The Oregon Ducks are no longer fooling the voters in the coaches’ poll. After a brutal gutpunch of a 31-24 loss in overtime to the Stanford Cardinal, the Ducks dropped to No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.
The loss on Saturday wasn’t a huge shock, seeing as a lot of the problems that have ailed the Ducks all year came back to bite them in the end. However, it did happen in a shocking fashion.
[lawrence-related id=9214]
Leading by 7 points with the ball and under three minutes on the clock, ESPN’s win-prediction meter gave Stanford a 0.1 percent chance of winning the game. You already know what happened next. The Ducks allowed the Cardinal to drive down the field, and with the help of some asinine calls, Stanford forced OT and eventually won the game.
The loss is more on the Ducks than it is on the refs, but the end result is the same: Oregon is on the outside looking in when it comes to the College Football Playoff.
[lawrence-related id=9201]
The Ducks have a much-needed bye week now, which will give them a chance to try and get healthy, but several players, like CJ Verdell and Bennett Williams, are likely to miss significant time going forward, which is going to hurt Oregon’s season-long outlook.
After the bye week, Oregon hosts Cal, and the travels to UCLA (who also lost as the only other ranked team in the Pac-12 on Saturday) which will be their next big opportunity to jump up in the rankings.
[listicle id=9156]