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Kirk Herbstreit questions how good Oregon is

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh10 hours agogriffin_mcveigh
Oregon HC Dan Lanning
Ben Lonergan | The Register-Guard | USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

November is usually when questions get answered in college football. And at the beginning of the month, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit has one for Oregon. He is not exactly sure how good the Ducks are right now when looking at the resume. If anything, Herbstreit believes we might think highly of Oregon due to preconceived notions.

“I don’t know how good Oregon is,” Herbstreit said. “I think we’ve been trained to think Oregon is good. They’ve had a great history, some great teams, and we all bow down to Autzen Stadium. You don’t go there and win. And we’re going to find out Saturday, by the way. They go to Iowa City and they could lose there very easily if they don’t find their offense, especially on the road.”

Record-wise, Oregon looks pretty good at 7-1 overall. However, the resume does not bring too many impressive wins. Dan Lanning going into a sold-out Happy Valley during White Out was big at the time, still facing Drew Allar and James Franklin. Neither of them is really around at the moment, due to an injury and being fired. The Penn State win has not aged nicely.

From there, Indiana goes down as the only team within the College Football Playoff conversation that Oregon has played. The Hoosiers went into Eugene and came out their their own massive road victory.

As Herbstreit mentioned, the Iowa game might be one to watch. Going to Kinnick Stadium is not for the faint of heart this time of year. It’s one Herbstreit could see them dropping if the offense does not pick things up.

He then got into the long-term implications of losing another game. Two losses in a power conference proved to be enough in last year’s CFP, thanks to the expansion. Herbstreit is not so sure Oregon can rely on the same, though, given they were slotted at No. 9 on Tuesday night.

“I don’t think they can lose another game,” Herbstreit said. “I really don’t think they can lose another football game coming up here. If they lost another one, Oregon might slide in a big way and not have a chance to really recover.”

Of course, winning out would eliminate any kind of doubt. After the Iowa game, Minnesota on a Friday night takes place at home. From there, two massive rivalries against vs. USC and Washington are on the schedule, split in venues.