OK, so I hopped in my time machine the other day and went to visit my ten year old self. After catching up on some trivia…Black President, collapse of the USSR, that sort of thing…we got down to business. He asked me plaintively if he would ever live to see the Ducks have a winning season or even (hardly daring to breathe the words) get to play in a bowl game?
I told him that our Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback had just led us to our fourth league title in the last six years, followed by a blowout Rose Bowl win over a team that hadn’t lost in two years.
Then I told him that I was feeling really bummed that the season hadn’t gone any better than that. He slapped the shit out of me.
Which year end? The only ones I see in the regular season end or post bowl polls in the top 10 are FSU and UGA. Clemson was at least ranked and finished a not too shabby 15 in the AP. Not a bad schedule to make a case for a playoff if they have success but not exactly 6 top ten teams either. It certainly should be exciting for their fans.
You did make me have to go check out my Spartans against this year’s final rankings:
Top 5 - Oregon (home) and Ohio State (away)
No other ranked teams at the end but Air Force, Nebraska and Minnesota as teams getting votes (and Nebraska was ranked in the last regular season poll)
Oregon and Air Force with no FCS teams isn’t a bad non-conference schedule. I can deal with it. I still wish Notre Dame hadn’t wussed on the long tradition to play the ACC-Lite schedule. I just have to root for ACC teams to throat punch them which is less gratifying.
So am I happy that Vernon Adams, the QB from Eastern Washington who in the last couple years beat Oregon State and put 52 points on Wash11ngton with a FCS team, has transferred to Oregon to compete for the starting job against two four-star freshmen and last year’s backup? Why, yes, I am!! Dream, little ducklings, dream…
For year-end ranked teams, we have Michigan State, Utah, and USC, with Stanford among the also-rans. The other OOC games are Georgia State (there’s a Georgia State? go figure…) and what now figures to be a huge grudge match against Eastern Washington. Hoping that the schedule works out for me to make it to East Lansing!!
I kinda thought that he should go for the draft. Strike while the iron is hot. I understand that it seems crazy after 3 games, but consider the other possibilities if he stays:
1.) Go back to being a backup behind one or both of the other 2 guys that were ahead of him in the depth chart
2.) Getting injured (like the 2 guys that were ahead of him in the depth chart)
3.) Starting, but not having as good of a season. (like Jameis Winston)
4.) Starting and having as good a season (i.e. winning another NC)
Only possibility 4 would improve his value.
So, I think he should have declared for the draft.
The game is a little early for fall color but if you make it take a detour along the river through campus. It passes right by the stadium so it’s a trip that can be as long or short as you want. There’s no better way to get a feel for it’s giant land grant campus than “on the banks of the Red Cedar.” There’s a reason that’s a quote from the start of the fight song.
Since he only started three games it would be possible for him to have a better season and still not win the NC. It’s not like the NFL scouts necessarily care about that stuff. They just want to see what kind of skills he actually has. Three games is too few to demonstrate that on a consistent basis.
From a “get what you can while you can” point of view, I tend to agree. There are certainly NFL teams that are desperate and stupid enough to take a chance on a guy with only 3 starts. I think the reports that he could have gone in the top 15 picks to be baloney, but when guys like Manziel, Bortles, Gabbert, and Manuel go in the first round, you know there are dumb teams out there.
What would actually help him get long term success though? If he’s sitting behind two other QB’s at Ohio State, he’s not going to get enough reps and real game time to truly develop his NFL skills there either. Maybe it would be best for him to sit on an NFL roster as a backup, learning a real NFL offense, instead of sitting at Ohio State as a backup learning the spread/option offense.
I think the thing that could flame him out is getting drafted early and being forced to start when he’s not ready (see Manuel, Manziel, Geno Smith, Gabbert, Brandon Weedon, or the slew of other under-developed talents). But being drafted and developing your talents for an NFL team would be, in the long run, much better than sitting for another year on the bench and learning the spread offense that you likely won’t use at the next level.
The only ones I see in the regular season end or post bowl polls in the top 10 are FSU and UGA. Clemson was at least ranked and finished a not too shabby 15 in the AP. Not a bad schedule to make a case for a playoff if they have success but not exactly 6 top ten teams either. It certainly should be exciting for their fans.