The word embarrassed doesn’t get float around the Oregon Ducks practice facility very often, but that’s exactly how the Ducks feel when discussing the first game with Utah.
Now the two teams meet again just two weeks later and this time it’s in Las Vegas with the Pac-12 championship (5 p.m. PT, ABC) on the line. In order for the Ducks to come out on top, a lot has to change if Oregon doesn’t want to see 38-7 on the scoreboard again.
Nothing went right in Salt Lake City. The defense couldn’t win first and second down, so the Utes continually faced short-yardage situations on third down. That resulted into an 11-of-14 conversion rate. Utah also had the ball for over 35 minutes. If you factor in the altitude, Oregon’s defensive unit was dead tired in the middle of the third quarter.
On the other side of the ball, the offense just couldn’t sustain any meaningful drives, if not to score, but to give the defense some rest on the sideline. None of that happened and everything snowballed.
One thing the Ducks do have in their favor is that they’re veterans in being in this Pac-12 title game. This will be the third straight season of Oregon representing the Pac-12 North with a chance to win the conference title. The Ducks are also undefeated in four previous appearances.
According to head coach Mario Cristobal, this is all part of the plan before the season began.
“It validates the message in what we say. We don’t ever go out and proclaim an opportunity earned without earning it,” he said. “I think it’s important to get to this part of the season when you’re playing meaningful football, championship football that it validates hard work and it requires guys to be motivated and hungrier to keep on accomplishing some of our goals we set out at the start of the entire off-season.”
This game will also be on neutral ground and not a road game in front of 50,000 rabid Utes fans. The atmosphere will be quite different in Vegas. But for the Ducks to keep on playing meaningful football and go to another Rose Bowl, they’ll have to play a game similar to how they played against Oregon State.
Like the Utes, the Beavers presented a physical offensive line and an excellent run defense. In the rivalry game, Oregon proved to everyone, and probably more importantly, to themselves, that it can run against a physical team.
Oregon pounded out 231 yards on the ground against OSU, which is a stark contrast from the 63 yards the Ducks could only muster up in Salt Lake City.
This game could also be offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead’s last game as he is expected to be the next head coach at Akron. Since this will be his swansong at Oregon, Moorhead might throw the kitchen at the Utes.
It’s Vegas baby! The Ducks might as well let it ride.
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