Oregon's national brand hits the mainstream
The Ducks are being elevated from Featured Player to Cast Member.
The Oregon crowd helped win that one, no doubt about it.
Despite a bit of red inside the bowl, the Autzen Stadium crowd went full jet engine on Saturday. We tried to warn those coming from Columbus — and the roar in Eugene led to some of the better internet memes in the days after Oregon’s 32-31 win.
From Zach Neel over at Ducks Wire:
That’s good stuff, and it showed the rest of the country what everyone around here already knew: Despite its size, Oregon has as good of a home-field advantage as anyone in the nation.
But as the Oregon Ducks rose to No. 2 this week, and those lofty preseason expectations are beginning to feel more plausible, there will be a time when that edge becomes moot.
The Big Ten Championship game is held in Indianapolis. If the current rankings hold, the Ducks would have a first-round bye in the playoffs and play their first game at a bowl location. And while this weekend proved that Oregon is no longer playing catch-up when it comes to talent, depth and coaching, these are the games where you will see where Oregon still needs to go.