College Football Plus: How good is Oregon?

The Ducks may be the best in the West, but how good is the West?

It was meant to be a statement game: about the Oregon Ducks, about the Pac-12, about college football outside the mighty Southeastern Conference and the ever menacing Big 10.

And it was that in many ways a 45-30 rout over Pac-12 rival and previously unbeaten UCLA, which will do much the chatter around Oregon this morning.

Oregon is now the clear front runner to win the Pac-12 title in December, an even money shot to earn a berth in the Rose Bowl, and an outside shot at making to No. 4 in the final CFP rankings, which would give them a spot in the Final Four. 

The problem with Oregon is the one loss.

It came in the opener against defending national champion Georgia and it wasn't pretty, 49-3. Dawgs.

That's the problem when you start to make comparison's outside of the Pac-12. The Ducks have no resume to speak, with wins over Eastern Washington and BYU not mounting too much.

How good is new coach Dan Lanning's team?

Lanning came to Oregon from the SEC (Georgia defensive coordinator). 

The Ducks' QB Bo Nix came to Oregon from Auburn, so the SEC pedigree is obvious.

That also helps. They know how to win in the SEC at much higher stakes.

For now, Oregon needs to take care of business in the West, which means finishing its's Pac 12 schedule, which includes with three tests of character, Washington, Utah and at Oregon State.

Win all three of those, PLUS the Pac-12 title game and we can talk about more than the Rose Bowl.

For now, we'll just wait and see.

Who's Hot

Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, who is emerging as a Heisman contender, didn't hurt himself with an 18-24, 276 yard, 3 TD passes in less than a half in the Vols' expected 65-24 rout over Tennessee-Martin.

LSU

Watch out for the 'tigers down the stretch. They seem to be getting better each week as new coach Brian Kelly establishes his program. Their latest conquest on Saturday was a 45-20 win over previously unbeaten Ole Miss, which had jumped to a 17-3 lead.

Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights beat Indiana 24-17 on Saturday, ENDING a 21-game conference HOME losing streak, which was the longest in Big Ten history.

Maryland

The Terps beat Northwestern 31-24 on Saturday to improve their record to 6-2, which  is the earliest any Maryland team has been bowl eligible since 2001.

Tulane

The Green Wave is a very quiet 7-1 and 4-0 in the  American Athletic Conference after a 38-28 win over Memphis, all of which has earned a Top 25 ranking for 'Tulane for the first time since 1998.

TCU

The Frogs rallied from a   28-10 deficit to beat Kansas State 38-28 and remain as the only unbeaten team in the Big 12. The win over KSU was also the Frogs fourth consecutive win over a ranked opponent.

Who's Not

Texas A&M

The Aggies stunk at the start and at the end and were only average in between in dropping a 30-24 decision to South Carolina. The Aggies, who began the season as a Top Ten team are now 3-4 on the season 1-3 in the SEC West with conference games remaining against Ole Miss, Auburn, Florida and LSU, all of them possible losses, although only the Auburn game is on the road.

Miami

The Hurricanes aren't even a tropical  depression right now, just a plain depression after losing 45-21 to Duke and committing 8 turnovers, the most of any team from a Power 5 conference since 2009.

Adding to the misery was the injury to starting QB Tyleri Van Dyke who left with a shoulder injury.

Is there any coincidence in that Texas A&M and Miami, two of the schools paying out the most in NIL money to their players  are  combined 6-8?  

D.J. Uiagalelei

The Clemson QB was ineffective in the first half against Syracuse on Saturday which resulted in a 21-7 first half deficit. So Clemson coach Dabo Swinney made the switch to freshman back up Cade Klubnik, who sparked the Tigers to a 27-21 win

"DJ's our starter, DJ's our leader,'' said Swinney afterwards. ""Nothing changed there.''\

We'll see.

Say What (Unusual or noteworthy events or statements from the weekend)

Rhode Island 48, Monmouth 46 (7 OT)

Wheeling Jesuit 42, West Liberty 21

E. Kentucky 53, N. Alabama 53

Hamden-Sydney 44. Washington &:Lee 43 (OT)

uiIncarnate Word 6-0 Faulkner Eagles 0

Play it Forward (Games of note next week)

Florida vs. Georgia (Jacksonville, Fla).

Ohio State at Penn State

TCU at West Virginia