Oregon Football: 8 Reasons Duck Fans Can't Wait for the 2011 Season to Start

Now that the college football season is within sight, football fans across the nation will become more and more anxious for the season to finally be underway.

This is true for Oregon fans as well. With big games against LSU, Stanford and other Pac-12 opponents, a high scoring offense and an opportunistic defense, fans are craving Ducks football.

Here are eight reasons why Oregon Duck fans cannot wait for the 2011 season to finally begin.

End of Last Year

All Duck fans were on the magical ride that was 2010. The offense was clicking, the defense was making big stops and the special teams made big plays. All of those things added up to an undefeated regular season.

After a civil war victory put them in the national title game, Duck fans had visions of the school's first title in their eyes.

When the final buzzer sounded in the national title game, Auburn kicked a game-winning field goal and denied Oregon a perfect end to their perfect season.

Duck fans will be eager for their team to get back on the field and start to make that game a distant memory.

Redeem Themselves Against the SEC

Not only was the loss in the national title game hard to take due to the last second nature of it but, like any team that goes up against the SEC, the Ducks heard about how they are going up against the superior team and conference.

In 2011, Oregon gets the season started with a showdown against LSU. Again, Oregon will be hearing about how LSU is bigger and stronger along the lines which will allow them to dominate Oregon.

This opening week game is an opportunity to show the nation that they can not only hang with the SEC but beat them as well.

Selling out Autzen

When the doors close to Autzen and the offseason begins, it is only a matter of time before fans start counting down the days before they can pack the stadium and watch some more Oregon football.

With the season less then two months away, Oregon fans are already starting to count down the days before the ball is kicked off and football is underway at Autzen.

Darron Thomas and LaMichael James as Juniors

Last year, Oregon fans were treated to an offensive show that has rarely been seen. At the center of that show were two sophomores, Darron Thomas and LaMichael James.

Coming into 2011, Thomas enters his second year as starter and James will be entering his third season. If both of these players are able to match what they did last year—Oregon will be in good hands but, with the talent they have, Duck fans will see these two move to a whole new level.

See How Long Cliff Harris Is Suspended

When Cliff Harris made a series of bad choices this offseason, he put Coach Chip Kelly in a bad spot. Kelly was forced to take action and has suspended Harris indefinitely but it will include the LSU game.

The downside to fans is we have no idea how long this suspension will carry on. Harris may get his act together and only miss one game or might have completely lost the trust of Kelly and will be done for the year. As fans, we are anxious to see what happens.

Offensive Line and Wide Receiver Answers

Good or bad, the one thing the start of the season will do is allow people to see how some of the question marks on the Oregon offense will shake out.

Through spring practice and into summer camp, eyes will be on the Oregon offensive line and receiving group.

When going up against a team like LSU, it will become clear early on if these groups will hamper the Ducks offense or allow them to pick up where they left off last year.

New Offensive Sets

As it was seen in the national championship game, Coach Kelly has begun to implement some new sets into the offense. These new formations were put in to allow the Ducks to get as much talent on the field as possible.

With the amount of talent at running back, Kelly is finding new ways to get players like LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner on the field at the same time.

With the offseason to learn these formations and begin to master them, we might see Oregon's offense put up even more points then they did in 2010.

End the Offseason

One thing that all Duck fans can agree on is the past two offseasons have not been kind. The offseason has seen arrests, players being suspended and now an NCAA investigation.

Duck fans are now at the point that they want the season to start so the shift and talk can go back to football.

While I believe that the NCAA will continue to not find an infraction, it still leaves plenty of time for Duck fans to lose sleep before the season begins.