The season is completed December 4th, so it isn't technically midseason on the calendar, but the Ducks have played half their games. They enjoy four long preparation weeks in the second half that extend out the season:
Thursday October 21 UCLA at Oregon 6 p.m. ESPN (11 days preparation)
Saturday October 30 Oregon at USC 5 p.m. ABC (8 days preparation)
Saturday Nov. 6 UW at Oregon TBA (regular week)
Saturday Nov. 13 Oregon at Cal TBA (regular week)
Friday Nov 26 Arizona at Oregon 4 p.m. ESPN (12 days preparation)
Saturday Dec. 4 Oregon at OSU TBA (7 days preparation)
The extra recovery days will aid the team with injuries. It will be a bit of a challenge to maintain the practice and pregame routines, with the odd starts and odd intervals, but Coach Kelly and his staff are masters of organization and discipline in structuring the team's workouts and game preparation.
As we have noted previously, this schedule lays out perfectly in many ways. The Ducks alternate home and away, they got Arizona and Stanford at home, and their toughest games have come at the end of the season, giving Darron Thomas and the offense time to jell and gain experience.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about this Oregon team is, even though they're 6-0, they haven't truly jelled yet. They haven't put together a complete game this season despite playing well enough to dominate most of their games. The defense can be even more tenacious, and the offense can be more productive and explosive. They've played a little bit under wraps, in that they haven't used a lot of trickeration or misdirection to this point. They've shown variations of plays without yet using them. They've developed depth on the defense that will keep them fresh and prepared for the second half.
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