By Matt Wadleigh
Copyright newsweek
Last season, the Oregon Ducks went undefeated, won the Big Ten Conference title and entered the College Football Playoff with the No. 1 seed.Unfortunately, the Ducks fell to the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes in the quarterfinal, 41-21.This time around, Oregon again has lofty expectations and entered at No. 7 in the Associated Press preseason poll.So far this season, Oregon is 2-0 with blowout wins over Montana State, 59-13, and Oklahoma State, 69-3.Oregon has also jumped up to No. 4 in the AP poll, and college football analyst Joel Klatt spoke highly of the Ducks, even suggesting they could “win it all.””They are built exactly how you would build a team to win a national championship,” Klatt said.”This is a better version of Oregon from a year ago,” he continued. “This is a version of Oregon that reminds me a lot of Michigan two years ago and Ohio State last year. This is absolutely a team that can win it all.”Even with quarterback Dillon Gabriel going to the NFL, Oregon brought back Dante Moore and named him the starter.In two games, the former UCLA QB has thrown for 479 yards with six touchdowns and zero interceptions. Klatt even raved about Moore, saying he has more talent than former Oregon QB Bo Nix.”Dante Moore, ladies and gentlemen, is a quarterback that could be better than the quarterbacks that Lanning has had at Oregon in the last few years,” Klatt continued. “Dante Moore has more talent than he [Bo Nix] does.”More College Football: Tom Brady Shares Clear Message on Arch Manning Despite Week 1 LossKlatt also spoke highly about Oregon’s defense and both offensive and defensive line play, so there is a lot he likes about this year’s Ducks team.So far, Oregon’s defense has yet to allow a touchdown, and Oklahoma State QB Zane Flores threw two interceptions with just 67 passing yards in Week 2.Oregon will look to maintain its momentum in the Big Ten opener Saturday on the road against the Northwestern Wildcats. Then comes the Civil War game against the Oregon State Beavers on Sept. 20 in Eugene and a massive clash on the road against the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions on Sept. 27.For more on college football, head to Newsweek Sports.
