Oregon Football: Game Predictions for the Rest of This Season

With a season opening loss in the books to LSU, many fans have been turned off by Oregon. The Ducks may have lost a second consecutive game on a big stage to an SEC powerhouse in LSU, but it was still only one game. The Ducks may be 0-1, but they still have 11 games remaining and lots of hope for the season. Here are game predictions for the rest of the year for the Ducks. 

vs Nevada: Oregon comes out of the gate angry and looking to redeem themselves, and a Colin Kaepernick‐less Nevada team is not going to be able to hang with the Ducks, let alone in Autzen Stadium. Nevada makes it interesting for a quarter, but Oregon dominates. Oregon 52 Nevada 17

vs Missouri State: Anyone remember what happened when New Mexico and Portland State visited last year? Consider this part three. The real, fumble-free De'Anthony Thomas introduces himself and scores three times. Oregon 63 Missouri State 3

@ Arizona: The Wildcats are always a tricky team to play because of their high‐scoring spread offense led by Nick Foles and stud wideout Juron Criner. In addition, this game is in the 'Zona Zoo, where the last time the Ducks visited it took some late heroics and then overtime to win. Luckily for Oregon, Arizona just faced #9 Oklahoma State and has #6 Stanford up next, so the Wildcats will be beat up to say the least. This is a potential upset bid by Arizona, but the Ducks hold on. Oregon 39 Arizona 24

vs Cal: Cal is coming off of the worst year of the Jeff Tedford era, yet they are also coming off a year in which they held Oregon to 15 points in Berkeley. Cal has a good defense, and they didn't lose that much from last year. Their questions, however, come on offense. Can their offense score enough points to beat the Ducks in Autzen? I'm not buying it. Oregon 27 Cal 17

vs Arizona State: The Sun Devils, a popular pick to win the Pac-12 South, have been here before. Every year Arizona State has high expectations, only to disappoint. This year, I think they finally break out. In what could be a Pac-12 Championship game preview, Oregon prevails because the game is in Autzen, and because ASU head coach Dennis Erickson's squad still has a ways to go before they can come into Oregon and win. Close for 3 quarters, until Lamichael James breaks it open early in the 4th. Oregon 48 Arizona State 35

@ Colorado: Colorado, like Utah, is new to the Pac-12. Utah received a welcoming present in not having to face Oregon or Stanford, but Colorado isn't quite so lucky. The two time Pac-10 Champs soundly welcome the Buffaloes to the conference. Oregon 56 Colorado 21

vs Washington State: The Cougars are no longer the pushover they were for so many years, but they are still the Pac-12 North doormat, so to say. They will put up some points, as they managed 64 in their opener vs Idaho State, but this one isn't close. Oregon 49 Washington State 28

@ Washington: Steve Sarkisian and the Huskies have this one circled on their calender. Not only is Oregon a hated rival, but they've been embarrassed the past few years. Fresh off of a Holliday Bowl upset of Nebraska, upstart Washington is looking to take the next step by beating Oregon. To make matters worse, Oregon travels to Palo Alto to face Stanford the ensuing week. Potential trap game? Check. Potential upset? Yes. Can Washington pull it off? I'd say a 40% chance. But I'm going with the odds. Oregon 35 Washington 31

@ #6 Stanford: The Granddaddy of them all. Oregon at Stanford, for the likely rights to host the Pac-12 Championship game. Heisman trophy runner-up Andrew Luck and new coach David Shaw vs experienced Darron Thomas and Lamichael James. Stanford has as much talent on both sides of the ball as anyone in the conference, while Oregon has the best offense in the nation. This game could easily go either way, but keep in mind what happened last time Oregon traveled to Palo Alto. Only this time, Stanford is a lot better. Because it's in Palo Alto I'm saying Stanford 49 Oregon 42

vs USC: After a tightly fought loss to Stanford, Oregon is forced to regroup to face a USC squad who is not only looking for revenge from consecutive 50-point thrashings to the Ducks, but who is also viewing this game as their bowl game. Of course, USC talked up last year's game as their bowl game as well, only to give up 53 points. If there is any team that can beat Oregon in Autzen, it's not USC, and especially not USC under Lane Kiffin. Oregon 47 USC 24

vs Oregon State: The Civil War suddenly has lost a lot of it's luster over the past few years. Yes, Oregon lost to LSU, but they're still an elite program. Oregon State, however, is coming off of a loss to Sacramento State. Yes, Sacramento State. Of course Oregon State could rebound, but as of now this one could get ugly. Oregon 60 Oregon State 24

To sum it up, Oregon is looking at a 10-2 (8-1) record, with the hopes that Stanford slips up twice to give the Ducks the Pac-12 North title. Or, should Stanford go 12-0, Oregon could be looking to slip into the Rose Bowl despite not having made it to the Pac-12 title game.