Wednesday War Room: Time, Tide, and the Shape of the 2027 Cycle

 

2026 SCHEDULE THOUGHTS

The Big Ten released schedules yesterday and some of the notes are interesting. First, unless something changes, the Ducks do not have any games currently scheduled for Friday night. I kind of like an occasional Friday night game. They have a different vibe and tend to be filled by some local folks who don’t get the chance to go to other games. But they are not great for those of us that travel down for games. I can do it because I have an RV spot and it works for me – but it is still a tough game if you are not staying overnight.

The other thing that stands out right away is that there is only one bye week in 2026. Coincidentally, Oregon plays both Los Angeles schools on each side of the bye, so there will be a great chance for the Ducks to play in front of Southern California players one week and then hosting them for their next conference game.

The more interesting thing to me is the November schedule: at Ohio State, Michigan at Autzen, at Michigan State, and ending with Washington. I don’t think it gives any particular advantage one way or the other – as we saw in 2025 – weather in Eugene in November is not necessarily going to be great and this is sort of an even playing field. The intriguing thing to me is seeing the Ohio State game so late in the season. It’s almost like the Big Ten is looking to set their teams up to be as highly rated as possible heading into November to protect against those strange November bounces. This also sets up for Oregon and Ohio State to play on Big Noon Saturday for their November 7 matchup.

The Ducks don’t play two consecutive road games and none of their travel goes further east than Columbus. The change in total miles traveled is not drastic, but the schedule sets up well for the Ducks to have a solid run early in the season. Get by USC, then there is a bye week followed by three of four games at home before the big trip to Ohio State.

Somehow, Oregon will have Chip Kelly on the sidelines once again as the offensive coordinator for Northwestern – and I love the quiet irony that the game is being played on Halloween – after all, it was Fright Night 2009 when much of the nation saw the Ducks in an entirely different light. That was Kelly’s first year as a head coach and the Ducks romped past USC 47-20 behind the rushing of LaMichael James (24-183) and Jeremiah Masoli (13-164) for a team total of 391 rushing yards. To see Kelly on the downside of his career return to Autzen on Halloween will have a bit of melancholy to the moment.

Indeed, as Chaucer wrote, time and tide wait for no man.

There’s something cruel in how simple that truth is. Time doesn’t argue. It doesn’t explain itself. It doesn’t look back to see who is struggling to keep up or who needed just a moment longer. It moves forward without ceremony, carrying seasons away, dulling sharp memories, and leaving absence where certainty once lived. We don’t fall behind because we are careless — we fall behind because time was never meant to wait. And in that inevitability is the melancholy: not that time moves on, but that it does so whether we are ready or not.

SIGNING DAY

A decade ago, next week was Christmas in February for college football fans. Now it is mostly anticlimactic. There will be a couple of new signees next week, but mostly it will be a chance for the staff to get out and meet with fans at different events around the state celebrating the 2026 class and looking forward to the future.

While it is certainly plausible for me to attend at least one of them, this night should not be about a reporter trying to get some weird connection. It is a chance for fans and the staff to mingle and celebrate the new class. I have been invited many times over the past 15 years, I just feel that we should let the moment be for whom it is designed.

RECRUITING THOUGHTS

I love the way that the 2027 recruiting cycle is shaping up for Oregon. The Oregon staff have been building relationships for four years now and it is starting to show in how they make offers. There is no rush, because the relationships are strong enough that no one feels slighted when the Ducks start making offers in early January. The staff were very focused all season on winning, finishing up the 2026 class and getting started on 2027, but they did not lose sight of their present just to chase the future.

Of all the people I spoke with in Hawaii, it was clear that the messaging for Oregon is as strong as ever and the staff still resonate with recruits.

VISITOR LIST FOR JANUARY 31:

·         DL Marcus Fakatou (CA)

·         WR Xavier Sabb (NJ)

·         QB Will Mencl (AZ)

·         WR Julian Caldwell (TX)

·         DB Myles Baker (CA)

·         TE Jaxon Dollar (NC)

·         DL Cam Pritchett (AL)

·         LB Brayton Feister (OH) (visit status TBD)

·         OL Gecova Doyal (WA)

·         DB Danny Lang (CA)

·         LB Toa Satele (HI)

·         WR Zion White (FL)

·         RB Javion Jones-Priest (TX)

·         DB Kamauri Whitfield (FL)

·         OL Reis Russell (CO)

·         OL Drew Fielder (CA)