A year ago at this time, the Ducks were 5-1 and number 12 in the country.
Today they are 5-1, alone in first place in the PAC-12 North, and ranked 12th in both the Coaches and AP Poll.
The 2018 squad suffered a 3-game slump on the road dropped them out of the Top 25 and contention for the Rose Bowl.
This year's team has better depth and a stronger culture. Interviewed after the game by Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman, Penei Sewell talked about the bond and the purpose that binds the Ducks as they gear up for the challenges ahead of them.
Sewell said, “We really love each other on this team. Hard times, we’ve just got to come together."
Over the next three weeks, the Ducks face Washington in Seattle. recent nemesis Washington State in Autzen, and USC at The Coliseum. Win those three, and they've locked up the North Division and a slot in the PAC-12 Championship.
Continue to improve and develop as a football team while avoiding another mid-season slump, and Oregon can make it all the way back as a football team, establish themselves as a national program with a bright future.
The loss of Jake Breeland to a left knee injury makes the challenge greater. The players immediately behind him on the depth chart don't have a scintilla of his pass-catching ability.
Jacob Eason is no Gardner Minshew, but the threat he poses to Oregon's dream season is eerily similar. Last year the Ducks went flat at midseason and played three clunker games. There's every reason to believe they'll be better prepared for that challenge this time.
In conference play, you have to bring it every week. Beating Washington is the pivotal opportunity on Oregon's schedule. It legitimizes everything they're trying to do.
This morning they are a three-point favorite on the road. Washington got something going in the second half against an error-prone Arizona squad in Tucson. They had a late flight home Sunday morning.
