Utah Utes (2-0) at Oregon Ducks (1-1)
Saturday night’s game at Oregon is a potential season-defining one for both the host Ducks and visiting Utah.
A victory by Oregon gets its season back on track following that crushing opening loss to Boise State that knocked it out of the polls and out of possible national title contention. But a win here certainly re-establishes Oregon and gives the team some much-needed momentum heading into Pac-10 play next week.
As for Utah, it simply can’t afford to lose any games if it hopes to play in a BCS bowl or even possibly the national title game. Plus the Utes need to show they can beat Oregon as soundly as Boise State did, as those two could be jockeying for one BCS bowl spot at the end of the year.
Oregon is a 5-point favorite on WagerWeb.com.
This is Utah’s first road game of the season, and it might have to play without starting RB Matt Asiata, who leads the nation in carries and is 10th in yardage. He is questionable. Oregon is coming off a week where Purdue running back Ralph Bolden ran for 129 yards on 29 carries, so Asiata will be a focus for the defense if he plays.
Meanwhile, the Utes seem to have found a very good QB in Terrance Cain, who didn’t even win the job until late in fall camp. Cain is averaging 267 yards through the air. He has three passing touchdowns and another 106 yards on the ground.
Utah owns the longest current win streak (16 games) in the nation, which is the second-longest in school history. The Utes also have the second-longest road/neutral-site winning streak in school history, currently at nine consecutive wins. Since 2003, Utah is 6-2 against the Pac-10, including a win over Oregon in 2003. Kyle Whittingham is 3-2 against the Pac-10 as Utah’s head coach.
The Ducks have won 28 of 30 non-conference games at Autzen Stadium since the start of the 1995 season, going 5-0 against ranked teams.
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