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It’s been more than six weeks since Ohio State routed the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl, and while the wounds in fans’ hearts may still be fresh, we can start looking forward to next season. Oregon is expected to be one of college football’s top teams once again in 2025, landing at No. 6 in ESPN’s “Way-Too-Early” power rankings for the fall season. Week 1 is still a long way off, but once it rolls around, Oregon will kick off what should be another fruitful season.
Just like in 2024, one game on Oregon’s 2025 schedule stands out above all the rest: Sept. 27th at Penn State. The Ducks’ fifth game of the season will be a rematch of the 2024 Big Ten Championship, where the Ducks beat the Nittany Lions, 45-37. In 2024, the Ducks’ marquee regular season matchup was at home against Ohio State, which they won in dramatic fashion. This year, their big stage is on the road.
On Monday, ESPN published a story picking the “season-defining” game for each team in their Way-Too-Early rankings, and no surprise, it picked Oregon’s game at Penn State. Happy Valley is one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten and in college football, and this very well could be a preview of the Big Ten Championship once again.
While ESPN expects Oregon to take a bit of a step back in 2025, ranking the Ducks at No. 6, it expects Penn State to take a considerable step forward, ranking them at No. 3.
A big factor that could be impacting those passing ships is each team’s quarterback situation. Dillon Gabriel, one of the best QBs in college football last year, is leaving, and Penn State is bringing back Drew Allar, who is expected to be one of the top QBs next fall. What that doesn’t take into account is Oregon QB Dante Moore, who has the potential to be one of college football’s top QBs at the helm for the Ducks next season.
Without Ohio State on the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/espn-identifies-oregon-season-defining-142341890.html
Author : Ducks Wire
Publish date : 2025-02-18 14:23:00
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