Oregon Ducks On Their Way To No. 2 Ranking
Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 12:14AM 
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Mark this down. Oregon will be ranked No. 2 in the country by midseason, possibly as soon as Oct. 3.
The Ducks are fast, athletic and pretty much unstoppable on offense. It doesn't matter that their defense could get exposed some when the Ducks face more capable offenses, and in that pinball league of theirs, it definitely will once October rolls around.
But UO's point-a-minute attack has put up 72 and 48 in its two games and it doesn't look like it will get shut down — or even slowed down — anytime soon.
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Oregon had a pair of 100-yard rushers in its season-opening annihilation of New Mexico, and neither was named LaMichael James. He returned to action in the Ducks' second game at Tennessee last week, racking up 134 yards on 8.4 per carry, including a nifty 72-yard touchdown sprint.
The Ducks also have returned three punts and an interception — none covering fewer than 60 yards — for lightning-quick touchdowns.
Stanford sure has a nice quarterback, but the Cardinal will need much more than Andrew Luck on their side to beat UO in Eugene on Oct. 2. A quality Oregon win over a then-4-0 Stanford team that probably will be ranked among the Top 12 would allow the Ducks to goose non-AQ cuties TCU and Boise State in any poll that matters.
EXTRA: More Oregon Ducks Coverage
Current No. 2 Ohio State won't get tested until Oct. 16, so it's likely to see OSU at No. 1 should Alabama lose a game during its murderous three-game stretch that begins at No. 12 Arkansas on Sept. 25. The Tide return home to face No. 10 Florida the following week, then visit No. 13 South Carolina on Oct. 9. I'd be surprised if the Tide didn't lose one of those brawls.
After Stanford, Oregon's next challenge comes on Oct. 30 at USC. If the Trojans play like they have so far, though, expect the Ducks to conclude October at 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the PAC 10, and ranked No. 2 in the country.
LaMichael James, Oregon
Reader Comments (6)
If you watched the ESPN broadcast of the whooping the Ducks put on TN, you'd have thought the game was pretty well in hand (for TN) at the end of the first quarter.
I've heard SEC homers on broadcasting on TV before, but that was the absolute worst.
Great game for the Ducks, though.
The game was on TV where I was but the sound was down. I feel like for the most part, national broadcast teams do a pretty good job of keeping any biases at bay.
If you would have heard them you would have felt different. They got names wrong multiple times as well as numbers. Isn't this a top ten team?! I think there should be some learning from each of the cast of announcers before they go on air and make them selves look like the ACC is lacking more than players and great teams.
While I find this post very hearening, I'm thinking it might be a little premature. After all, Tennessee is the only "valid" opponent they've faced. Sure, they've scored at a 60 points per game pace, but, New Mexico or Tennessee don't exactly inspire fear in the hearts of very many teams. Let them play some more difficult opponents before we crown them.
That said, I do agree with the end of October time table. If they can continue, a feat that I do not find staggering in any imagination, then, #2 would be valid and, even, expected.
For the most part, I hate pre, or early, season polls. They are based on little, or nothing. Maybe Alabama deserves #1. But, who have they played to deserve it? OK, Penn State. Fine team. San Jose State? Not so much. And Ohio State? Miami? Again, fine team. Marshall? Ehhhh? Boise State? Beat Verginia Tech. So did James Madison. Does JM deserve a #3 ranking? Probably not.
Anthony - yeah, that is pretty weak when national broadcasters get names wrong. Usually the ESPN people are pretty knowledgeable.
And Ron - good points, but preseason rankings are based on a combination of how a team finished the previous season and what their prospects look like for the upcoming season. There biggest value is the conversation it creates, though I wouldn't call them entirely ridiculous. I agree that New Mexico and Tennessee don't add up to an accurate measuring stick, but their offensive efforts have been scintillating nonetheless. They didn't exactly come out of nowhere, either. Oregon was ranked around the Top 10 or 12 in just about every preseason poll I saw last month.
What bothered me the most was about the ESPN broadcast of the U of O vs Tennessee game was that the broadcasters sounded like they were out and out rooting for Tennessee and complimented everything Tennessee did. I probably didn't hear anything positive about the Ducks till the second half and at that, it was grudging. I was shocked at the bias of the broadcasters with no attempt to simply call the game as it was occurring.
When Tennessee started out doing well, they praised them; and when Tennessee started to have problems (with Oregon scoring), instead of praising the Ducks, they started talking about what Tennessee needed to do as though the only reason to broadcast the game was to cheerlead for Tennessee! I felt like they owed the U of O team an outright apology - they basically had zero respect for them, i.e., if Oregon won it was because Tennessee wasn't doing things right, not because the Ducks earned the win. I was really appalled at having to listen to that particular broadcast. If anyone from ESPN management listened to it, they should have reprimanded the broadcasters for a complete lack of professionalism.