The Oregon Ducks’ trip to the Rose Bowl this weekend produced another quality win, this time over UCLA, 34-31. It wasn’t the type of win that had become ritual about ten years prior. Chip Kelly’s Ducks could blow a team out by 35 on any given Saturday. This time, Kelly was the recipient of a Mario Cristobal type win; gritty and hard earned.
Now the Ducks sit at 6-1 and tied atop the Pac-12 North standings. According to ESPN Senior College Football writer Adam Rittenberg, their college football playoff hopes are far from gone.
“I don’t think anyone will have a better non-conference win at the end of the year than Oregon,” Rittenberg told Dirt & Sprague, this morning. It’s observation that’s hard to argue. The Buckeyes have blown opponents out each week after playing the Ducks and enter this week with a test against No. 20 Penn State. Rittenberg also says the Ducks’ lone loss to Stanford came under some odd circumstances that could be considered by the CFP committee.
“Not having your offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead available is something to consider. It hasn’t been pretty. They had a chance for a real emphatic win at UCLA, but they still found a way to win and that should count for something.”
Oregon’s remaining opponents (which include teams like Washington, Washington State and Colorado) also lend to the assumption that this team is in the driver’s seat to score a spot in the college football playoff. “These are games you should win by double-digits,” Rittenberg says.
“These are games where you should emphasize that they are a playoff team, they deserve to be in that conversation because of our win against Ohio State and how we look right now.”
