College football preview: Predicting the first loss for every Top 25 team

College football 2018 preview: Predicting the first loss for every Top 25 team

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 01: UCF Golden Knights quarterback McKenzie Milton (10) celebrates a touchdown during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the UCF Knights and the Auburn War Eagles on January 1, 2017 at Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert (10) (Photo by: Marc Sanchez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Even with a 1,400-yard rusher in Royce Freeman, Oregon was embarrassingly bad in the Pac-12 last season. Yes, Justin Herbert missed five games with a broken collarbone but it’s hard to pin losses like the 49-7 and 38-3 drubbings that Stanford and Washington delivered last season on the loss of one player.

Herbert will be healthy (at least coming into the season), Oregon brings back numerous starters on both sides of the ball and they play both Stanford and Washington at home in 2018. Both games will likely be much closer than in 2017, but the Ducks aren’t going to have enough on defense to slow down, much less stop either team.

Stanford running back Bryce Love was held relatively in check (by his standards) against Oregon in 2017. After only running for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns, he’ll be looking for a better showing this season. Quarterback K.J. Costello who came on strong for the Cardinal at the end of last season is expected to start this season.

They lost a couple key players from last year’s defense and even if they can’t rebound from the losses completely, Stanford’s offense should be built to handle winning if games turn into shootouts.

Stanford’s Week 3 visit to Eugene will bring Oregon their first loss of 2018.