Utah went into Eugene Saturday night and beat Oregon with a tire iron. The Ducks lost some players after last year — dynamo Marcus Mariotta is getting shellacked down in Tennessee now — but it's been awhile since we saw Phil Knight's sugar babies struggle like this.
From SBNation.com's advanced stat autopsy:
Oregon's offense is only struggling by Oregon's standards. The Ducks rank 21st in Off. S&P+ and possess an elite (or close to it) level of efficiency. They rank 11th in success rate, and running backs Royce Freeman, Tony Brooks-James, Taj Griffin, and Kani Benoit have combined to average a healthy 6.8 yards per carry. And despite some issues against Utah, quarterbacks Vernon Adams and Jeff Lockie have combined to complete a decent 62 percent of their passes.
But tasked with accounting for a glitchy defense, the Ducks aren't making enough big plays, particularly through the air. They have produced only six passes of 30-plus yards, 46th in the country. And while Oregon still looks like Oregon on first-and-10, bad things have begun to happen when the Ducks fall behind schedule.
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Oregon probably isn't as bad as it looked on Saturday, but there's no quick fix for this defense, and the offense is undergoing enough transition that it can't make up the difference. There likely aren't any more six-touchdown losses in the works, but in the short term, Oregon's stint as the Pac-12's ruler is over.
Ohio State is No. 1 right now, but it's remarkable to think about the success it's sustained over the years. Staying at the upper echelon of the sport is no easy task.
