Oregon Ducks continue to build resume with blowout of Utah
Most years, Utah would have given Oregon a game. We're quickly realizing, however, this isn't most years for the Ducks.
Forget the quarterback thing.
Had Utah beaten Oregon on Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, we’d be sitting here saying the same thing we always say about the Utes:
Just when you thought they were down, Kyle Whittingham’s squad pounces from the brush!
It’s how they’ve won consecutive conference titles. It’s how they’ve been the most consistent team of the Pac-12 era while playing in a conference with headline grabbers in Los Angeles, Seattle and Eugene. We spend the year talking about everyone else, yet it’s the little-mentioned Utes that came into Saturday winners of 18 straight at home. Most years, few would’ve blinked had their third-string QB Bryson Barnes and the 6-1 Utes pulled off another shocker against the Ducks.
But watching No. 8 Oregon dismantle No. 13 Utah 35-6 on Saturday from start to very finish made me realize, for the first time this season, that this isn’t just a most years team for the Ducks.
Most years, Oregon doesn’t have a quarterback making his 56th start, one who can go into a stadium with College GameDay on campus and calmly navigate his offense to a crowd-quieting 75-yard touchdown drive to start the game.