The third ranked team in the country is an underdog as they go on the road against the Pac-12 South leaders.
The Utah Utes have picked up a lot of steam over recent weeks, which has put them in the surprising position of being a home favorite over the #3 team in the country. With Utah now ranked at #23, they loom as the biggest remaining threat the Pac-12 has to offer. A lot is at stake for both teams, and yet both teams know they will almost certainly face each other again in two weeks for the conference championship.
All of the pressure is on the Ducks today, as it usually is with a potential playoff bid at stake. Oregon has looked better as the conference schedule has progressed, riding a punishing rushing attack with just enough throws from Anthony Brown Jr. to keep the defense off balance. The Ducks will need to survive the usual attrition of injuries plus another in-season transfer which saw their wide receiver and primary punt returner Mycah Pittman bail on the team at one of the season's biggest moments. Honestly, unless there was some sort of mental health issue or other off-field extraneous circumstances, this is a pretty lousy move.
Utah is led by quarterback Cam Rising (great name there) and a three-pronged rushing attack. I would expect to see a lot of points put on the board today. However, Oregon's defense has been stingy at times, and the always dangerous Kayvon Thibodeaux has continued to wreak havoc in the backfield. If the Ducks play up to the level of their competition on the road like they did against other quality teams, it should be a good outcome for the team in white and green. If not, the stakes of the conference championship game become significantly lower.
Series History: Oregon is 23-10 all-time versus the Utes, with most games dating back to their time in the WAC and Mountain West.
Opponent Talk: They're doing advanced math to compare scores of games with common opponents to show that Utah should come out on top with this one. I'm not sure that ever works.
In their last meeting, the Ducks took down Utah in the Pac-12 Championship en route to their Rose Bowl win.
Game time is 4:30 PST on ABC. Go Ducks!
Thibodeaux's getting top 5 draft pick buzz.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Pittman didn't like being buried on the depth chart at WR.
Dang. The whole #3 ranked team being an underdog against a team not in the Top 20 has to be a pretty rare occurrence. Hope they can bounce back in a couple of weeks in the rematch.
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