Oregon going for 7th straight Pac-12 victory
It’s pretty simple: if the Oregon Ducks want even a chance to get into the College Football Playoff field, they have to keep winning.
Ranked No. 6 in both the CFP rankings and the AP Top 25, the Ducks host Arizona tonight in Eugene. Beat the Wildcats and Oregon will clinch the Pac-12 North’s spot in the conference title game.
The Ducks (8-1, 6-0 Pac12) haven’t dropped a game since the season-opening loss to Auburn, stringing together a run of eight straight victories.
Coach Mario Cristobal said they’re not done yet.
“I think everyone in the building will tell you that we still have yet to play our best football,” Cristobal said. “This is the time of the year where you need to start playing your best football, middle of November. The focus is on being in the now, the focus is on making sure that all the noise, all the external stuff, stays external.”
Oregon hasn’t won seven straight in conference play to start a season since 2012, and no Pac-12 team has started 7-0 in league play since Stanford in 2015.
Last season, the Ducks were ranked No. 19 when they went to Tucson and got rolled 44-15. Oregon ran for just 84 yards, led by quarterback Justin Herbert with 31. J.J. Taylor ran for 212 yards and two scores for Arizona.
While the Ducks look to rise on the national stage, the Wildcats (4-5, 2-4) are looking to become bowl eligible. They’ll need two wins in their last three games — and two of those games are against Oregon and No. 8 Utah (No. 7 CFP rankings).
“We’re trying to get to postseason play, that’s what’s important,” Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin said. “For this team to do that we’ve got to go through some pretty good castles to try to get there. If we do it, we’re going to earn it.”
REPORTS: ISOM, DAVIS DISMISSED FROM WASHINGTON STATE >> Defensive backs Daniel Isom and Trey Davis have been dismissed by the Washington State football team over unspecified rules violations, according to multiple reports.
Isom, a redshirt junior, had started seven games this season. Davis, who originally signed with USC but transferred over the summer, had played in four games as a freshman.