Tag: Utah Utes

3 keys to victory for No. 3 Oregon Ducks against No. 23 Utah

The Ducks are facing their biggest test of the regular season on Saturday when they take on a red-hot Utah squad. Here are three keys to an Oregon victory.

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The Oregon Ducks are 9-1 and right in the thick of the CFP race heading into what should be an epic game on Saturday afternoon against the Utah Utes.

Utah’s season started off with losses to BYU and San Diego State, followed by the surprise transfer of their quarterback Charlie Brewer. But they have rebounded in a major way and are now 7-3 and ranked No. 23 in the country after destroying UCLA and Stanford in back-to-back weeks.

That makes this showdown between the top two teams in the Pac-12 a particularly noteworthy one, as a loss for Oregon ends their CFP bid, while a win for Utah gives them a real chance at winning the Pac-12 title and moving into the top-15 teams in the country.

Here are three keys for the Ducks to secure a win on Saturday:

Protect Anthony Brown

Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

Utah leads the conference, by a wide margin, in sacks – a huge part of their success so far this year. Oregon’s offensive line has been shaky at times, but they’ll need to have one of their best games of the season if they want to keep Brown on his feet and delivering the ball Saturday afternoon.

Fortunately, Oregon relies a lot on short, quick passes, but not having enough time to occasionally air one out could be a problem for this squad.

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Reliving Oregon’s comical and dominant history vs. the Utah Utes

The Oregon vs. Utah matchup has had some big games over the years, with one hilarious moment coming in 2014.

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When you talk about the series history between the Oregon Ducks and Utah Utes, it’s impossible to look past one play that took place in November of 2014.

It’s the Kaelin Clay fumble, of course.

Don’t know what I’m referring to? I’d be happy to recount the tale.

It was a late-season game between the No. 4 Ducks and No. 17 Utes. Oregon had fallen behind early, the Utah was driving, up 7-0, early in the second quarter. QB Travis Wilson found WR Kaelin Clay on a deep post, and Clay was off to the races, with a walk-in TD that would have given Utah a commanding lead and all of the momentum.

As he crossed the goal line, Clay dropped the ball and celebrated. Teammates hounded him in the endzone and the score-bug flashed 13-0. But the whistle never blew, and LB Joe Walked picked up the ball and ran 99-yards for an Oregon TD. From there, on, the Ducks rolled to a 51-27 win and would later go on to appear in the first-ever College Football Playoff after Marcus Mariota won the Heisman Trophy.

It’s surely a moment that will go down in Oregon Ducks history, as it was a turning point in one of their most successful seasons ever.

As for Oregon vs. Utah history, that’s also something that the Utes may not want to look back on. Many of the games have come in the past decade after Utah joined the Pac-12, but the Ducks have a career 23-10 record against the Utes. They’ve played 7 times in the past 8 years, with the Ducks winning 5 of those matchups.

The two squads did not face off in 2020 because of the COVID-19 shortened season.

So what will the story be this time around? It has a chance to be massively important, with the Ducks vying for a trip back to the College Football Playoffs should they win out. We will see what the next chapter holds on Saturday night.

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LOOK: Oregon Ducks unveil flashy uniforms for road clash with Utah

Next to Utah’s all-gray ensemble this weekend, Oregon’s green and white fit is certainly going to pop.

Earlier in the week, the Utah Utes announced that they will be wearing new uniforms that give an ode to the USS Salt Lake City, with a beautiful helmet and an all-gray uniform.

The Ducks are certainly going to pop, lining up across from them, with a bright green helmet fit with yellow-tipped wings, and apple green pants that we’ve come to love.

Outside of the Week 2 trip to Ohio State, this will undoubtedly be the biggest game of the year for the Ducks, who are three wins away from making it into the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2014, and a single loss away from having their postseason dreams end. Every game from here on out is essentially a playoff game.

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Fortunately, we know that they will look the part of a playoff team on Saturday night against the Utes. Now it’s just a matter of seeing whether or not they play the part.

