[ad_1]
COLUMBUS, Ohio – As the clock expired on Saturday afternoon and the Oregon Ducks were bursting with joy, first-year linebacker Justin Flowe, who was sidelined with a boot on his right foot an week after being named Pac-12 freshman of the week, threw his towel on the floor and turned to the Ohio State fans behind him.
“His more“he shouted.” Go home! “
In fact, this might just be the start for Oregon.
With Flowe and starting defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux – two of the team’s best defensive players – both injured, the Oregon No.12 still found a way to give the No.3 Buckeyes their first loss. at home in 23 games in front of a crowd of 100,482 Ohio State fans mainly stunned.
It was the first time Oregon had beaten Ohio State in nine tries, and the Ducks did so with a physical running game that slashed the Ohio State defense inside and out. away, in part thanks to the vision of Minnesota’s master plan, running back Mohamed Ibrahim, scripted in the season opener. . They did so with the masterful appeal of Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, whose ability to mix things up thrown Ohio State off balance in the 35-28 decision.
And they did it with new Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, who was watching from his suite in the press box, alongside Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren and NCAA president Mark Emmert. (Kliavkoff and Warren also shared a box during the Washington-Michigan game in Ann Arbor later that night.) To win at The Shoe, one of college football’s loudest and most ruthless stadiums that opened its doors to Doors at full capacity crowd for the first time since 2019 – with an exhausted roster says a lot about how far Oregon has come under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Mario Cristobal.
“It’s one of the toughest places to play in all of college football,” Oregon offensive lineman Alex Forsyth said. “Let’s not water it down.”
Time will tell if this really is the kind of program-defining win it looked like on Saturday afternoon, but it lifted the besieged Pac-12 just two weeks into the season and gave at the conference a legitimate hope for his first playoff contender. from Washington in 2016.
“We’ve been working in this direction for some time now, but we’re not there yet,” Cristobal said. “I don’t want to give that impression in any way. We’re not, and our guys know that too.
“But we’ve taken massive action, and I think even more importantly, we’ve taken massive psychological action, understanding how important it’s going to be on Saturday… all of these things, they just come into play and they go even deeper. strengthen the culture and focus of the program.
Oregon has won the conference two years in a row, a feat only Clemson and Ohio State can boast of. The Ducks are also in good company with Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma, the only teams to have hit a New Year’s Bowl in each of the past two seasons. The last time Oregon really moved into the national elite was in 2014, when it lost to Ohio State in the first college football playoff national championship. The Ducks have since struggled to return to college football supremacy, but at least they were pointed in the right direction on Saturday.
Oregon amassed 269 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 38 attempts for an average of 7.1 yards per carry. Quarterback Anthony Brown took a few shots but remained calm, throwing 236 yards and running 121 more, orchestrating the balance that baffled the Buckeyes. Twelve of Brown’s 18 successes came from the first downs. The understaffed defense smothered Ohio State in the fourth downs (2v5) and had two sacks in the final two practices of the game.
The question for the Ducks is if they can keep it up and continue to improve.
ESPN’s Football Power Index favors Oregon to win its remaining games, with the exception of an Oct. 23 clash at UCLA (47% chance of winning). UCLA’s victory last week over LSU also raised eyebrows, as many are watching to see if this is the season when Bruins coach Chip Kelly’s efforts pay off. The parallel progress of Oregon and UCLA could pit them against each other in the Pac-12 championship game, which would likely knock one of them out of the top four. It would be a league’s dream scenario, however, if they were both still relevant to the playoff picture at this point.
According to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, Oregon’s odds of reaching the CFP were 33% after Saturday’s contest, fifth best yet. It was a dramatic increase, however, given that Oregon entered the game with a 4% chance of reaching a semi-final and only had a 12% chance of beating the Buckeyes.
Ohio State’s chances of making the CFP have dropped dramatically from 67% to 23% and placing the Buckeyes sixth, behind the Ducks. But just like Clemson after their season opener loss to Georgia, the Buckeyes cannot be taken out of the conversation just yet. Any Power 5 team with a chance to win their conference is still under discussion. The question is which team will have the best CV and the fewest losses.
“I think even more important, we’ve taken massive psychological action, understanding how important it’s going to be on Saturday… all of these things, they just come into play and they just strengthen the culture and direction of the program.”
Oregon coach Mario Cristobal
Oregon could clinch a victory over the Big Ten champions, which will certainly impress the selection committee with its final standings, but the Ducks have to survive their own league and UCLA. They also have a rough trip to Utah number 21 on November 20. The triumph over Ohio State, however, will give them a better win than anything Clemson is likely to have on his CV, and Oregon could grab some wins as well. against ranked opponents at UCLA, Utah and his opponent in the Pac-12 title game, if he succeeds. The Ducks also have a head-to-head victory, which the committee could use as a tiebreaker if Ohio State and Oregon finish with identical records.
Clemson currently has no ranked opponents on their regular season schedule, so only a win against a top 25 team could come in the ACC title game. Even with Saturday’s loss, Ohio State could still be a conference champion to a more favorable loss in the selection committee boardroom, as the Buckeyes could bolster their resume with wins over Penn State and a squad. among the top 25 in the league title game.
Yes, it’s early – very early – but the result in Columbus opens the door even more to the Ducks.
Cristobal and his schedule aren’t talking about the playoffs yet, and neither should they, but it’s clear they know they’ve got something special.
“I think Anthony and this football team are only scratching the surface,” Cristobal said.
The improvement between the unconvincing Week 1 home win over Fresno State and Saturday’s surprise in Columbus was glaring. It was also a desperately needed boost for the Pac-12 after an embarrassing 1 week in which the league went 6-6, including two losses to the Mountain West Conference and Washington’s mortifying No.20 loss to FCS Montana.
“Last week we should have cleaned up some things this week, even some missing players. The Next Man is just something we’ve been doing since we’ve been here in Oregon,” Brown said. “We’ve been working for a certain mentality that we’ve built in the offseason. We’re capable of a lot of things when we’re when we’re on point.”
It only takes one team to change the story, but Oregon knows it takes more than one game.
[ad_2]
Source link