Big Ten Check-In: Oregon out to challenge for title in debut season

The Big Ten championship race has gone through Ohio State and Michigan most years. It’s about to veer left, all the way to the West Coast.

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The Oregon Ducks are primed to make the grandest entrance of the four former Pac-12 teams joining the league. Expect they of the neon green-and-yellow uniforms to disrupt the buttoned-up tradition of college sports’ oldest conference with their flash and panache.

The Ducks already have changed the preseason conversation. No longer is Michigan-Ohio State necessarily the default game of the year. This season it very well could be preseason No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Oregon on Oct. 14.

Prolific quarterback Dillon Gabriel transferred to Oregon for his sixth, and final, season to chase conference and national championships that were out of his reach at UCF and Oklahoma.

“At a certain point you dream of the silver platter and you’re always working to get there,” Gabriel said. “Once you have it in front of you, the stage is set and you have all eyes on you and you get to showcase what you’re all about.”

There are storylines aplenty in the first year of the 18-team Big Ten.

Big picture, the conversation will be whether the conference will get as many as four teams into the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Ohio State will have a new quarterback, probably Kansas State transfer Will Howard, and motivation to not lose a fourth straight game to Michigan for the first time since 1991.

At No. 9 Michigan, Sherrone Moore takes over for Jim Harbaugh, the competition to succeed quarterback J.J. McCarthy is ongoing and the cloud of NCAA scrutiny still hovers.

Unlike Oregon, the three other newcomers from the Pac-12 are in building mode. The UW Huskies, national runner-up to Michigan, has a new coach in Jedd Fisch and just one returning starter. No. 23 Southern California moves on from No. 1 overall NFL draft pick and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams. At UCLA, the post-Chip Kelly era begins with DeShaun Foster in charge.

Caple: Five UW Huskies additions primed to contribute this season

• Top players

Offense: Oregon’s Gabriel is fourth in FBS history with 152 career TD passes. Last year he threw for 3,660 yards and 30 touchdowns with just six interceptions for the Sooners. Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka, coming off an injury-riddled season, has 124 catches for 1,857 yards and 14 touchdowns in 35 games. Rutgers RB Kyle Monangai ran for a Big Ten-leading 1,295 yards last year.

Defense: Iowa LB Jay Higgins led the Big Ten and was third nationally with a school record-tying 179 tackles. Michigan DL Mason Graham had 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks among his 36 tackles. Penn State DE Abdul Carter had 48 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, 4.5 sacks, an interception and forced fumble.

• Top transfers

In addition to Gabriel and Howard, other high-profile quarterback transfers are Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles (Oregon State), Wisconsin’s Tyler Van Dyke (Miami) and Washington’s Will Rogers (Mississippi State).

Safety Caleb Downs (Alabama) landed at Ohio State as the consensus No. 1-ranked player in the portal. Downs was the first freshman to lead the Crimson Tide in tackles. WR Jahmal Banks (Wake Forest) is the headliner of a much-improved Nebraska receiver corps. Michigan hopes Jaishawn Barham (Maryland) can fill a major void at linebacker. All-MAC DB Jalen Huskey (Bowling Green) helps shore up the Maryland secondary.

• Team on the rise

Nebraska has been mostly irrelevant for more than two decades and enters 2024 off seven straight losing seasons. The Huskers should make a big jump in Matt Rhule’s second season. The Huskers were 5-7, with five of the losses by a combined 19 points. He’s won over players and fans with his emphasis on positivity and accountability, the NIL program is strong and the talent has been upgraded. The time is right for a breakthrough.

• Mark your calendars

Penn State at West Virginia, Aug. 31; Texas at Michigan, Sept. 7; Colorado at Nebraska, Sept. 7; Alabama at Wisconsin, Sept. 14; USC at Michigan, Sept. 21; Iowa at Ohio State, Oct. 4; Michigan at UW Huskies, Oct. 5; Ohio State at Oregon, Oct. 12; Oregon at Michigan, Nov. 1; Ohio State at Penn State, Nov. 1; Notre Dame at USC, Nov. 30; Michigan at Ohio State, Nov. 30; UW Huskies at Oregon, Nov. 30.

What role does Bill Belichick have with UW Huskies? He told Pat McAfee