Oregon football finds itself in uncharted territory in many ways this year.
First, the Ducks start their first season in the superconference that the Big Ten became over the last couple of years.
However, more importantly, the Oregon Ducks currently hold the third-best odds to win the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship.
While this is no advertisement for gambling, every national gambling database has Oregon’s odds behind the national powerhouses University of Georgia and Ohio State.
The last time their odds ranked this highly was a decade ago, when the Ducks underwent its most successful and exciting season ever — 2014. But how does that tie back to today?
In a lot of ways, it doesn’t.
This new era of college football seems to benefit Oregon in a special way due to the promise of “unlimited NIL” from Nike founder and alumnus Phil Knight. The Ducks have the ability to go out and spend their recruiting money on anyone they please, which helps them recruit the right players for head coach Dan Lanning’s program.
The transfer portal, which closely resembles the NFL’s free agency every offseason, allowed Oregon to sell its vision to those only looking for another year or two in college.
Take Jabbar Muhammad, for example. The fifth-year senior posted an NFL-worthy 2023 season with the Washington Huskies, but instead of taking his talents to the next level, he decided to try and bolster his draft stock by playing for the championship-caliber Ducks.
That stands out as the main difference between that 2014 squad and this iteration 10 years later.
The primary similarity can become the Ducks’ strongest point going into their first Big Ten season — experience.
The majority of Oregon’s starting lineup will be upperclassmen, which reflects the makeup of Mark Helfrich’s team of destiny led by Oregon’s only Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota.
Another main similarity between the teams is style. Each squad featured an option-heavy offense and a hard-nosed defense led by the front eight.
The defense led by DeForest Buckner and Derrick Malone closely resembles Lanning’s core of Jeffrey Bassa and Jordan Burch. But, football is a team game, so success runs much deeper than the top two guys.
That is where the current defense differs. This year, the Ducks’ defense had to be built differently to adapt to a new play style.
To achieve success in the Big Ten, Oregon cannot give up a ton of points like it was accustomed to in the offense-heavy Pac 12.
Focusing on bringing in experience seemed to be the key this offseason. This is why players such as safety Peyton Woodyard, defensive lineman Derrick Harmon and Muhammad will be important indicators of Oregon’s on-field success this season.
At the same time, the offense became a “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” situation where the veterans — such as receiver Tez Johnson and offensive tackle Ajani Cornelius — aim to build on the successes from last year and help the young guys grow.
If they want to challenge the upper echelon of college football, the Ducks will need to find their new Mariota, and that is where Dillon Gabriel slots in.
Gabriel currently holds the top spot as the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, and if the sportsbooks prove correct, the Ducks will have their second-ever winner of the most prestigious award in the sport.
If he posts Mariota-level numbers — something achievable only by few in history — Oregon will find itself in a prime position to make a deep run in the College Football Playoffs.
While the existing differences between the last time the Ducks welcomed this level of expectation seem large, this team hopes to prove they are the newest embodiment of their previous success.
With new players, the same system and high expectations, the 2024 Oregon Ducks have a golden opportunity to repeat the excitement brought by Mariota, Buckner and their crew exactly 10 years ago.