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Oregon Ducks vs. Utah Utes Week 3 Preview

On a day when the Pac-10's merits and muscle will be sorely tested across the country, the Oregon Ducks find themselves on the big stage once again.

Two weeks ago, Chip Kelly's charges took on the big shots of the WAC, Boise State. Now, the gang in green will tackle last year's top team in the Mountain West Conference, the Utah Utes. Coach Kyle Whittingham's club is riding a 16-game winning streak, the longest active run of success in FBS competition. Fresh off their unbeaten 2008 campaign, a joyride capped by a thorough whipping of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, the Utes bring stature, cachet and credentials to Autzen Stadium. If Oregon is to uphold the honor of the Pac-10, another loss to a member of the WAC-Mountain West axis is simply not an option this Saturday in the Willamette Valley.

The truly fascinating element of this matchup, aside from the pedigrees of these two programs, is that Utah and Oregon are both in search of themselves, pursuing an elusive identity and trying to iron out deficiencies in their rosters.

Utah is having to replace quarterback Brian Johnson--a decorated winner who eventually found a way to match what Alex Smith did in the Utes' 2004 unbeaten run under then-coach Urban Meyer--with JUCO transfer Terrance Cain. So far, the results have been mixed. Cain has led Utah to a 2-0 record, but against inferior opponents, and not without moments of shakiness. By his own admission, Cain said he made many mistakes in Utah's most recent contest, a 24-14 win at San Jose State. Cain will need to discover a deft throwing touch this Saturday if his team expects to escape Autzen with a victory; Oregon is a wee bit better than San Jose State, to put it mildly.

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Another key challenge for Utah is to find a replacement for All-American kicker Louie Sakoda, who repeatedly nailed late-game field goals in 2008 to steer the Utes out of trouble. Last weekend in Silicon Valley, new Utah kicker Ben Vroman missed three field goals, giving Whittingham and his staff nightmares about the prospect of a close game against the Ducks. If quarterback and kicker are both question marks for the Utes, their fourth-down decision making will become quite central to the outcome of this encounter.

For Oregon, weaknesses abound not at the skill positions, but on the lines. Oregon's offensive line got whooped for most of the first two and a half quarters of last week's game against Purdue, while a defense that did indeed score a stack of points was nevertheless gashed on the ground by the Boilermakers. Kelly still doesn't know exactly what he's working with, and his players--still trying to deal with the aftermath of the traumatic LeGarrette Blount incident in Boise--have yet to find the full and fearsome focus that could lift UO to a higher plateau.

If this is a skill-position game, Oregon wins. If this becomes trench warfare with minimal playmaking on the perimeter, Utah wins. If those two keys cancel each other out or become a wash, Utah's kicking game will probably decide the outcome.

Buckle up. It's going to be a wild ride on Saturday afternoon in Eugene, as two teams without an identity will try to put on the right persona.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer