Oregon Wins PAC-12 Championship
Oregon wins the PAC-12 Championship over Utah 37-15. I was wrong about this one. I thought Utah would play motivated enough to win the final playoff spot, especially with their stout defense and speedy offense.
Instead, the Utes came out flat and the Ducks defense dominated. The Ducks rushed out to a 20-0 lead, seemingly getting anything they wanted against the vaunted Utes defense. Even the announcer pointed out during the game that Utah players looked shocked and worn down by their opponents. Utah rallied to make it a one score game late, but a long touchdown run by CJ Verdell added to the Ducks lead.
As I thought, Troy Dye was all over the field. He put pressure on the QB, made key tackles, and had a late game- sealing interception. Thomas Graham made a couple nice pass break ups. The real playmaker was true freshman Kayvon Thibodeaux, who had 2.5 sacks and was in Huntley’s face all night.
On the Utes’ side of things, Zach Moss made some good plays on offense. He proved that he is extremely difficult to tackle and can possibly be a player at the pro level. The defense also played better for much of the second half.
The Ducks will head to the Rose Bowl as PAC-12 champions, while Utah will have to await its fate after failing in its bid for a playoff spot.