The Oregon Ducks currently sit atop all of the college football polls and atop the college football selection committee’s seeding for the inaugural 12-team playoff. However, there are reasons to believe that they will not win the national championship this season. Let’s have a look at why.
Why Oregon Will Fall Short in the College Football Playoff
Defense Wins Championships
This is obviously an old saying but it holds true. This season the Oregon defense hasn’t been bad it just hasn’t played to a championship level. They gave up 34 points against Boise State and 31 against Ohio State in games that were both close wins.
Statistically speaking the defense looks pretty good only giving up 16 points per game however this is against a very weak schedule that has included the likes of Idaho, Purdue, UCLA, Michigan State, and Maryland. The defense will have to improve if the Ducks have any designs on winning the whole thing this year. The bottom line is that the Ducks’ defensive statistics are somewhat misleading because of the competition.
Close Calls
In addition to the games against Boise State and Ohio State, the Ducks opened the season with a less-than-impressive 24-14 victory over the Idaho Vandals. There is no way that game should have been that close.
The Ducks were also less than overpowering in wins against Maryland and Michigan State even though they were never in danger of losing. Oregon was impressive in road wins at Oregon State in the Civil War and at Purdue just a couple of weeks ago. Regardless the Ducks have not been consistently dominant which is one of the trademarks of a championship-caliber team. They will need to do better once the playoff begins.
Still Haven’t Gotten Over The Hump
Until they do it there will be doubts. In recent history, the Ducks have lost both championship games they have appeared in. First, there was a close loss in the BCS championship game against Auburn where the Ducks had a late lead but couldn’t hold on for the win.
Then there was a blowout loss in the national championship against Ohio State. Heisman candidate Marcus Mariota looked overmatched in the championship game after the Ducks handed Florida State in the semifinals. This Oregon team may be better than the rest but until the clock strikes zero in the championship game with them in the lead there will be doubters. And that’s a fair way to look at it as far as the Ducks are concerned.
There you have the primary reasons why the Oregon Ducks probably won’t win the national championship this season. Can they prove us all wrong?
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