Saturday’s dominant road win against a top 15 team vaulted the Oregon Ducks up to their higest ranking of the season in the Associated Press and Coaches polls. The Oregon State Beavers, however, plummeted following a loss to an unranked foe in the desert.
Oregon (7-1 overall, 4-1 in Pac-12) moved up two spots to No. 6 in the AP and No. 7 in the Coaches poll after its 35-6 rout of Utah (6-2, 3-2) in Salt Lake City Saturday. The Utes fell five spots in both polls to No. 18.
Oregon State (6-2, 3-2) fell at Arizona (5-3, 3-2) Saturday, 27-24. The majority of the offensive fireworks came in the 4th quarter as both teams scored a pair of touchdowns.
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The Beavers then fell 5 spots to No. 16 in the AP poll and seven places to No. 19 in the coaches poll.
Oregon State is not out of the Pac-12 title hunt, but getting there won’t be easy. They’ll need to win their final four games and get some help.
Next up for the Beavers is Colorado (4-4, 1-4) in Boulder Saturday night.
The Ducks come home to Autzen Stadium to face California. Despite the Bears 3-5 record, they have played teams tough against ranked teams this season — putting up 32 points against the Huskies, 40 against the Beavers and came within a failed two-point conversion of beating USC Saturday, falling 50-49.
The Huskies (8-0, 5-0) remain the only unbeaten team in the conference, winning another close one over Stanford, 42-33. Washington stayed put at No. 5 in both polls. The Cardinal are in the Pac-12 basement (2-6, 1-5).
The Trojans (7-2, 5-1) stayed at No. 24 in the AP and No. 22 in the Coaches poll after narrowly avoiding their third straight loss and first against an unranked opponent. It gets no easier as the Huskies visit on Saturday.
The first College Football Playoff rankings come out Tuesday.
