Taking a look ahead at the Oregon Ducks schedule is certainly fun, as the season is rapidly approaching. For Oregon, their schedule will be a test that provides plenty of opportunities for success, featuring a pair of offseason additions in new star quarterback Dillon Gabriel and No. 1 wide receiver Evan Stewart .
Attempting to kick the door in and prove to be a powerhouse in the Big Ten, how will the Ducks fare in their 2024 season?
Oregon Ducks 2024 schedule prediction
Week 1: vs. University of Idaho
Oregon gave themselves a tune-up game in Week 1 going against University of Idaho, a team that went 9-4 last season and finished second in the Big Sky Conference.
This game isn't expected to be close, with the Ducks currently sitting as a -43.5 favorite. Oregon should clean up in this game, but how they perform will begin to shape the narratives around this team. How will Gabriel look in his first game in the Will Stein offense? Is the run game looking strong with new lead back Jordan James? There will be takeaways from this game, even if they do win handily.
Prediction: Win.
Week 2: vs. Boise State
Going up against Boise State is a bit of a classic west coast matchup, with plenty of shared memories between these two programs, which Big Ten fans probably won't be familiar with.
The Ducks stay home for their second consecutive game, and once again should be able to cruise through this matchup, but the Broncos have some players worth paying attention to. They were able to get former 5-star quarterback Malachi Nelson in the transfer portal from USC, and they bring back stud running back Ashton Jeanty, who truly is one of the best running backs in the country.
Key to this game for the ducks: shut down the run, or Boise State might be able to surprise people and hang around longer than expected.
Prediction: Win.
Week 3: @ Oregon State
With the Pac-12 going defunct, I'm glad that Oregon and Oregon State made it a priority to keep the Civil War game going. Oregon State is one of two teams remaining in the Pac-12, but they lost a ton of key players in the transfer portal who jumped ship with the conference realignment.
Oregon will have a quick drive up I-5 to Corvallis where they should be able to handily get past their in-state rivals.
Prediction: Win.
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: @ UCLA
The fourth game of the season, and the Ducks finally have to travel outside the state of Oregon, but they don't have to go far – staying on the west coast, the Ducks flock down to Pasadena for a matchup with the former Pac-12 UCLA Bruins, who now join them in the Big Ten.
UCLA saw a big step forward on defense last year, but nine defensive starters, as well as the defensive coordinator, along with head coach Chip Kelly, left the program this offseason.
Prediction: Win.
Week 6: vs. Michigan State
Week 5, and Oregon finally lines up against a traditional Big Ten school, as they host Michigan State at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.
The Spartans enter the year with questionable line play on both sides, and Oregon's athletic pass rushers should be able to wreak havoc in this game.
Prediction: Win.
Week 7: vs. Ohio State
Another week, another game still on the west coast, and Oregon gets their first huge test as they welcome Ohio State to town. This is the biggest game of the year for the Ducks, and likely for Ohio State as well, as the two teams that are the favorites to win the conference will line up against each other.
This is a tough one. Ohio State is well coached, and is full of elite talent all over the field. For the Buckeyes, who seem to continuously fall just short year after year, they have massive national championship aspirations and are being held to that standard. Anything less than winning the CFP would be unacceptable in their eyes.
The biggest question for Ohio State this year will be quarterback play, which is still an ongoing competition between grad transfer Will Howard and Julian Sayin, but it looks like Howard will win the job.
Ohio State figures to play a punishing style of football with an elite running back duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, both of whom will hear their names called in the 2025 NFL Draft. This will be the biggest test of the year for Oregon, and I'm not sure, at this juncture, if their defense can hold on in this one. They absolutely CAN win this game, but I'm giving the edge to Ohio state.
Prediction: Loss.
Week 8: @ Purdue
In this scenario, the Ducks come off their first loss of the year in Week 6, and would be traveling to the Midwest for the first time this season. Spoiler: Oregon does a lot of traveling for the rest of the schedule to make up for not leaving the West Coast for the first two months of the season.
Purdue had the worst defense in the Big Ten last year against the pass, allowing 241.5 passing yards per game, while also allowing 30.4 points per game. Simply put, their defense doesn't have the ability to hang with Oregon's high-flying offense, and this will provide a potential get-right game situation for the Ducks if they do drop their Week 7 matchup against Ohio Sate.
Prediction: Win
Weel 9: vs. Illinois
Illinois provides an opportunity for Oregon to continue their momentum, as the Fighting Illini have only four winning seasons since 2001.
Illinois lost their two receivers with the most receiving yards on the team last year, and the defense lost their two star defensive tackled in Jer'Zhan Newton and Keith Randolph to the NFL. I fully expect that Oregon will be able to win in a variety of ways against this team and shouldn't have any difficulty.
The only thing to be mindful of here is the potential for a trap game. This team can't have it's eyes looking past Illinois to a road trip to Michigan the following week, but I expect Dan Lanning to make sure the focus is locked in on the task at hand.
Prediction: Win.
Week 10: @ Michigan
Oregon's second-biggest test of the season is a big one, traveling to The Big House to square off with last year's national champions Michigan Wolverines. Michigan isn't the same squad as last year, sending tons of talent, including quarterback J.J. McCarthy, to the NFL, but this team is still chalk full of studs and has one of the nastiest defenses in all of college football.
Oregon's defense will have its hands full with the Michigan run game, which will feature Donovan Edwards out of the backfield. If the Ducks are able to at least slow down the running game while also getting their own ground attack rolling, I think they'll find themselves in a good spot to pull off a big road victory.
Prediction: Win.
Week 11: vs. Maryland
This is another spot where Oregon is going to have to be careful with their emotions, as it's easy to see Oregon dealing with a high-stress, high-emotion game the week before. Lanning will once again need to make sure his team is locked in and ready to go, which will be easier to do back in the comfort of Autzen.
Maryland shouldn't cause Oregon much trouble, however, their secondary is always a strength that has to be accounted for.
Prediction: Win.
Week 12: @ Wisconsin
Last year's Wisconsin team wouldn't blow anybody away on offense, but their defense was stout. They held opponents to only 20.2 points per game, and limited opposing offenses to 6.5 yards per pass.
They brought in Tyler Van Dyke at quarterback to try and improve on offense, but this should still be a game that the Ducks are able to attack with relative ease.
Prediction: Win.
Week 13: Bye
Week 14: vs. Washington
Oregon finishing their year at home against their most hated rival in the Washington Huskies, on a weekend where plenty of College Football Playoff hopes and a potential bid to the Big Ten Championship game on the line is just wonderful scheduling by the schedule makers. Seriously, no notes.
Washington will hardly look the same as they did last year. Last year's head coach Kalen DeBoer is now running the show in Alabama in the first year of the post-Saban era, and quarterback Michael Penix Jr, starting wide receivers Rome Odunze, Ja'Lynn Polk, and Jalen McMillan, and running back Dillon Johnson all went pro. The team is a shell of its former self.
Still, in a rivalry game, nothing is a gimme. Washington will absolutely get up and give Oregon the biggest fight that they can in hopes of playing spoiler. Despite that, I'm still giving this one to Oregon.
Prediction: Win.
Season record: 11-1, rematch with Ohio State in the Big Ten Conference Championship Game for a potential bid to the CFP.
Related: Predicting the Oregon Ducks' offense two deep depth chart as they prepare for the 2024 college football season
Follow along all year for more Oregon Ducks coverage on A to Z Sports. You can find me on X @JonHelmkamp , as well as follow our main page @AtoZSportsNFL for all the latest news.
Local Oregon State
Most Popular
Comments / 0