ScoopDuck Roundtable: Season Predictions for Oregon Football

Happy Monday all. We are officially into game week. Signaling the start of the Oregon football season.

We’ve got one more matter to tend to before we kick off our game week coverage. And that’s some season predictions from our collection of contributors. You can read them below from each of us and why we made our predictions.

Max Torres: 11-1

Analysis: Oregon’s 2024 schedule may not be a murder’s row. But it’s also not a cakewalk. Only a handful of games catch my eye: vs. Ohio State (10/12), @ Michigan 11/2, @Wisconsin 11/16 and vs. Washington 11/30. If there’s one game that’s expected to be closest we all agree it’s Ohio State—Will Howard will likely be the best QB the Ducks face. I think Oregon is perfectly capable of beating Michigan, Wisconsin and definitely a depleted Washington for that matter—but there’s always an added layer of chaos with the Huskies as we all know. 

Overall, Oregon has the talent and the depth to have a truly special year, but I’m not quite ready to predict perfection. Having one of the best quarterbacks in the country certainly makes it more likely. The Ducks have that in Dillon Gabriel. And they’ve closed the talent gap on the premier programs in the country. What remains to be seen is if they can execute in the really tight games when it matters most. I’m more confident they can do that this year than last, but I see at least one game not breaking their way.

Linden Hile: 11-1

This is comfortably the most talented and deep Oregon Football team of my lifetime. With that said, this year’s schedule presents more loseable games than ever.

I think Oregon will roll through its first five games, likely not playing a game decided by fewer than 14 points until well into the season.

From there, things get difficult.

A showdown at Autzen against Ohio State is the most obvious barrier to success this season, but fans would be remiss to overlook road games against Michigan and Wisconsin. While the Ducks are favored in every game this season, I’d ultimately be surprised if they make it through this schedule unscathed.

I believe Oregon will lose a razor-close game to one of Ohio State, Michigan, or Wisconsin and finish the regular season 11-1 on its way to the Big Ten Conference Championship game.

Collin King: 11-1

Oregon’s impressive hauls from the past few recruiting classes under Dan Lanning have certainly paid off in a big way, in particular on the defensive side. Oregon now boasts one of the best offenses in the country, but a projected top defense as well. 

So how will the Ducks fare in the first season in the B1G? I believe any more than 2 losses is extremely concerning but I’ll tab the Ducks at 11-1 with a loss against Ohio State and getting payback in the B10 championship. 

The main reason for concern this season with Oregon is the travel distance, playing better opponents, and playing well defensively again. Injuries have certainly hurt the Ducks depth so far on the offensive side and a bit along the defensive line so younger players really need to step up in their absence. 

Jhop: 12-0

Ok so real talk. I was going to say 11-1 but after seeing everyone else go 11-1 I felt like I had two options. Say 10-2 or 12-0. And I’m kind of a glass half full kind of a guy so I went for the better of the two. In reality do I think Oregon can go 12-0? Absolutely. It will require some luck, some grit and absolute perfection. But it can happen.

I’ll say this, if Oregon was still in the Pac-12 and Hawaii was in place of OSU, I’d feel terrific about saying they’ll go 12-0. But given how good the B1G is, Oregon doesn’t need to go 12-0 thankfully to make the playoffs.

But that’s my prediction. After October 12 I’ll feel a lot better or worse about this prediction. But the talent is there for Oregon to get it done. And after all we are fans so why not get your hopes up anyways.