The Rereadables: The expectations for the Oregon Ducks in the Big Ten began with the national title

A year later, the Ducks are still hunting.

Welcome back to The I-5 Corridor’s Rereadables, where we periodically revisit some of our favorite stories from over the years with updated thoughts and footnotes. With Ohio State defeating Notre Dame 34-23 Monday night in the National Championship game, I wanted to go back and revisit the first column I wrote of 2024 through the lens of what we know now.

Here’s our original post from Jan. 9, 2024.

(Editor’s note: If you read this story on the web or on the app, footnotes will show when you hover over the number. It’s much less scrolling than in e-mail.)

Oregon found itself in a weird place for a few years there. 

The Chip Kelly¹ era gave the Ducks an unheralded four-year run where they were (almost) as good as anyone in the country. It raised Oregon’s profile to that of a national brand, one known for its uniform combinations, up-tempo offense and a growing list of on-campus amenities. 

It also raised expectations to a point where a large faction of the fanbase echoed the sentiments of players like De’Anthony Thomas, who viewed a potential Rose Bowl berth in 2013 through a different lens than just about any other era of Oregon football. 

“It’s not a big deal at all,” Thomas said then. “We already won a Rose Bowl, so I feel like it’s whatever.”