SALT LAKE CITY — The Oregon Ducks had toppled fearsome Ohio State on the road at the Horseshoe. They had chipped through their Pac-12 Conference schedule and stumbled just once, in overtime, at Stanford. They rose to become the nation’s third-ranked team.
But at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night, the College Football Playoff ambitions of Oregon and the Pac-12 turned about as dark as the Wasatch Range that loomed in the distance after sunset: The No. 23 Utes handily disassembled the Ducks, 38-7.
The team that logged 505 yards against Ohio State mustered only 294 on Saturday night, including just 63 yards on the ground.