The No. 10 University of Utah and the No. 12 Oregon Ducks face off on Saturday night to further sort the top of the Pac-12 pecking order. On paper, this is a battle of two highly potent offenses with many ways to beat you. When two teams look so similar on the page, it tends to come down to execution, particularly in key moments. Can the Utes run their win streak against the Ducks to three games? Is Oregon ready for revenge?
Let's take a closer look at the position battles:
Quarterback
Bo Nix has seen a career revival at Oregon, putting up astronomical numbers as a dual-threat quarterback. Cam Rising is 2-0 against Oregon and seems to always rise to the occasion in big Pac-12 games
After being injured at the end of the Washington game, Nix’s status is unknown, even though Oregon wide receiver Kris Hutson said they’ll go to battle with backup quarterback Ty Thompson.
After a tantalizing performance against USC, Rising has also been dinged up and not himself in recent weeks. It’s difficult to give one side or the other an obvious edge.
Running Backs
Utah’s Tavion Thomas looked like the Tavion Thomas of old in Utah’s win over Stanford, rushing for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to know if that was an outlier against a bad defense or if Thomas is back to elite form after a rough 2022 season. The likely answer is that Thomas realizes that it’s time for him to step up and that he has a point to prove.
Oregon’s Bucky Irving and Noah Whittington have become an elite running back duo, with 827 and 623 yards, respectively. They are elite, but Nix is the one getting all of the rushing touchdowns, as Irving and Whittington combine for 10 total touchdowns, both rushing and receiving. In limited action, Thomas has seven rushing touchdowns.
Wide Receivers
Oregon has one standout wide receiver: Troy Franklin, who has 44 receptions for 775 yards and six touchdowns. The Ducks could be returning Chase Cota—24 receptions for 319 yards—who was injured against Cal and missed the last two games.
Utah’s Devaughn Vele has 44 receptions for 546 yards and five touchdowns. His numbers don’t do him justice, as he emerged recently as Rising’s top target during Dalton Kincaid’s absence.
The Ducks aren’t stacked at receiver, but they have more depth than Utah.
Tight Ends
With the return of Dalton Kincaid, who is arguably the best tight end in the country, there’s no debate with this position battle. The top three tight ends for Oregon have a combined 42 receptions for 429 yards and nine touchdowns. They’re led by Terrance Ferguson.
Despite missing two games and a portion of another, Kincaid alone has 50 receptions for 639 yards and seven touchdowns. Thomas Yassmin also began to emerge in Kincaid’s absence with nine receptions for 177 yards and three touchdowns.
Offensive Line
Oregon could be without starting center Alex Forsyth and right guard Ryan Walk. However, the depth is there for the No. 1 rated offensive line in the country, as Utah native Jackson Powers-Johnson has proven to be a valuable backup deserving of more snaps.
Utah’s offensive line has also been excellent in 2022, but their top two centers, Paul Maile and Johnny Maea, are battling injuries. Luckily for Utah, like Powers-Johnson, Kolinu’u Faaui stepped in and didn’t miss a beat.
Both units excel at protecting their quarterbacks.
Defensive Line
The Oregon defensive line isn’t spectacular, but they get the job done. They apply a lot of pressure, but only have 1.5 sacks per game to show for it. They also give up 108.2 rushing yards per game, but a lot of that seems like it has to do with opponents needing to throw as they’re playing catch-up with the Ducks.
Utah is only giving up 121.4 rushing yards per game, and against more proven rushing teams. The Utes defensive line struggled to start the season, as three defensive tackles unexpectedly chose to sit out for personal reasons. However, they’ve begun to look like the traditionally feared Utah defenses at the right time of the season.
The Utes’ Simote Pepa is developing into a monster in the middle at 6-foot-3 and 345 pounds, alongside the 2021 Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, Junior Tafuna. This also seems to be a game that Jonah Elliss should excel in.
Linebackers
Led by Noah Sewell, the Oregon linebackers had a lot of hype coming into the season. So far, they haven’t matched that hype. For Utah, Karene Reid has been a play-making machine, and Mohamoud Diabate is beginning to emerge after a rough start to the season, and Lander Barton has had spurts of impressive play.
This one is a push, as Reid is a difference-maker and Sewell will step up with it being a huge game.
Secondary
Colorado transfer Christian Gonzalez leads the way for the Oregon secondary with 44 tackles, one tackle-for-loss, three interceptions, and seven PBU. Bennett Williams and Trikweze Bridges have also performed well.
For the most part, opponents have decided to go away from Utah’s Clark Phillips and it’s been a smart decision as he has five interceptions on the season (No. 2 in FBS) and pick-6s. JaTravis Broughton is beginning to regain his 2020 form and Zemaiah Vaughn has emerged as potentially Utah’s next great cornerback.
Additionally for Utah, Cole Bishop has temporarily moved into the nickelback role, as the depth at safety has allowed the seamless move.
Special Teams
Neither team has a great return game, and Oregon has only missed one kick on the season. This position battle goes to Oregon, but it’s not a convincing separation of the two.