Utah Utes to wear ‘USS Salt Lake City’ uniforms for clash with Oregon Ducks

The Utah Utes will be taking a page out of Oregon’s books this weekend by unveiling special ‘USS Salt Lake City’ uniforms ahead of the game.

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, right?

Well, the Utah Utes will be taking a page out of the Oregon Ducks’ book this weekend by unveiling a special set of uniforms for the big game that could decide a lot in the college football world going forward.

Utah’s new threads are an ode to the USS Salt Lake City, which was a naval ship made famous in WWII. We are yet to see what the Ducks will be wearing for the game, as it will be released on Thursday night, but you can almost guarantee that it will now be a mix of white and yellow that will pop off the field next to these gray kits from Utah.

Oregon’s game against Utah will be one of the more important contests of the weekend, with it going to shape much of the College Football Playoff landscape. The Ducks currently rank No. 3 in the CFP rankings, and should they defeat Utah, their trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game is guaranteed, and they get one step closer to making it into the final four. If Utah wins, though, the Ducks will drop out of contention for the CFP, and their path to a Pac-12 Title may be in doubt.

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Oregon Ducks set for primetime showdown vs. Utah Utes on ABC

Oregon faces on of their biggest tests of the year on Saturday vs. Utah, which will air at 4:30 p.m. on ABC.

The game between the No. 3 Oregon Ducks and No. 24 Utah Utes is being treated as one of the biggest matchups of the season for both teams, and the TV networks are falling in line with that notion.

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Oregon will travel to Salt Lake City for the game, which has been announced will kick off at 4:30 p.m. PT, airing on ABC.

There was an initial belief that ESPN’s College Gameday might be on site for this game, considering the CFP implications, but they announced on Saturday that they will be traveling to Columbus instead for the Ohio State vs. Michigan State game.

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Pac-12 home teams paint 22-yard line hashmarks red in memory of Aaron Lowe and Ty Jordan

The Pac-12 home schools are honoring the memory of two Utah football players

USC isn’t playing Utah on Saturday. That didn’t stop the Trojans, and their fellow Pac-12 schools, from paying tribute to the memory of two Ute football players who have died in the 10 months.

The Trojans were playing Arizona at the LA Coliseum. They took time to have the 22-yard line hashes painted red in memory of Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe.

Other schools did, too.

Utah is retiring the No. 22 Jordan and Lowe wore. Lowe was shot and killed Sept. 26, nine months after Jordan died in an accidental shooting Lowe switched from No. 2 to 22 this season to honor Jordan.

Oregon State with touching tribute to late Utah DB Aaron Lowe

Oregon State placed roses on the 22-yard line in tribute to late Utah DB Aaron Lowe

Yes, when they take the field, they are foes. However, that doesn’t mean opponents can’t feel for the team they are playing.

No better example of that than Saturday when Oregon State placed roses on the 22-yard line at its home field as a tribute to late Utah DB Aaron Lowe.

Lowe, 21, was shot early on Sept. 26 at a house party in Salt Lake City.

Lowe was a sophomore cornerback from Mesquite, Texas. He was close with Utah running back Ty Jordan, who died in an accidental shooting in December, and in August became the first recipient of the Ty Jordan Memorial Scholarship.

 

Pac-12 Preview: Predicting the outcome of each conference football game in Week 4

Pac-12 play opens for all teams this week, and games like UCLA vs. Stanford and OSU vs. USC have us interested. Here’s our predictions for each:

The majority of Pac-12 teams are finally entering conference play this week, and while a select few have already squared off against division opponents, we will at long last get the first real look of where everyone fits in.

There are some extremely interesting games this weekend as well, which will likely tell us a lot about a few teams that we don’t seem to know much about. You have No. 24 UCLA traveling to play Stanford, and USC hosting Oregon State. There is also the barn-burner between Colorado and Arizona State, two teams with high upside and low floors.

While the Oregon Ducks will wrap up the action against Arizona on Saturday night, there will be a full day of Pac-12 action leading up to the big game in Autzen. Here is how we think things will shake out in the Pac:

Oklahoma moves up in latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

The Oklahoma Sooners climbed a spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll after their manhandling of Western Carolina 76-0.

