The Oregon Ducks didn’t start this season looking like a College Football Playoff-worthy team.
They look like one now. The only question is whether it’s too late.
A week after hammering Ohio State in Columbus, the Ducks flew home to Eugene and kicked Michigan while the Wolverines were down.
Saturday’s scoreboard read 31-7 in favor of the hosts, and it was never really in doubt.
A good team doesn’t allow favorable matchups to trip them up, and Oregon is in total control right now.
They just don’t totally control their CFP destiny. After Saturday, their potential path into the field is taking shape a bit.
Oregon Path to College Football Playoff
The Ducks aren’t going to be able to do it on their own, but the first reality is they can’t take another loss.
They play at Michigan State and then host Washington to close the regular season — both games Oregon will be solidly favored to win.
If the Ducks take care of business, then things can get interesting.
“The streaking Ducks should move up at least two spots this week thanks to losses by No. 11 Kentucky and No. 14 Houston, but will either need more help to move into at-large territory, or will have to root for rival Washington to hand Indiana a second conference loss next weekend, which would open the door for possible Big Ten title game tiebreakers,” The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel wrote of Oregon, who was at No. 16 in the CFP rankings before Saturday.
The Big Ten championship game winner gets an automatic berth to the College Football Playoff, so Oregon needs some help elsewhere in the conference standings — as Mandel says, a Washington win over IU would go a long way.
Dylan Raiola and Dante Moore
Sparking the charge for Oregon: Dylan Raiola.
Dante Moore is out for the season, and the former Nebraska QB Raiola didn’t look good earlier this season, but he has found a groove now.
“Oregon QB Dylan Raiola continued his recent tear, throwing four TDs in the 16th-ranked Ducks’ 31-7 rout of Michigan,” Mandel wrote. “The Wolverines (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten), while offensively challenged, came in with the nation’s sixth-ranked defense, but Raiola shredded them for 341 yards on 20 completions. The former five-star, who struggled so badly earlier in the season he was briefly benched, has thrown nine touchdowns and no interceptions during Oregon’s (7-3, 5-2) three-game winning streak.”
Even if the Ducks don’t quite reach the CFP, they’ve gotten a really good look at what Raiola can be when he’s at his best.
Oregon’s Path to College Football Playoff Takes Shape After Michigan