Any way you want to look at it, that was one of the more impressive victories that we’ve seen from the Oregon Ducks in several years.
Coming off of a brutal loss to the Washington Huskies, Dan Lanning’s squad was forced to prepare for a game against the No. 10 Utah Utes without certainty at the quarterback position, trying to bounce back from the disappointing loss and keep their Pac-12 Championship hopes alive. When you add in the fact that Oregon’s season was completely derailed by Utah a year ago with two blowout losses at the end of the year, then it only added to the stakes.
It all resulted in a very gutsy win from the Ducks. A win where the defense was the story of the game, rather than an offense that ranks among the best in the nation. A lot of individual players stepped up, and a few coaching decisions went awry.
As we do every week, let’s identify players who saw their stocks go up, and a few who might have seen a slight dip against Utah: