Seriously, what's with the Oregon hype?

They'll be hyped up till we skull-frick them in Dallas. I don't see any way they stay on the field with us for longer than a quarter. However, things change when the lights come on and you never know I guess.

How does that compare with what LSU is losing? And unless we have a look at what Oregon is replacing their departing starters with, let's not talk about what LSU has behind PP7, Ridley, Shepperd, Nevis, etc.

With the exception of Arizona, we haven't exactly proved to be dominate over the Pac 10. Az State, OR State, and WashU all played us tough. What makes you think Oregon won't either?

QB Darron Thomas 2881 pass yds, 30 TDs, 486 rush yds 5 TDs
RB LaMichael James 1731 rush yds, 21 TDs
RB Kenjon Barner 551 yds, 6 TDs
WR Lavasier Tuinei 396 rec yds, 2 TDS
WR Josh Huff 303 rec yds, 3 TDs, 214 rush yds
TE David Paulson 414 rec yds, 4 TDS

Ok so I'm an Oregon fan and I'll try and break down our situation position by position as best as I can here since none of my fellow Duck fans have done so thus far.

QB: We return Darron Thomas obviously but we also have a very capable backup in Bryan Bennett waiting in the wings. After that it gets a little murky but we will likely have Daryle Hawkins as the 3rd string QB and we'll probably try and redshirt incoming freshman Marcus Mariota. Bennett actually has more talent as a passer and is quicker than Thomas but Thomas has been battle tested much more and has a better grasp of the offense so I'd be shocked if he lost his spot.

RB: This and DB are probably our deepest positions going into next season. Again, everyone has heard of LaMichael James but we also have a very capable back up in Kenjon Barner who will also get touches against LSU. Chip Kelly looks at both backs as running back 1a and 1b, respectively. To round out the depth chart are Lache Seastrunk and Dontae Williams, who both redshirted last year and will likely give both James and Barner a rest. Add in De'Anthony Thomas and the Oregon backfield becomes very explosive.

WR: The loss of Jeff Maehl and Drew Davis hurts here, as they both had very sure hands (particularly Jeff Maehl). With that said, we do return our 3rd WR in Lavasier Tuinei who will provide experience to the position. Josh Huff returns as our 'tazer,' as Chip Kelly refers to it (pretty much a RB lined up as a WR in our offense). We also were very successful this year in regards to recruiting WRs as we brought in Devon Blackmon (very fast WR who is very good at creating separation), Rahsaan Vaughn (heavily recruited JC WR), B.J. Kelley (less recruited JC WR than Vaughn), and Tacoi Sumler (some claim he is the fastest recruit in the entire 2011 recruiting class). Keanon Lowe and Blake Cantu may fight for reps too.

TE: We return everyone here. We have 3 viable TE options in David Paulson (starter from last year), Brandon Williams, and Curtis White (both Williams and White dealt with injury last year but they did well when they played). We also have incoming recruit Christian French who may play at TE as well (we'll see after spring/fall practices) but if he does end up at TE he would likely redshirt.

OL: We lose a bit of experience here with Jordan Holmes, Bo Thran, and C.E. Kaiser. That said, we still return Carson York and Mark Asper as well as several key contributors who got regular minutes last year such as Darrion Weems and Nick Cody (both likely starters). We also have Ryan Clanton (likely the 5th starter), Nick Rowland, and Hroniss Grasu, who all redshirted last year and have the potential to get significant minutes. We added some major beef with this recruiting class but if I were a betting man I'd think they'll all redshirt with the possible exceptions of Andre Yruretagoyena (Andre Y for short) and Tyler Johnstone. Like last year, we will likely rely heavily on substitutions to build depth yet again.

DL: Big blow to this position here losing Brandon Bair, Zac Clark, and Kenny Rowe. The players who will step into their shoes are Taylor Hart, Wade Keliikipi, and Dion Jordan, respectively. Brandon Hanna, Anthony Anderson, Ricky Heimuli, Isaac Remington, and Jared Ebert will probably be the ones to provide depth. This will be our biggest hole as the players are young.

LB: Losing Casey Matthews and Spencer Paysinger hurt from a leadership standpoint but despite what we lose in that regard, we make up for somehow in talent. Michael Clay returns as a starter at Will backer with Kiko Alonso (suspended for the season last year) at Mike and Josh Kaddu at Sam. DeWitt Stuckey, Boseko Lokombo, and Derrick Malone will fight for reps as well. We also have Anthony Wallace out of Dallas coming in as a Mike backer and Colt Lyerla (aka the most physically gifted athlete in the recruiting class of '11) who will have a chance to crack the two deep. Lyerla will start at offense during spring but I think he'll make his way to defense by the time fall rolls around.

DB: By far the deepest position on our team. We have Cliff Harris, who is by far our best DB and arguably the best returning DB in college football. We do lose Talmadge Jackson III but Terrence Mitchell will step in the spot just fine I think. John Boyett and Eddie Pleasant both return at FS and Rover, respectively. To round out the depth we have Anthony Gildon, Avery Patterson, Marcus Davis (transfer from Texas), Scott Grady, Brian Jackson, Erick Dargan, and Dior Mathis.

Special Teams: We return both our kicker and punter who are both solid/good. As for returners, we have Cliff Harris at PR and Kenjon Barner/Josh Huff at KR. All 3 are very explosive returners.

Hope this was a help for those who were interested. A lot of this is my best guess at the moment as we won't find out until spring/fall what will actually happen. I'm hoping for a great game as I hope to attend it. I'm hoping to enjoy a great atmosphere for a football game between 2 talented football teams and two ballsy coaches. Good luck this offseason and most importantly: Go Ducks!

LSUs recent history against the spread probably has something to do with people being worried...

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They are losing:

Offense:
2 starting WR's
3 of 5 starting offensive lineman

Defense:
3 of 4 starting defensive lineman
2 of 3 starting linebackers
1 of 4 starting defensive backs...

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LSU rolls in this one.........get ready.....

Keep believing that BRO

quote:

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I just don't see the logic behind this game hype.

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because you don't follow them and don't know what they have.

It is of course highly unusual for a team that was in the title game last year to get ranked high the next year

ETA :and not finish in the top 10 like LSU in 04 and 08 or Texas and Bama last year