ARLINGTON, Texas — For all the expectations the 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks have for this season, there will first be a flashback to their championship near-misses of the past when they open against No. 16 Auburn.
When the Ducks last played in the home stadium of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys five seasons ago with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota, they lost to Ohio State in the first championship game of the four-team College Football Playoff era.
Oregon also played a season opener at the North Texas stadium in 2011, the middle of three consecutive 12-win seasons under coach Chip Kelly. That loss to LSU came only about eight months after they were again on the verge of a national title, and lost in the BCS Championship Game to Auburn.
Gus Malzahn, going into his seventh season as head coach of the Tigers, was their offensive coordinator for that 2010 championship.
“Sometimes in the offseason, you reflect back on certain things. But that was a while ago, and of course, those are great memories,” Malzahn said. “But they’re different now, and we’re a little different now.”
The Ducks are the highest-ranked Pac-12 team and the North Division favorite. They go into Saturday night’s game, the opener of coach Mario Cristobal’s second season, after closing last season on a three-game winning streak and finishing 9-4.
Malzahn is feeling some heat at Auburn after going 8-5 last year, another disappointing record for the Tigers, who in his first season as coach in 2013 played in the last BCS title game (a 34-31 loss to Florida State). Five SEC teams are ranked higher than Auburn.
Quarterback Justin Herbert, a potential first-round NFL draft pick, opted to stay at Oregon for his senior season. That was just another reason Cristobal, his third coach with the Ducks, is confident this team can meet expectations.
“Culture and the work invested. I think there’s no hocus pocus to it. We feel that we’ve gone to a system, we’ve gone to a blueprint that’s demanding but at the same time not demeaning,” Cristobal said. “It’s very encouraging, develops guys at a very high level and you see that. … I think with that you build trust, you build confidence and therefore you execute better.”
