Washington
\nSat, Oct. 19 vs. Washington St.
\nSat, Oct. 26 vs. UCLA
\nThurs, Nov. 7 @ Stanford
\nSat, Nov. 16 vs. Utah
\nSat, Nov. 23 @ Arizona
\nFri, Nov. 29 vs. Oregon St.<\/p>\nGRAB OUR BEST Expert CFB Picks for 2013 NCAA FOOTBALL Betting! \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2013-14 Football Previews \u2013 (Pac 12) \u2013 Ducks The Oregon Ducks have taken the NCAA by storm over the past few seasons, and 2013 should prove to be no exception. The fast-paced, up-tempo offense has been too much for most Pac-12 teams to handle, and even though head coach Chip Kelly has departed for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":63452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[59304,59316,4331,49957,50316,50320,14304,2737,59315,50317,50318,50319,50839,50219,50220,50221],"class_list":["post-63449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2013-bcs-lines","tag-2013-pac-12-football-previews","tag-bcs-picks","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-ducks-bcs-futures","tag-ducks-predictions","tag-football-season-preview","tag-oregon-ducks","tag-oregon-football","tag-oregon-football-predictions","tag-oregon-gambling-odds","tag-oregon-schedule","tag-pac-12","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\/63449","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=63449"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63458,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63449\/revisions\/63458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}