Predicting Oregon vs. Utah in Pac-12 Championship

Our team of writers gives their final score predictions for this week's game.

Oregon (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12) is gearing up for another shot at Utah (9-3, 8-1 Pac-12) in the conference title game on Friday Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. on ABC. The Ducks are coming off a commanding 38-29 win over Oregon State and the Utes beat Colorado 28-13 at home in Salt Lake City. 

So how will this round of Oregon vs. Utah shake out?

Dylan Mickanen (@DylanMickanen)

Oregon has entered the last two Pac-12 Title Games as the underdogs and finds itself in familiar territory seeking revenge against Utah.

Yes, the last matchup was a good old fashioned butt whooping, but this Ducks team will be focused and ready to win a third consecutive Pac-12 Championship. Everything went against the Ducks two weeks ago but I believe Anthony Brown will be able to make the Utes pay for daring him to beat them downfield. Expect Kris Hutson and Devon Williams to both have big days, because they’ll be necessary if Oregon wants to win.

In the end this game comes down to if Oregon can stop the Utah rushing attack. I think the defensive line does that, even if the loss of Keyon Ware-Hudson makes it more difficult. 

Prediction: Oregon 27 Utah 17

Dylan Reubenking (@drksportsnews)

Here we are again. Oregon takes on Utah less than two weeks removed from a 38-7 beatdown in Salt Lake City on national television, but this time it's for a Pac-12 Championship.

I could go the conservative route and say "Oregon will learn from its loss and get revenge on Utah," but I'm more on the road of "Utah beat Oregon once before and they could do it again."

This is a complete Utah team that understands the weaknesses of the Ducks, and while I think this game may be closer than the previous, I think the Utes earn their first conference title after a year of tragedy and resilience.

Prediction: Utah 31 Oregon 21

Nick Battey (@nickbat22)

Oregon and Utah are becoming a bit of a rivalry in the Pac-12 here as they’ve clearly been the best in the North and South divisions the last four seasons. This time in Las Vegas they meet again just two weeks after Utah bullied the Ducks out of Salt Lake City.

I could easily see Oregon winning this game, but what happened less than two weeks ago just can’t get out of my mind. I believe it will be extremely difficult for Oregon to flip all the issues that showed themselves two weeks ago, and I think Utah will win the rematch and go to the Rose Bowl for the first time in program history.

Prediction: Utah 34 Oregon 28

John Rustik (@J_rustik)

This is a familiar sight for Ducks fans. Utah vs. Oregon in the conference championship with the Ducks as the underdogs. The Ducks got absolutely smoked against Utah two weekends ago, so they’re going to have to make some big changes, especially on third down defense. 

With all that being said, I think the Ducks do play much better against Utah this time, and have more talent, but the Utes work together well as a team right now. It’s going to be a close one, but I think Utah does just enough to punch their ticket to the Rose Bowl.

Prediction: Utah 24 Oregon 21

Max Torres (@mtorresports)

Oregon looked great against Oregon State last weekend and earned a crucial win not only to simply get to the conference title game, but to build some confidence on both sides of the ball after getting blown out by the Utes.

The offense looked much improved, especially with Brown pushing the ball downfield and the continued emergence of Devon Williams and Kris Hutson. The Ducks dominated the battle at the line of scrimmage to bottle up the B.J. Baylor, which they'll certainly need to do to get a win against Utah and the likes of Tavion Thomas.

I expect this game to be closer than it was the first time around, but Utah is firing on all cylinders and and is a more sound team overall than the Ducks. I think they'll shake up the Pac-12 by taking home their first conference championship Friday.

Prediction: Utah 28 Oregon 24

You may also like:

Oregon basketball dominates Monatana 87-47


Join the Community

Follow Max on Twitter: @mtorressports

Subscribe to our free newsletter to get the latest Oregon Ducks news sent to your inbox

Check out our Forums HERE



Published
Max Torres
MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.