How Oregon's 2008 Season Is a Forecast for 2009

Oregon's 2008 season can be somewhat misleading when you simply look at the scores. 

However, if you look deeper into what each game meant and how far into the season that Masoli was, then you can start to see the potential for this year.

Masoli didn’t start the first three games for the Ducks in 2008 and he played a very limited amount of time against Boise State.  Washington (44-10) and Utah State (66-24) made Roper look good, but his lack of running ability became blatantly obvious against Purdue.  After he was injured in this game, the learning curve started for Masoli.

Boise State (32-37) was an ugly game, especially once Masoli was knocked out of the game.  If it wasn’t for Thomas’ late game comeback, the score would have remained lopsided.

This was a loss that Boise State fans and other Oregon critics like to point out when downplaying the success of the Ducks in 2009.  However, any team that is relegated to using their fifth-string QB for a comeback has a valid reason for underperforming. 

This won’t happen again this year.

Ok, so four games into 2008 and things are not looking good.  The two big wins don’t mean anything because Washington and Utah State were two of the worst teams in the nation. 

Purdue was mediocre at best and brought to light the inability of Roper to make big plays on the ground. 

Boise State discovered that the touted Oregon secondary was focusing heavily on the run to the point of biting on just about every play-action pass they ran.  However, Masoli only played a few minutes of the first quarter before the late hit knocked him out of the game so we’d have to see how he did through the next nine games.

Masoli was back the next week and once again, Oregon ran all over a very bad Washington State (63-14) team.  This game did very little to prepare Masoli for the next game.

USC (10-44) was the first real test for Oregon and very quickly we all saw that Masoli had a long way to go to fully understanding Kelly’s offense.  Masoli failed to make the right reads on the option and the running game faltered.  He was exposed as not having a really good grasp of the offense. 

USC was an ugly game for the Ducks.

UCLA (31-24) was not a good team.  Oregon pulled out the win, but again, Masoli was still learning the offense and his decisions showed it.  It was also obvious that Oregon was somewhat one-dimensional and the running game was carrying the load.

The same thing happened against the Arizona State Sun Devils (54-20). Oregon got the win, but Masoli still wasn’t comfortable with the offense and relied heavily on the running game.

California (16-26) was good enough to expose Masoli’s lack of experience and inability in the passing game.  It didn’t help that the weather made it even more difficult to throw the ball.  Cal focused on the Oregon running game and shut down the Duck’s offense.

Stanford (35-28) marked the turning point for Masoli and the Oregon offense.  During the game, Masoli made a particularly poor decision and got booed for it.  I was there and I’m proud to say that I didn’t boo him, I will never boo a player that is trying his best. 

In any case, he didn’t let it get to him and he led Oregon to a last-minute touchdown.  Stanford was a good team but this is the game where Oregon started to click. 

Arizona (55-45) was the first game that Masoli truly looked comfortable in the offense.  He took control of the game and made it look easy.  The Oregon defense made things interesting by allowing Arizona to get close in the end, but Masoli finally showed what he was capable of.

The Civil War game was a spectacle of dominance by Oregon.  Oregon State (65-38) didn’t have a chance now that Masoli had complete comprehension of the Kelly offense.

It was a thing of beauty to watch the Ducks score at will.  The precision and accuracy was amazing.  Yes, Oregon State was missing weapons on offense but their touted defense couldn’t stop Oregon. 

Masoli had arrived.

He carried the momentum into the Holiday Bowl against a very good Oklahoma State team (42-31). He once again took charge and made the difference in the game.

Now, you may be asking what all this has to do with this coming season.  My point is this: Oregon made it to 10-3 last season with a new quarterback in the system for most of the season. Nine games with Masoli, three with Roper and 1 with Harper/Thomas.

To really get your mind wrapped around the significance of last season, look at how Dennis Dixon started out.  He had experience from 2005 and he played in almost every game in 2006.  It took him almost a season and a half to get to where he was at the  beginning of 2007. 

Now, look at Masoli.  It took him six games to become a monster. In 2008, there were two games that Oregon wasn’t competing and that was against Boise State and USC.  Boise State was a fluke and USC was Masoli’s second game and he was totally lost. 

This year, he won’t be lost.

I expect that Oregon will be starting out at about the same level that they ended with last year as far as quarterback play is concerned. 

The biggest factor in determining whether Oregon is a contender or not is going to be the O-line.  However, the O-line does have experience and they’ll get it done.

Be prepared to watch Oregon annihilate Boise State to start the season and continue through the schedule with big wins. 

Oregon’s first big test will be California. If they pull through that game in a big way, then USC better be ready.  Because this year it's time for a new king.