Ducks Out-Ute the Utes to Claim Pac-12 Title

If a casual poll was to be taken among fans in Pac-12 territory, most would probably prefer to see their team go to the Rose Bowl as the reward for a season well-played.

The festivities there a just more traditional and fun than CFP sites.

Two fan bases, though, would likely beg to differ:

• Oregon, because the playoffs are such a Nike thing to do, and
• Utah, because they're too new to the conference to be steeped in Rose Bowl tradition.

 

Because the Ducks sinned in the Selection Committee's eyes by losing two games this season, the best they were gonna do was the Rose Bowl.

And because Oregon beat the bejeezus outta Utah in the Pac-12 title game, 37-15,  the Utes won't get to do either.

 

Utah spent the autumn thrashing and crashing all asunder, with the exception of not being able to handle USC's speed.

Thus, despite the fact that Oregon played Auburn heads up and the presence of other strong defensive teams in Washington and California, Utah got pegged as the tough dudes.

That's all the Pac-12 heard from national media.

 

Duck coach Mario Cristobal was an offensive lineman. Dude loved life in the trenches and knows how to coach it on both sides of the ball. The Ducks have one of college football's best o-lines, and their d-line is both stout and speedy.

Both of them absolutely manhandled Utah in this game. Oregon set the tone by stuffing Zack Moss on a 4th-&-1 on the Utes' opening drive, and they only got more dominant from that point onward:

 

A game ball shoulda gone to every Duck who took a three-point stance.

Oregon's pocket-rocket RB CJ Verdell racked up 208 yards and three TDs on only 18 carries. Then again, dude all but had an armed guard escorting him.

The Pac-12 bought into a divisional format with a title game to follow. To date, the only Southern Division winner has been USC, and that was only once:

Note the team that's been there the most operates under David Shaw and his intellectual brutality system. Even in down years, opponents know all about it for a few days after they've faced the Cardinal.

Bottom line is Utah needs to get even tougher if it's gonna measure up in the Pac-12. That'll be something to think about while they're enjoying San Antonio's hospitality at the Alamo Bowl.

Meanwhile, the Ducks will just have to make do with another Rose Bowl. They're surely manage.