Remember the early 2010s in the college football universe? It was a time before the BCS became antiquated, when Northern Illinois was a virtual lock to appear in the MAC Championship Game, when the Big East remained in operation, and when Oregon vs. Stanford was a perennial Top 10 matchup.
From conference realignment to creative uniform redesigns to the dawn of social media marketing, it was most importantly a time for experiment and transitioning for the century-old sport. But one revolutionary idea from the early 2010s didn’t quite survive to the 2020s.
Under former head coach Chip Kelly, and eventually his successor Mark Helfrich, the Oregon Ducks seemed to be the poster child to represent modern innovation of college football.