After falling back in the polls after a lackluster win over Tulane, the Oklahoma Sooners restored a little bit of confidence in the voters with their 76-0 drubbing of FCS Western Carolina.

In the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, the Sooners inched ahead to number three in the poll on the back of Spencer Rattler’s five-touchdown first-half performance on Saturday evening.

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The Alabama Crimson Tide remains the number one team in the country and garnered 64 of the possible 65 first-place votes. Georgia, who remains number two, picked up the remaining first-place vote after their win.

Oregon climbed seven spots after their win over the previous no. 3 team in the country Ohio State. Texas fell out of the Top 25 after their double-digit point loss to Arkansas in a battle of future SEC foes. Arkansas was a big winner in the poll, climbing 20 spots to no. 24.

Iowa State dropped four spots in their loss to in-state rival Iowa and Oklahoma State moved up one spot after rallying to beat Tulsa.

The story of this week’s poll is the bottom falling out of Texas, Florida State, USC, and Utah, and Miami after some bad losses this week. USC fell to San Diego State and Florida State lost on a hail mary to Jacksonville State in the closing seconds. Utah lost an in-state matchup to future Big 12 member BYU and Miami beat Appalachian State but didn’t look good in the process.

Full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll:

Rank Team Points Change
1 Alabama 1,624 –
2 Georgia 1,558 –
3 Oklahoma 1,454 +1
4 Oregon 1,356 +7
5 Texas A&M 1,307 –
6 Clemson 1,279 –
7 Iowa 1,165 +5
8 Cincinnati 1,114 –
9 Florida 1,095 –
10 Notre Dame 1,059 -3
11 Ohio State 1,041 -8
12 Penn State 995 +1
13 UCLA 787 +3
14 Iowa State 611 -4
15 Virginia Tech 591 +6
16 Ole Miss 546 +4
17 Wisconsin 537 –
18 Coastal Carolina 492 +1
19 North Carolina 300 +3
20 Auburn 264 +6
21 Arizona State 246 +4
22 Oklahoma State 222 +1
23 BYU 213 +8
24 Arkansas 196 +20
25 Michigan 180 +2

Dropped from the rankings:

No. 14 Southern California; No. 15 Texas; No. 18 Utah; No. 24 Miami.

Others receiving votes:

Miami 137; Southern California 99; Central Florida 65; Michigan State 63; Liberty 63; Texas Christian 57; Pittsburgh 52; Kentucky 50; Utah 41; Texas 36; Kansas State 28; Indiana 28; Louisiana State 26; Boston College 22; Nevada 18; Fresno State 13; Southern Methodist 10; Rutgers 10; UL Lafayette 9; San Diego State 9; Mississippi State 9; Army 9; Tulane 6; Maryland 6; San Jose State 5; NC State 5; Virginia 4; Marshall 4; Stanford 3; Air Force 3; Texas-San Antonio 1; Memphis 1; Boise State 1.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

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First AP poll pegs Oregon at No. 11; Buckeyes No. 4

Oregon is the top-ranked Pac-12 team at No. 11 in the first AP college football poll of the season.

No disrespect to Oregon’s Week 1 opponent Fresno State, but nearly all eyes are on that Week 2 game when the Ducks go to Ohio State.

Almost every pre-season poll has the Buckeyes near the top with Oregon somewhere hovering near the Top 10. The Associated Press college football poll isn’t any different as the AP published its first poll of the 2021 season.

Oregon sits squarely just outside the Top 10 at No. 11 with that team in Columbus at No. 4. North Carolina was able to squeak past the Ducks with 31 more votes to claim that No. 10 spot.

Other notables include the USC Trojans at No. 15, Washington at No. 20, Utah at No. 24, and despite all of their off-the-field issues, Herm Edwards’ Arizona State squad barely makes it into the poll at No. 25. Chip Kelly’s UCLA team managed to receive two votes.

That makes it five Pac-12 schools who will be ranked when the season begins and considering the league is usually fifth among the Power 5 conferences, that’s a good showing.

We’ll see how everything changes as the season progresses.

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