2008 Oregon Ducks Football Preview

2008 Oregon Ducks season preview from Maddux Sports. Below you can find our official Oregon Ducks football preview as well as the 2008 Oregon Ducks Football Schedule. Haven't had much luck beating your bookie? This season up your chances and order Maddux's winning college football picks.

Coach: Mike Bellotti (14th year at Oregon)
Team Name: Ducks
2007 Overall Record: 9-4
Returning Starters: 12

Once again, the Oregon Ducks (9-4 overall, 5-4 Pac-10) will field a competitive team. In four of the past five years, Oregon has found itself in a bowl game. Last season, the club finished tied for fourth in the Pac-10 and met the SFU Bulls in the Sun Bowl. The Ducks were unflappable, beating the Bulls 56-21.

The team has to replace the play of versatile quarterback Dennis Dixon. One of two sophomores will start—Nate Costa or Justin Roper. Costa is the better athlete, while Roper (61 ATT, 32 COMP, 343 YDS, 6 TDs, 2 INT), who threw four touchdowns after stepping up in the Sun Bowl, returns with some experience. Wide receiver Jaison Williams (55 REC, 844 YDS, 8 TDs) is a major threat but has to hang onto the ball better. RB Jeremiah Johnson, who’s back from a season-ending ACL injury, will lead the ground attack. The offensive line is improved.

With the offense losing some major players, the defense, which allowed 23.6 PPG, will have to be better. The corners and safeties makeup a great squad and include junior QB Jarius Byrd who grabbed seven picks last season. Senior OLB Jerome Boyd is the leader of a talented linebacking unit. The D-line has two fine ends, including senior Nick Reed (12 sacks). The problem for the front four is depth.

Two swing games could stand in the way of a perfect season. The first is October 4 when the Ducks go on the road to meet the USC Trojans. Last year, this team beat USC 24-17. Two weeks later, they travel to Arizona to play Arizona State. Again, they beat that club 35-23 in 2007.

Last year, the Ducks lost their final three games to Arizona (24-34), UCLA (0-16) and Oregon State (31-38 in OT). Two of those games, versus UCLA and OSU, should have gone the other way. For this team to be successful, they have to show up for every team. Coach Mike Bellotti (106-52 in 13 years) needs to keep his team focused and get steady play from his defense.

Oregon Ducks Football Schedule

Date	Opponent	Home/Away
Aug 30	Washington	Home
Sep 6	Utah State	Home
Sep 13	Purdue	Away
Sep 20	Boise State	Home
Sep 27	Washington State	Away
Oct 4	USC	Away
Oct 11	UCLA	Home
Oct 25	Arizona State	Away
Nov 1	California	Away
Nov 8	Stanford	Home
Nov 15	Arizona	Home
Nov 29	Oregon State	Away

 

For more info on the 2008 Oregon Ducks football program, view the Ducks football site or you can read about other Pac-10 teams below.