Officially speaking, the excitement and build up for Wednesday’s Rose Bowl Game vs. no. 8 Wisconsin has been in the making for a little more than three weeks. Truthfully though, Wednesday’s game has been something that Duck fans and members of the Oregon football program have been clamoring for since the Ducks’ last appearance in the Rose Bowl dating back to 2015.
Certainly, a win in convincing fashion over a top five ranked Utah team went a ways in satiating Duck fans’ appetite for a major win on a consequential stage, but nothing quite compares to the pomp and circumstance and pageantry that comes with playing in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
As the sixth-ranked Ducks look to earn their third straight Rose Bowl victory, WFOD takes a look at the burning questions surrounding Oregon entering the season finale.
1. Can the Ducks carryover momentum from the Pac-12 Championship Game?
Extended layoffs between games can be both a gift and a curse for teams in the lead up to a big bowl matchup. On one hand, the extra time off provides a valuable opportunity for your team to rest and recharge before cutting it loose one final time. On the other hand, the longer than normal break can have a dulling effect that impacts a team’s ability to crisply execute and maintain a certain level of intensity required to win. Fortunately for the Ducks, the Rose Bowl isn’t exactly a game that lends itself to lackluster focus and preparation. Furthermore, in its second season under head coach Mario Cristobal, Oregon has proven to be a team that represents itself rather well coming off bye weeks and lengthy stretches between games. In fact, since 2018, the Ducks are 5-1 in games coming off a bye week or longer, with the lone loss coming narrowly in the season opener this season vs. Auburn.
Similar to the opponent the Ducks faced in the Pac-12 Championship Game in Utah, Wisconsin also prides itself on defense and its ability to run the football to great effectiveness. This type of opponent, regardless of the stage, has typically brought out the best in this team under Cristobal as there’s a seemingly heightened sense of urgency on behalf of Cristobal and his charges to not only accept the challenge but deliberately prove that they are the tougher, more physical team. The Badgers present a slightly different set of challenges compared to the Utes, but like the Pac-12 Championship Game, expect this game to summon an intensely focused performance from the Ducks.
2. How much of an impact will Mycah Pittman have on this game?
If it feels like we’ve toyed with this general question for most of the year, it’s because we more or less have. Unfortunately for Ducks true freshman wide receiver Mycah Pittman, it has been a debut season that has been underscored by a series of frustrating upper body injuries. The first came in August, when Pittman, who had been the star through the first half of fall camp, suffered a shoulder injury that would sideline him for this first month of the season. Pittman would return to the lineup in early October for the Ducks’ Pac-12 home opener vs. Cal and appear in the five games that followed, notching 14 receptions for 197 yards and two touchdowns before a second setback would be suffered. That came November 16 vs. Arizona, when Pittman would go down in the first quarter with an arm injury that would cost him the remainder of the regular season plus the Pac-12 Championship Game.
Medically cleared to return to action for the Rose Bowl Game vs. Wisconsin, Pittman figures to re-claim the role he vacated as Oregon’s fourth receiver behind Johnny Johnson, Jaylon Redd, and Juwan Johnson, though how quickly he returns to form is another question. Prior to his second injury, Pittman had yet to post the kind of true breakout performance many had expected from him given his sparkling start to fall camp, and that was with six games under his belt. With no opportunities to get re-acclimated to game action, it feels like a stretch to think that Pittman will come out like gangbusters against a rugged Wisconsin defense. He will, however, provide the Ducks with as much available depth at wide receiver as they’ve had in roughly six weeks. That’s ultra encouraging news if you’re a fan of the green and yellow and looking to see this offense operating at near full strength.
3. Is this the final ride for Jordon Scott, Thomas Graham, and Deommodore Lenoir in an Oregon uniform?
It seems like it was just yesterday that the Ducks were leaning on precocious true freshmen like Jordon Scott, Thomas Graham, and Deommodore Lenoir to help elevate a defense was ranked among the nation’s worst a year before their arrival in 2017. Fast forward to the present, and all three have put themselves in position to be potential NFL draft picks should they declare after their junior seasons come to a close following Wednesday’s game vs. Wisconsin. Though none of the three are expected to be selected during the first two days of the draft this coming April, it would be just as surprising to see all three go completely undrafted during the course of the three-day draft event.
Of the three, Scott may be the player who is leaning the furthest towards leaving early, as he already has his degree in hand and may be a player who is more or less capped out from a developmental perspective in the eyes of NFL talent evaluators. Meanwhile, while Graham and Lenoir may have more left on the bone in terms of development both physically and fundamentally, neither player performed with the kind of sustained excellence as juniors that made you think they were no-brainers to be selected in the draft this coming spring.
What can be said with relative certainty, however, is that if all three choose to come back to Oregon next season, it will provide the Ducks with the most experienced and talented defense in the Pac-12, bar none. In fact, it’s reasonable to think that with Scott, Graham, and Lenoir back in the fold entering Andy Avalos’ second season as the Ducks’ defensive coordinator, that Oregon could have one of the more complete defensive units nationally with the rest of the brilliant young talent they expect to return and welcome in 2020. The individual performances of all three players in Wednesday’s game could be the final determining factor in each player’s respective decision.
Top Photo: Oregon QB Justin Herbert (Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports)