Greg McElroy argues Oregon's credentials as a national championship contender

ESPN’s Greg McElroy argued Oregon’s credentials to go on another run this year and be a national championship contender. The Ducks are firmly in the mix.

Coming off a Big Ten title and being the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Oregon has expectations to win it all this year. Dan Lanning has improved the team each year as head coach and this year should be no different in his mind.

The Ducks have some questions, but McElroy seems confident in what they can do. Oregon’s schedule doesn’t seem too daunting either.

“To make your Big Ten debut, to go run the table throughout the regular season, to beat Ohio State, to beat Michigan, to beat Penn State, all in the same season, that’s a difficult thing to do,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “I know it was not great there in the Rose Bowl, but you can tell that this program has been building tremendously with what Dan Lanning’s done over the last few years. You based also kind of on player averages and who’s getting recruited from elsewhere and some of the pieces they decided to add in the portal. Everything looks quite good for the Ducks again this season. 

“Look, quarterback is the big question mark offensively. Bo Nix two years ago, Dillon Gabriel, we knew what those guys were these last couple years. And now all sides point to Dante Moore becoming the guy. He’s a five-star guy, started a couple of games at UCLA a couple years ago, spent last year as the understudy to Dillon Gabriel, he’s going to be challenged by Austin Novosad, but I still think this is a guy that has all the pieces in what should be a very quarterback friendly offense for Dan Lanning and Will Stein, the offensive coordinator.”

McElroy doubled down on his schedule take, being it is manageable for Oregon even if the Ducks are, hypothetically, not as good as last year. 

“They’ll go to Penn State, SC comes to them, they’ll go to Iowa, they’re at Washington, I think the schedule is not a killer, because you avoid Ohio State, Michigan, two teams you played last year,” McElroy said. “But I still think where some of these games are, when they are, how much travel, Wisconsin at home, Minnesota at home, Indiana at home … They’re at Rutgers, they’re at Northwestern, I don’t think they lose any of those games, but non-conference games against Oklahoma State and Oregon State also make it a little difficult knowing that they are playing. 

“I know Oregon State is not traditionally a Power Four team right now. That’s a big rivalry game … So I look at Oregon, I think they’ll be back, I’d be shocked if they’re not. If they lose any more than two games, I’d be surprised.”