Good Luck Ducks, Week 9: Ute Talkin' to Me?

Your eighth ranked Ducks hit the road again to tackle a familiar ranked foe. 

 

Oregon bounced back last week from a really tough-to-stomach road loss by winning in relevantly uneventful fashion against the Washington State Cougars, one of the two surviving members of the Pac-12(er 2) Conference. Nearly everyone in the conference is really good this season, which makes the rest of the Ducks schedule quite the minefield. Even the two weaker opponents left to go (Cal, ASU) seem like potential trap games at the very least, and home games against USC (ehhh) and the last ever (?) Civil War meeting with the Beavers are still lurking. And yet, today's game at Utah could be the biggest one.

The Utes are eyeing their third straight conference title, a position that Oregon has frequently been in especially since the conference expanded to twelve teams over a decade ago. While the Ducks squeaked out a victory last season, there has to be a little something extra in this meeting as they attempt to take the title for the last time.

Despite today's game being a road game for Oregon, they are nearly a touchdown favorite over a team ranked just 5 spots below. It goes to show that the polls, especially at this point in the season, are not nearly as big of an indicator as to how a team's overall abilities are perceived as it might seem. The people with the money on the line definitely feel that Oregon is a clear notch above Utah this season on any given Saturday.

Notes and other things: 

• Utah will be without Cam Rising, a Ducks nemesis of the past, under center. Rising was playing with an injured knee and struggled against the Ducks last season, before tearing multiple ligaments in said knee in the Rose Bowl. His status was fairly murky for most of this season until he was recently declared out for the season.
• Where Are They Headed? The Utes are headed to the Big 12 next season, their third conference since 2010, where they will compete with such luminaries as Texas Tech and Central Florida.
• Ducks Ranking This Week: 8 (AP). We're still a few days away from the first CFP ranking this season, the only thing that actually matters. Is Condoleezza Rice still on the committee?
• Bo Nix Heisman Watch: It doesn't seem like he's in the top 3 or maybe even 5 anymore, but at least no one is calling him "Bo Pix" anymore. It's almost like there's a higher profile dude with an even funnier name in contention.
• Game time is 12:30 PDT on FOX in Salt Lake City. Go Ducks!