A deep dive into Oregon's Pac-12 title outlook ahead of Week 9

Washington still sits atop the Pac-12 standings after evading a near loss against Arizona State, having yet to lose a game all year. There are also four teams with just one loss in conference play in the Pac-12; Oregon being one of them.

Oregon has yet to play the other three teams: Utah, USC, and Oregon State. Let’s take a bit of a deeper dive into these teams’ performances this week to determine who has the best chance to win the conference in its last year. (Oregon State did not play.)

Washington

Washington remains undefeated after a close call against bottom-of-the-Pac-12 side Arizona State at home. Michael Penix Jr. threw zero touchdowns alongside two interceptions and a lost fumble in a very underwhelming performance, while a 90-yard pick-six allowed UW to take the lead late in the fourth quarter.

After a game that many were touting as the best of the year last week against Oregon, Penix and Washington entered the game as four-touchdown favorites. Instead, they didn’t score an offensive touchdown and only tallied 13 yards on the ground. Somehow, they remain at number 5 on the AP poll.

Utah

The Utes came out on top in a highly anticipated battle against hosts USC at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. It never felt like the Trojans were in control of the game until the very end when Caleb Williams scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:46 remaining. Yet again, USC’s defense was very porous and struggled to slow the opponent’s offense.

Utah’s offense has struggled at certain points this season without standout quarterback Cam Rising, but still, USC could do nothing. Despite Williams’ heroics, especially near the end of the game, they couldn’t hold up when needed and Utah kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.

Oregon

Oregon hosted Washington State this weekend and got a much-needed bounce-back victory against an excellent Cougars squad. Although the defense had a hard time dealing with quarterback Cam Ward, who threw for 438 yards, it never really felt in doubt once the Ducks got going.

Heading into halftime only up four, Oregon outscored Wazzu 21-3 coming out of the break to go up 38-16. Washington State scored a garbage time touchdown to cover the spread, but it meant nothing in the end, as the onside kick attempt was no good. The second half was a different game for the Ducks, who were dominant in all aspects and not giving the Cougars a chance.

What does it mean for the Ducks?

Since the Ducks have yet to play all three other teams behind Washington in the Pac-12 standings, it means one thing: They control their own destiny. If Oregon can win out and take care of business against the teams they are supposed to beat, they’ll make it to the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas for a chance to punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff.

It feels like the race for the Pac-12 championship game will be dictated entirely by Oregon’s performances. A team can rarely beat another team twice in a season, so if it does end up being the Ducks and Huskies in the championship game, Oregon would probably be the favorite.

Oregon State, Utah, and USC all face very tough schedules to close the year, and Oregon has looked better than all of them thus far.

The Ducks’ weaknesses appear tougher to exploit than the rest of the Pac, and I expect that to be the case to close the year.