Oregon Ducks - NCAA Football Odds, Lines & Betting

The Ducks were flying along last season at 7-2 before falling out of the sky with four straight losses to end the season. The freefall ending was capped with a 30-point clubbing at the hands of BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. Last year's ninth-ranked offense faltered badly down the stretch and the 42nd-ranked defense was anything but stingy during that same time period.

On offense, Oregon will rely on running backs Jonathan Stewart (981 yards) and Jeremiah Johnson (644 yards) to get the job done out of the backfield. Dennis Dixon is back at quarterback, but after chucking 14 picks and just 12 TD passes, conventional wisdom would suggest he isn't exactly a lock to keep the job. Look for Brady Leaf to be waiting with his helmet just in case Dixon’s TD/INT ratio doesn’t improve. To help him reverse the trend, Dixon will have the likes of receivers Brian Paysinger, Jordan Kent and Jaison Williams to haul in passes. Patrick Chung (four interceptions) and Jairus Byrd (five picks) return to the backfield and will be expected to be major contributors to a defense desperately trying to forget the 140 points given in those final fateful four games.

Up front, the Ducks have more questions than answers. They will need to improve on a rank of 78th against the run. Another question is how Oregon can compensate for the losses of last season's leader in tackles Blair Phillips and three others who ranked in the Top 5 of that category. Don't look for much more than a middle-of-the-pack finish. Even if they can exorcise their demons from last season, the Ducks will have a devil of a time filling holes on defense and likely won’t be much of a threat to any of the Pac 10 powerhouses.

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