Stakes high for Pac-12 championship
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — National title implications, a possible Heisman Trophy at stake and a new $1.3 billion stadium to showcase the whole thing.
The Pac-12 will have the spotlight to itself tonight when No. 2 Oregon (11-1) and No. 7 Arizona (10-2) meet in the conference championship game at sparkling Levi’s Stadium.
“We have a chance to win a championship,” Arizona Coach Rich Rodriguez said. “That’s pretty neat.”
The Ducks are all but guaranteed a spot in the four-team College Football Playoff with a victory, and the selection committee could have a hard time keeping Arizona out if the Wildcats upset Oregon for the second time this season.
For all the success the conference has enjoyed in recent years, the Pac-12 has not celebrated a national champion since Southern California after the 2004 season. Oregon was the last school in the conference to play for a national title, losing to Auburn in the 2011 BCS Championship in Glendale, Ariz.
The start of the playoff era is looking like it could be a big boost to the league’s fortunes.
Alabama (11-1) is No. 1, Oregon is second and TCU (10-1) is third in the playoff rankings followed by Florida State (120), Ohio State (11-1), Baylor (10-1) and Arizona — which jumped five spots after beating rival Arizona State last week to reach the conference championship game.
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott has said all along that the winner of his league — widely considered the second-best in the country behind the SEC — would be in prime position to earn a playoff berth. That statement seems truer now than ever after a season that was all about survival.
“We haven’t talked about the playoff one time,” Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu said. “That’s why we’re in the opportunity to get there.”
Nothing beyond the conference’s showcase game at the Silicon Valley home of the San Francisco 49ers is certain.
Rain has soaked the drought-stricken Bay Area all week and could linger tonight. What effect that has on playing conditions is uncertain. Levi’s Stadium already has had at least four different turfs installed in as many months.
Oregon, led by Heisman Trophy favorite Marcus Mariota, is the Pac-12’s best hope to make the playoff. The Ducks have won seven consecutive games by an average of 24.2 points and look like the same offensive juggernaut under Coach Mark Helfrich that they were under his predecessor, Chip Kelly.
Mariota has carried the Ducks all season, throwing for 3,470 yards and 36 touchdowns with only 2 interceptions. He also ran for 633 yards and 11 touchdowns and caught 1 touchdown pass.
But the Wildcats have intercepted him three times and forced him to fumble three times over the past three seasons, and he may need to beat Arizona to cement his Heisman Trophy campaign.
The Wildcats sacked Mariota five times and forced two fumbles in their last meeting. Perhaps even more importantly, Arizona held the Ducks to a season-low 144 yards rushing.
Oregon’s offensive line has gotten healthier and improved since, but Arizona’s physical front will surely test how much better the Ducks are now.
Wildcats linebacker Scooby Wright, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, led the conference with six forced fumbles and ranked third in the nation with 14 sacks. That included sacking Mariota and stripping the ball from him for a turnover with 2:11 to play to seal Arizona’s victory over Oregon last time.
Arizona’s attack is led by two freshmen, although they haven’t played like freshmen. Anu Solomon threw for 3,424 yards, 27 touchdowns and 7 interceptions this season. He also ran for 282 yards and a score. Nick Wilson rushed for 1,263 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Arizona handed the Ducks their only loss — a 31-24 stunner in Eugene on Oct. 2. The Wildcats also beat Oregon 4216 last year in Tucson to keep the Ducks out of the conference championship game, and they would have as strong a case as any team to play for the national title if they can make it three in a row.
“I think that it is exciting that there is a four-team playoff,” Rodriguez said. “There has been more talk about college football now than ever, but I always believed that our first playoff game was the first game of the regular season.”