SAN FRANCISCO — Oregon’s entire starting offensive line will be back in 2019.

Left guard Shane Lemieux announced he would return for his senior season, joining fellow redshirt-juniors Calvin Throckmorton and Jake Hanson in returning for next year.

“(I) couldn’t really turn down the opportunity that we have going forward, especially with this bowl game, that’s what I want the focus to be on,” Lemieux said. “Especially Justin (Herbert) coming back and a lot of the other guys, really will set the tone with this bowl game into next year.”

It was not an unexpected move as Lemieux said last week he wanted to stay and the NFL College Advisory Committee recommended he return to school but that he wanted to discuss it further with his teammates.

Lemieux started all 12 games at left guard and is the sixth-ranked offensive guard nationally (80.5), according to Pro Football Focus.

He also cited his relationship with Ducks coach Mario Cristobal, who served as offensive line coach in 2017 and still works extensively with the group, as a factor in his decision to return.

“He’s like a best friend to me,” Lemieux said. "He’s talked this year about laying the foundation where we want our program to go. I want to come back in 10 years or so when we’re winning national championships every year and we turn into this dynasty like Alabama or these other schools and really say, ‘We started that.’ A lot of these seniors right here are going to look back at the foundation that we started.

“I think we owe a lot to our fans, a lot to coach Cristobal, to these redshirt-juniors staying back and Justin staying, that changes a lot.”