Oregon football capped off a great 2019 campaign with a win in the Rose Bowl over Wisconsin. But next year the road to glory will be even harder with a tough slate of games for the Ducks. In this edition of DSA Roundtable, our expert panel of Dale Newton, Scott Reed and Brandon Gibson give their list of the three toughest games on the 2020 schedule.
Newton
The toughest game is obvious. Though Ohio State loses Chase Young and others they have Justin Fields returning at quarterback and elite players sprinkled all over the field. Most early polls have them as a playoff favorite.
Buckeye fans will snatch up as many tickets as possible in the secondary market and are likely to encroach on the Autzen home advantage.
The Ducks will start a new quarterback in his second game running a new offense, likely to be Tyler Shough. They'll be breaking in four new starters on the offensive line. It's a monumental challenge so early in the year, one that should steel them for the PAC-12 slate.
Game 5 at home versus Washington is their next-toughest game, their real rival, a close match in talent with a solid defense.
Game 6 at Cal is a challenging road game but the Ducks have 14 days to prepare for Justin Wilcox and the Bears. A Friday night game in Autzen hosting Jayden Daniels and Arizona State on November 13th (six days after hosting USC) is not a scheduling bonus.
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Reed
Can I say Ohio State, Ohio State and Ohio State? That game will help to define the early part of the season for the Ducks and will shape the narrative of the season. A year ago, a close loss to Auburn opened many eyes to what Oregon could be – and Ohio State is considerably better than was Auburn.
If forced to choose other difficult games I am going to my standby concept: late October or November games in the desert. Oregon plays at Arizona on Halloween a week after playing Stanford and a week before a game against USC. That is a trap game if ever I saw one and Kevin Sumlin might be fighting for his job by that point of the season.
Number three? I am going to use a wild card here. Rivalry games are always difficult – especially rivalry games on the road. Washington is going to be a tough game, but that is at the friendly confines of Autzen and the Beavers gave Oregon a scare at home in 2019. They will be better this season and be playing for something more than pride.
Gibson
There is no question on the most difficult game of the season, but the next two spots could be up for debate. Oregon faces a huge test at home the second week of the 2020 season, against last season college football playoff participant, Ohio State. Although Ohio State graduated a good amount of talent, they continually recruit the top end players and have a talented quarterback returning (Justin Fields) to lead the effort in Eugene.
I would put the home game against USC at #2, but that could change depending on how the early season unfolds for the Trojans. USC has talent, but is lacking in the depth of talent of years past. If USC loses a couple early (in addition to Alabama), they might not have the horses and effort to put up a real test come November. If they can weather the storm early, USC will head to Autzen with memories of a beating last season, plenty of motivation.
The third toughest game comes with a qualifier as well. Washington is a rivalry game, and has been a close contest the last couple of years. The Huskies, however, will be coming in with a new head coach and an offensive coordinator hire that left many scratching their heads. It will be interesting to see how things play out for Washington, but that at first glance seems like the third toughest game this upcoming season
