Ranking the Top 100 College Football Teams for 2018: No. 28 Oregon

In the 100 days leading up to the kickoff of the college football season on Saturday, Aug. 25, HERO Sports is ranking the top 100 teams in the FBS. Each day, starting May 17 and ending Aug. 24, a new team is revealed in the HERO Sports Top 100. 

No. 28 Oregon

Oregon had two coaches from 1977-2008. They've had four since then.

The Ducks enter year one of the Mario Cristobal era with a potential Heisman candidate at quarterback, strong offensive line, and two of the best defensive players in the country. Those pieces — plus a cupcake non-conference schedule — give them a real chance of returning to nine wins for the first time since 2015.

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2017 Record: 7-6 (4-5, Pac-12)

A season with the third-fewest wins of the last two decades never felt so good. 

Oregon rebounded from the previous year's debacle by returning to a bowl game while reminding everyone there's still a ton of talent in Eugene. Though four of their five Pac-12 losses came by at least 17 points — including a 35-point shellacking at Washington (combined score of their last two meetings is 108-24) — they walloped a good Utah team and beat Arizona by 20.

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Head Coach: Mario Cristobal (1st Year)

Since Mario Cristobal was fired after winning only 27 games over six seasons at FIU, he's been the associate head coach at Alabama, offensive coordinator at Oregon and now head coach at Oregon. Not a bad rebound for the now-47-year-old former Miami (FL) lineman.

After Willie Taggart's departure for Florida State, Oregon players made it clear they wanted Cristobal promoted to head coach. They got their wish.

"He loves us and we love him and we have a lot of respect for him," junior offensive lineman Shane Lemieux said after Cristobal was introduced as head coach in December. "The last couple days we've all been kind of car salesman like, 'Man this guy is crazy! He's the best guy I've ever met!' Everything he does is great."

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Player Losses

RB Royce Freeman, OT Tyrell Crosby, DT Henry Mondreaux, LB Jonah Moi, CB Arrion Springs

Four seasons, 64 touchdowns and 6,400 total yards later, Royce Freeman's sensational career finally ended in December. Eighty-two picks after Freeman was drafted by the Denver Broncos, teammate Tyrell Crosby was drafted by the Detroit Lions, giving the Ducks multiple picks in six of the last seven years.

Defensively, they lost active defensive tackle Henry Mondreaux, who had 16.5 tackles for loss the last three seasons, linebacker Jonah Moi (5.5 sacks were second on the team last year) and corner Arrion Springs (44 career passes defended).

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Returning Offensive Players

QB Justin Herbert, RB Tony Brooks-James, RB Kani Benoit, WR Dillon Mitchell, WR Johnny Johnson, TE Jake Breeland, C Jake Hanson

Cristobal retained several of Taggart's assistants, including quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo. The former Oklahoma State assistant primarily runs a spread option that includes a mix of stretch runs, downhill rushing attack (powered by gigantic linemen), pistol formations, quarterback options and more. 

While comparing last year's numbers means little because the system will be much different, they must be better on third downs (40 percent) and against the pass rush (7.8 sack rate) keep scoring early (averaged 9.8 points in the first quarter last year, 10th nationally) so they can control the running game.

The leader is junior quarterback Justin Herbert, the potential No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft. A big (6-foot-6, 223 pounds) pro-style passer — though he's capable of scrambling — Herbert excelled in Taggart's "Gulf Coast" offense that relied on misdirection, pump fakes and options. He averaged nearly 10 yards per attempt while completing 68 percent of his passes.

"We know how special he can be,” said Cristobal in December. “The best part about him is he’s hungry and not content. He wants to be better at everything he does. The other nice thing about him is he’s so smart. His football IQ is incredible.”

Despite the departure of Royce Freeman, they're in good shape at running back with the return of Tony Brooks-James. The shifty senior is averaging nearly seven yards per carry in his career and is deadly out of the backfield as a receiver.

While five of their six most productive pass-catchers return, they need a vertical threat to emerge. That could be sophomore Johnny Johnson, a 6-foot, 194-pounder who averaged 14.2 yards per reception in his first season.

Guards Shane Lemieux and Calvin Throckmorton — both are the best players in the FBS for their respective numbers — and center Jake Hanson (healthy after battling an injury in spring practice) anchor one of the strongest interior lines in the country.

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Returning Defensive Players

DE Jalen Jenks, DE Austin Faoliu, DT Jordon Scott, LB Troy Dye, LB Justin Hollins, LB La'Mar Winston, CB Thomas Graham Jr., CB Deommodore Lenoir, S Ugo Amadi

Cristobal hit the jackpot when defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt agreed to remain in Eugene on a reworked deal that includes a $1.7 million annual salary through 2021. So, actually, maybe it was Leavitt who hit the jackpot. 

Check out the improvements last year:

Red Zone: 90 percent (2016), 82 percent (2017)
Points Per Play: 0.51 (2016), 0.4 (2017)
Yards Per Play: 6.4 (2016), 5.0 (2017)
Third Down: 49.3 percent (2016), 34.3 percent (2017)
Yards Per Rush Attempt: 5.9 (2016), 3.5 (2017)
Sack Rate: 5.4 percent (2016), 6.5 percent (2017)
Takeaways Per Game: 1.0 (2016), 1.9 (2017)

And they should improve again with the return of Jalen Jenks (team-high 15 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks) and Jordon Scott (FWAA Fresman All-America) up front, and Justin Hollins (11 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks), La'Mar Winston Jr. (eight tackles for loss) and Troy Dye (107 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, four sacks) at linebacker.

Dye (below) became the first Oregon player to lead the team in tackles in consecutive seasons since 1992 and was one of only three FBS players with at least 100 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, four sacks, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

The secondary is relying on several sophomores — like most of other position groups (Jordon Scott, Austin Faoliu, Johnny Johnson to name a few) — including corner Thomas Graham, but the leader is senior safety Ugo Amadi.

"I feel like we’re for sure going to be better than last season and I think we should be number one in the Pac-12,” Jordon Scott said. “That’s my plans and hopes, and that’s what Leavitt wants us to do, too. We have high expectations, and that’s how it’s always going to be.”

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Player Additions

QB Tyler Shough, WR Tabari Hines, TE Kano Dillon, LB D.J. Johnson

Oregon added a few grad transfers, among them Tabari Hines (Wake Forest) and Kano Dillon (USF). The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Hines had 123 receptions over three seasons, and Dillon, a big tight end (6-foot-5, 262 pounds) has 504 yards and four touchdowns in his college career.

Elsewhere, sophomore outside linebacker D.J. Johnson arrived from Miami (FL) and was granted immediate eligibility. He's also capable of playing end behind Jalen Jenks. And keep an eye on the development of true freshman quarterback Tyler Shough, who's battling sophomore Braxton Burmeister for the No. 2 spot. 

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Schedule

After barreling through the easiest non-conference schedules in the country, Stanford comes to Eugene, where they throttled the Ducks two years ago (and last year in Stanford). Stanford has won four the last six matchups.

They miss USC from the Pac-12 South but still get, arguably, the division's next three best teams in Utah, Arizona and UCLA, though the bottom half of that division could be historically weak.