Jon D. Gaede | BVN Sports
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Known for unique uniform combinations, endless offensive creativity, tenacious defenses and great success, this year’s Oregon Duck football team may be the most dominant and entertaining show on turf.
Established in 1915, the PAC-12 Athletic Conference disbanded as we have known it, making way for the dawning of a new era and the expansion of the Big-10. The Oregon Ducks have certainly handled the conference transition by defeating all comers, establishing themselves as the nation’s number one college football team and top seeded in the CFP.
Oregon (13-0) beat Penn State 43-37 in the Big-10 Championship game, earning a first round bye in the inaugural 12 team (CFP) College Football Playoff format and will play their quarterfinal game against the winner of Ohio State vs Tennessee (8th and 9th seeds) in the “Granddaddy” on January 1st.
The Oregon brand of football draws talent from Utah to the Hawaiian Islands and a dose of Southern California. For many years, local Southern California players would face former high school teammates across the line, but so much has changed since the easing of the transfer window and NIL.
The explosion of the collegiate transfer portal has reshaped the NCAA landscape as athletes seek new places to improve their chances to thrive and become a professional player.Without question, Oregon’s football program has benefitted from the trend on both sides of the ball.
Local talent Gary Bryant Jr. (Corona Centennial HS) played wide receiver and ran back kicks for USC from 2020-2022, then transferred to Oregon in 2023 as the Lincoln Riley era began in Los Angeles. Now on the roster of the nation’s number one team, Bryant has recently recovered from a leg injury in time to play in the Rose Bowl for the Ducks.
“My goal was to stay healthy, make big plays, earn the respect of my teammates and win the National Championship,” said Bryant .
Two recent transfers have made a significant impact upon Oregon’s team success, wide receiver Tez Johnson, a transfer from Troy who has caught a team leading 78 passes for 866 yards from the arm of quarterback, Dillon Gabriel. Gabriel has thrown for 3,558 yards and 28 touchdowns. Transfers Evan Stewart and Traeshon Holden caught another 86 combined.
Gabriel hails from the state of Hawaii, played two years at Oklahoma and one at UCF before using the NCAA portal to arrive in Eugene. His journey landed him on top of the college football rankings, earning an invite as a Heisman Trophy finalist. We will see his dynamic and undefeated Oregon Duck team at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.