Heading Out to Oregon!

Eugene, Oregon. Home to just over 156,000 people, and 155 sunny days per year (the national average is 205), does not sound like the ideal destination for the best high school football players in the country. The University of Oregon, however, has now become a college football destination, and the next stop for the Gameday Guru!

To understand how impressive the Oregon football program is, let’s look at a few comparisons:

Most big-time football programs build their success on in-state, high school talent. Oregon, however, has very little elite talent to draw from. According to Rivals.com, the state of Oregon has produced 18 high school football players ranked in their respective positions (8 in the top 10) from the 2010 class through the class of 2013. Meanwhile in only the 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes, Florida, Texas, and California each had over 40 high school recruits ranked in their position’s top 10.

The Duck’s home, Autzen Stadium, holds 54,000 fans. Bryant Denny Stadium (Alabama) seats 101,000. The Horseshoe (Ohio State) has a capacity of 102,000. The Coliseum (USC) holds 90,000, and the Swamp (Florida) hosts 89,000.

Undesirable weather, very little in-state talent, a smaller stadium, and maybe even less tradition, but still, the Oregon Ducks compete with the traditional powerhouses in college football both on the field and in the stands.

As the story goes, the Oregon football program began its rise to prominence in 1994. On a Saturday afternoon in Autzen Stadium, #3 Washington trailed the Ducks 20-24. Driving down the field to win the game, Washington QB Duane Huard threw an interception to Oregon’s Kenny Wheaton. The redshirt freshman returned the interception for a touchdown, sealing the win for the Ducks.

As Oregon’s football momentum continued to build on the field, the Ducks needed to establish an identity to attract recruits from around the country.  But how could they do this without the rich, historic, tradition of a national powerhouse, such as Notre Dame, Alabama, or Texas? 

Enter, Nike. Let the uniform transformation begin. 

The Oregon uniforms became a little more unique in 2000 

A little more aggressive in 2006-2008

And today, they have the most distinct, creative, (awesome?) uniforms in the country.

The exciting uniforms and high-speed offense in Eugene have created one of the loudest, most electric stadium atmospheres in the country.

How loud is Autzen Stadium? In 2007 against USC, the Oregon faithful registered crowd noise at 127.2 decibels. The pain threshold begins at 125 decibels.

On October 5^th, the Gameday Guru heads out to Eugene to see how a small town in the Pacific Northwest does gameday. What makes a stadium that only holds 54,000 people so loud? How does the University of Oregon create such great energy in the stadium?

Stay tuned to see what makes the Oregon Ducks one of the most unique programs in the country!