The “quack attack” was in its purest form when led by Dennis Dixon, one of the best athletes in school history. Mike Bellotti will have to almost start from scratch this year without his star quarterback or record breaking running back Jonathan Stewart.
Justin Roper appeared to be the heir apparent at QB after leading the Ducks to a Sun Bowl victory over South Florida, but the word from camp is that sophomore Nick Costa has been competing for the starting job since recovering from a knee injury.
The Oregon defense brings back a few leaders, but overall, is a very young squad. They will have big shoes to fill in order to match last year’s stats.
Prediction: An early season road trip to Purdue will test the post-Dennis Dixon Ducks early. While Oregon probably won’t be vying for the PAC 10 title with USC and ASU in the way, they should be able to win enough ball games to secure their fourth consecutive bowl bid.
21. South Florida 9-4 350
The Bulls were definitely on parade last season, even climbing as high as No. 2 in the BCS poll before falling apart after a tough loss at Rutgers. Quarterback Matt Grothe will have to prove that he can lead his offense even when the pressure reaches the boiling point this year. At least Grothe will have most of his supporting cast returning to the lineup with him.
The outlook for the South Florida defense doesn’t look so sunny, however. They lose a lot of talent to graduation and coordinator Wally Burnham is said to have done some rearranging at the skill positions. The new defense will be tested early when the Kansas Jayhawks come to town.
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