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Here’s the thing about Saturday’s 9 a.m. kickoff: It’s going to be weirder for you than it is for the Ducks.
And hey, we get it. While many of our routines involve waking up with football, we rarely wake up with Oregon football. Saturday’s 11 a.m. CDT kick will be the first time the Ducks have played this early since a 2021 trip to Ohio State. The Ducks won that one, by the way, and they’re favored this weekend against the Wildcats by 27.5 points.
Those are pretty lofty expectations for a team making its first of four trips east this season, but at the very least, the Ducks’ body clocks will be on time: Oregon’s daily practices begin at 9 a.m. in Eugene.
Redshirt freshman cornerback Ify Obidegwu said he and his group of defensive backs have been waking up at 4 a.m. and getting to the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex around 5 a.m. to force-feed the notion.
“That’s the time we’re going to be waking up anyway when the day comes,” Obidegwu said. “We’re mentally preparing ourselves throughout the week.”
Granted, that hasn’t always been the company line. I’m reminded of linebacker Troy Dye in 2019, when the Pac-12 was first talking about the potential of 9 a.m. kickoffs.
“If we played at 9 a.m., it would really be a crazy, crazy mess to be honest,” Dye said at the time. “Because you got to think, you got to have your pregame meal at least three to four hours before your game. So if the pregame meal is three to four hours before the game, that’s a 5 a.m.-6 a.m. pregame meal, like, Jesus Christ. So what time do I have to wake up? 4 o’clock. So what time do I go to bed the day before that? 6:30-7 (p.m.). Alright, then I just missed everything the day before, because we’re West Coast so everything is already behind.
“But I mean, I don’t think it’ll happen. 9 o’clock is just way too early. I think they should just play more 11 o’clock, 12 o’clock games. 9 o’clock is just absurd. But hey, if it makes money, it makes money man.”
Well, it makes money.
Our opinion? We’ll take 9 a.m. over 7:30 p.m. any day of the week.
Here’s what we’ve been up to:
It rains no more
After Peyton Woodyard secured his first pick-six interception, and after Kenny Farr had secured the game ball for Oregon’s sophomore safety, I asked Peyton’s father, Gerald, if he had ever played at Autzen.
He was a receiver at Long Beach State from 1988-1991. The answer was yes. And it didn’t go well.
“The fans were horrible because I was on the other side,” Gerald said, recalling Oregon’s 52-10 win over the 49ers in 1989. “It was cold as heck. I don’t know why they say it never rains in Autzen Stadium, because it was raining that day and it was brutal.
“I’m an old man now, but I remember getting our butts whooped. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.”
But with the way Peyton is playing, Autzen has suddenly become a happy place for the Woodyard family.
The dominating defense
I’ve seen some really good performances from Oregon’s defense over the years. There was last year’s shutout of Purdue. There was Oregon’s 51-13 win over No. 7 Arizona in the 2014 Pac-12 title game. There were the six points the Ducks limited Coach Prime and Colorado to in 2023.
But I thought Oregon’s 69-3 win over Oklahoma State, a game that saw the Ducks limit the Cowboys to 67 passing yards, was up there with the best I’ve seen. And in this week’s Lookout Lookback, Oregon coach Dan Lanning thought so, too.
“Ultimately, it’s one of our better defensive performances since we’ve been here,” Lanning said. “I thought the coaching staff was really dialed. [Defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi] and the staff did a good job of knowing what we wanted to be able to prevent. You know, this has been a team that’s usually able to create a lot of explosive plays. You didn’t necessarily see them today.”
“I was complimenting Oregon”
There was plenty of talk leading up to Oregon’s game against Oklahoma State. And for the most part, the Ducks leaned into it — not only with Lanning telling his team that it never hurts to pour a little gasoline on a fire, but with the Autzen sound system playing a barrage of money-related songs throughout the afternoon.
Afterwards, columnist Mark Baker went to the Oklahoma State press conference to talk to the coach who started this all — after the worst loss of his career.
“I think they’re pretty good,” Mike Gundy said of the Ducks.
INSIDE look
Make sure to check out this week’s episode of our weekly series Inside Look. This week, Ken Woody and I take a look at the balance of Oregon’s offense, what the Ducks can still work on, and whether or not we have another blowout coming Saturday.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“When I come out on Saturday at 9 a.m., I’m punching somebody in the mouth right from the jump.”
— Oregon offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon
UPCOMING GAMES
- Ducks volleyball at San Diego State • 7 p.m. • Thursday
- Ducks volleyball at Long Beach State • 7 p.m. • Friday
- Ducks football at Northwestern • 9 a.m. • Saturday
- Ducks volleyball at UC Riverside • 4 p.m. • Saturday
- Ducks soccer at UCLA • 6 p.m. • Saturday
- Ducks’ women’s golf at Jackson T. Stephens Cup • Mon-Wed
STORIES I’m WORKING ON
Oregon is set to travel more than any team in the Big Ten this season. Coming on Friday, a story about how players and coaches make the most of their time in the air.
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Make sure to set your alarm,
Tyson