Ducks drop to No. 11 in latest ESPN College Football Power Rankings
After an uninspiring win over the California Golden Bears on Friday night, the Oregon Ducks stayed put at No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, but the College Football Power Rankings at ESPN didn’t show the same level of confidence in Eugene.
ESPN dropped the Ducks a single spot down to No. 11, noting that the slim victory over a bad Cal team was not worthy of a spot in the top-10.
The late Friday night time slot seems to always fit Pac-12 After Dark madness like a glove, and Cal traveling to No. 9 Oregon was no exception. It didn’t matter that the Bears were 1-4, with their sole win coming against an FCS opponent, or that Oregon was looking for a rebound after a bye week following a bad loss to Stanford. Chaos was in order. Oregon escaped with a 24-17 victory, but continued looking like a ghost of the team that upset Ohio State in Week 2. The offense with Anthony Brown under center (90th nationally in passing) seems to have hit its ceiling if not its floor, too. Surviving and advancing is never a bad result, but when it comes to the playoff chase, Oregon is lacking in not just style points, but convincing victories.
With the win, Oregon improved to 5-1 and held onto control over the Pac-12 North, keeping alive their hopes of returning to a Pac-12 title game and potentially being in the conversation for a trip to the College Football Playoff. However, anyone who has watched the Ducks up to this point knows that they have no business being discussed for that, at least at the moment.
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5 takeaways from Oregon's uninspiring win over the Cal Golden Bears
