Why Oregon Football Needs To Step It Up a Notch

Flashy, classy, and hungry.

Those are three words that describe the Oregon Ducks.

Phil Knight is a big name booster for the Oregon program and the University uses that to their advantage.

Because of Mr. Nike, Oregon has one of the top "Sports Marketing" programs in the world. Nike also is the reason why the flashy Oregon Ducks have over 100 different jersey combinations.

A lot of people think that Oregon's many different jersey combinations are not classy. But in my opinion it is very classy. The jerseys are always new generation, flashy, classy, and impressive.

The "wings" are the latest style for the Oregon Ducks. The jerseys are very clean, good looking, and they go along well with the new carbon helmets.

"Style" is one of Oregon's attributes. Toughness and heart are a few more of them.

Oregon's football program is hungry. In five appearances, they have only one victory in the "Granddaddy of them all", the Rose Bowl.

Lately Oregon fans have been wondering why the Ducks cannot finish with a Rose Bowl victory. Last season Duck fans received a trip to the Rose Bowl, but it ended as usual, in defeat.

Oregon has not won the Rose Bowl since their first appearance in 1917 when they defeated Pennsylvania 14-0.

Since then the Ducks have taken four trips to Pasadena, only to be defeated each time.

Below is a list of Oregon's Rose Bowl appearances:

Year                  Opponent                     Results

1917              Pennsylvania               14-0 Oregon

1920              Harvard                        7-6 Harvard

1958              Ohio State                   10-7 Ohio State

1995              Penn State                  38-20 Penn State

2010              Ohio State                   26-17 Ohio State

Hopefully Oregon pulls things together and wins a few more Rose Bowl games.

But we need just to start somewhere and Oregon has not been very successful in bowl games in general.

Last decade Oregon went 4-5 in Bowl games; a very unfortunate record.

Below is a list of Oregon's bowl games last decade:

Bowl                                Opponent                      Results

2000 Holiday Bowl          Texas                      35-30 Oregon

2002 Fiesta Bowl               Colorado                 38-16 Oregon

2002 Seattle Bowl           Wake Forest           38-17 Wake Forest

2003 Sun Bowl                 Minnesota               31-30 Minnesota

2005 Holiday Bowl          Oklahoma               17-14 Oklahoma

2006 Las Vegas Bowl      Brigham Young      38-8 Brigham Young

2007 Sun Bowl                 South Florida          56-21 Oregon

2008 Holiday Bowl          Oklahoma State      42-31 Oregon

2010 Rose Bowl               Ohio State               26-17 Ohio State

The results have not been in Oregon's favor. What every Duck fan wants this decade is a fresh start and more bowl game victories.

When you look back at these facts about Oregon in the Rose Bowl and in the bowl games the last decade, all you can do is hope, hope that the Ducks turn things around at the start of this decade and start a great winning tradition.

There is a lot of hype around Oregon for next season. It's no secret that the Ducks have a good roster and a great coaching staff that can work together and hopefully turn things around.

However, one must remember that Oregon is not the only program on the rise.

Miami

The Miami Hurricanes, led by QB Jacory Harris, are making a run at re-entering the world of dominance after a short drought.

Washington

Jake Locker looks to put Washington on his back in his senior year and redeem the Huskies after years of failure. Watch out Ducks, Washington may give you a run for your money next season.

Boise State

The Broncos have been a great team over the last couple years, beating Oregon at Autzen and on the blue carpet. They are ranked high in many preseason polls. Will they live up to their expectations?

TCU, Auburn, LSU, and Penn State should also give teams a run for their money next year.

Oregon is Hungry and the Pac-10 needs to prepare for next season. Oregon will aim for glory and will be tough to stop.

The teams to beat in the Pac-10 next season are USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Arizona, and Cal.

I'm looking forward to next season.

Good luck to all in the Pac-10.

*Thanks for the read. I hope to see many comments, as this topic should stir up interesting conversation.