Inside Slant

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November 06, 2018 at 9:09 pm.

Ducks look to take ‘next step’ by curing road woes

It’s been an up-and-down season for Oregon.

On one end, the Ducks are 5-1 at home, averaging 43 points and giving up 24.3 points per game in the process. The comfortable confines of Autzen Stadium make the Ducks look like a Top 25 team, something they were for much of the season.

But with any young team, winning on the road is what separates the good from being great. And that’s where Oregon has fallen short — holding a 1-2 record on the road and being outscored 102-77.

In the two losses, to Washington State and Arizona, the Ducks were defeated from the get-go. They looked out of sync, missing tackles, dropping passes and just being beaten mentally and physically in all phases of the game.

Because of those road woes, Oregon’s trip to Utah (6-3, 4-3 Pac-12) this weekend has become extremely important if the Ducks (6-3, 3-3 Pac-12) want to take the next step from good to great. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. PT.

“God help you if you walk into an arena on game day not at your best because it’s not going to be good enough … it doesn’t matter who you are or who you think you are,” Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said. “That is a step that our program must take … that we must emphasize and get results from for us to be the team we want to be.”

Even Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham had trouble explaining Oregon’s consistency issues, saying, “They are 6-3 and they have done a good job this year, but I don’t know if I can put an exact finger on why they have played better in some weeks than others.”

The Ducks have won the two previous matchups.

Two years ago, quarterback Justin Herbert, in his sixth career start, led the Ducks on a game-winning drive, throwing a touchdown to Darren Carrington with two seconds left for a 30-28 win over the 12th-ranked Utes.

Last year, Oregon held Utah running back Zack Moss to just 53 rushing yards as a balanced offense led the way in the 41-20 win — making up for the absence of Herbert, who was out with a broken collarbone.

If the Ducks are going to take the next step and secure a quality road win, it’s going to come against one of the nation’s top defenses. The Utes, who rank 17th in the nation in total defense (314.7 yards) and scoring defense (19.1 points), are led by linebackers Chase Hansen and Cody Barton.

“They’re complete linebackers and when they close, they understand how to tackle and how to get a guy on the ground,” Cristobal said of Hansen and Barton. “They’re blessed with tremendous ability, but they know what they’re doing and they’re doing it in a physical manner.”

Trying to offset Utah’s talented defense will be Herbert and receiver Dillon Mitchell. Mitchell has dominated Pac-12 competition, catching 50 passes for 735 yards (122.5 yards per game) — all conference highs.

“I think what you’ve seen is his game has elevated,” Cristobal said of Mitchell. “Has he gotten more of the balls thrown to him? Yeah, he’s been targeted more but that is a product of him being open and working his tail off to do so.”

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