Oregon in Driver's Seat for Pac-12 Title, but Injury Issues Loom Large

On a day that was dubbed “Survival Saturday,” the fourth-ranked Oregon Ducks (9-1, 6-1) managed to overcome a slew of issues to beat No. 17 Utah (6-3, 3-3) 51-27 and clinch their first Pac-12 North division title since 2011. 

While the win puts Oregon into the Pac-12 title game on Dec. 5, the price of victory was steep. The Ducks lost three key starters to injury—center Hronnis Grasu, cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and tight end Pharaoh Brown—en route to victory.

With the victory over Utah, the Ducks will likely find themselves ranked third in the College Football Playoff poll come Tuesday afternoon. Oregon is firmly in the top four of the playoff rankings due to No. 3 Auburn’s loss to Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon.

Oregon’s lofty ranking and relaxed remaining schedule puts them in an enviable position. The Ducks' road to the playoff is clear, but the road to Pasadena or New Orleans may now be a bit bumpier than expected.

The Ducks had to overcome injuries, sloppy play and a Utah team that simply would not give up in order to earn their ninth victory of the season.

Of course, without one huge mistake from Utah wide receiver Kaelin Clay, the Ducks may have found themselves sitting on the sidelines come Jan. 1.

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The Play

On the first play of the second quarter, with the Ducks trailing 7-0, Utah quarterback Travis Wilson took a shotgun snap and fired a deep pass to Clay, who was streaking down the middle of the field unguarded. Clay completed the catch and scampered into the end zone to complete a 79-yard bomb and give Utah a 14-0 lead. Or so we thought.

Seconds later, ESPN’s cameras found linebacker Joe Walker completing a 100-yard run to the other end zone. To say everyone in the stadium and around the country was confused would be a serious understatement.

After seeing the initial replay, it was clear that before crossing into the end zone, Clay had let go of the ball, thus resulting in a fumble. Oregon safety Erick Dargan picked up the loose ball after bit of confusion, but quickly fumbled it away. Walker then scooped up the ball and proceeded to run back what would be the fifth 100-yard fumble return in NCAA history, according to Oregon assistant athletic director Andy McNamara.

When asked about going after the ball, Erick Dargan said he wasn’t sure what was going on but decided to try to make a play anyways. "Me and the ref made eye contact” said Dargan, according to Andrew Greif of The Oregonian. “It was an awkward moment like, I’m just going to pick the ball up and try to go with it."

Clay’s fumble and Walker’s return resulted in a 178-yard, 14-point swing in favor of the Ducks. Oregon would go on to score 17 more points in the second quarter, leading to a 24-10 halftime advantage. While the Utes clawed their way back into the game—cutting Oregon’s lead to 30-27 early in the fourth quarter—they could never completely recover from a mistake that will never be forgotten in Salt Lake City or Eugene.

To put it simply, the entire College Football Playoff may have been affected due to that play. We’ll never know for sure what would have happened had Clay scored to give Utah an early 14-point edge. However, the Ducks' road would have been much tougher if Clay had just let the ball go one yard later.

Speaking after the game, Clay took full responsibility for the mistake and said the moment got the best of him. "I got excited and let the moment just get away from me," Clay said, according to Tyson Alger of The Oregonian. "I take full responsibility for this." 

Despite Clay’s five-catch, 152-yard performance, his fumble will be remembered and be compared to famous gaffes by DeSean Jackson and Leon Lett.

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Key Turnovers

Coming into the game, Utah was ranked No. 10 in turnover margin and had turned the ball over a total of seven through eight games this season. However, the Ducks defense, despite allowing 440 total yards and 27 points, managed to force four turnovers on the night, including the first interception thrown by Travis Wilson all season.

To be fair, the Ducks only “forced” three of those turnovers—two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Regardless, Oregon managed to score 14 points off of Utah turnovers.

Oregon came into the game with a plus-12 turnover margin, which ranked them No. 4 in the country. After another stellar performance in terms of turnovers—the Ducks lost a fumble by quarterback Marcus Mariota in the third quarter—Oregon is quickly proving that you don’t need a top-notch defense to be effective.

The Ducks have traditionally been one of the best defenses in the country in terms of forcing turnovers. Oregon has been ranked in the top 20 in terms of turnovers gained since 2010, including 2012—a season in which they led the country with 40 turnovers gained.

Through 10 games, the Ducks have forced 22 turnovers and have only given the ball away seven times. In fact, Oregon has forced two or more turnovers in each of their past nine contests.

While the defense may not be the best in terms of total or scoring defense, they sure know how to get the ball back to Mariota and company. That’s no small feat. The more times Mariota has the ball in his hands, the more dangerous the Ducks are.

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Costly Injuries

While the headline of this game is that the Ducks have cleared a path to the Pac-12 title game and have thrust themselves further into playoff contention, the more important story going forward is that Oregon lost three of its best players to injury.

Oregon’s offensive line has seemingly been put together by duct tape each and every week this season, but they’ve been steadied by the presence of center Hroniss Grasu. That likely won’t be the case on Nov. 22 when the Ducks take on Colorado. Grasu suffered what looked to be a left knee injury in the fourth quarter against Utah. While the center was able to walk off under his own power, he quickly exited to the locker room, and it seems reasonable to think that he may not return this season.

Grasu becomes Oregon’s fifth O-line casualty of the season—following the injuries to Tyler Johnstone, Andre Yruretagoyena, Jake Fisher and Matt Pierson. Only Fisher has been able to return from injury. While Fisher’s return certainly helped steady the Ducks O-line and the offense in general, Grasu’s importance to the team can’t be overstated. Grasu is the one at the line making the calls and getting the ball to Marcus Mariota. If he’s out for a significant amount of time, the Ducks will be playing at a serious disadvantage.

Oregon’s injury bug bit them early against Utah as All-American cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu was taken out in the first half after suffering what he said was an injury to his big toe on his left foot, though he doesn’t seem to be too concerned about the injury. “"I'm not really too concerned, especially having an extra week off, but I think I'll be all right," said Ekpre-Olomu, according to The Oregonian's Greif. "I've been dealing with a lot of different foot injuries on this same foot but I'm all right. I just tweaked my toe, my big toe.” When asked if he expected to play against Colorado in two weeks, Ekpre-Olomu replied “Definitely.”

While Grasu and Ekpre-Olomu were able to walk off the field, the same cannot be said for tight end Pharaoh Brown. Brown, who had three catches for 40 yards and a touchdown in the victory, injured his right knee while blocking on Mariota’s touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. Brown was escorted from the field on a stretcher and appeared to be in severe pain. His condition was not immediately known, and the school does not release information about injuries. However, based on the looks of it, Brown could be out for the season.

Brown was quickly becoming one of Mariota’s favorite targets and had caught 25 passes for 420 yards and six touchdowns on the season—tied for the team lead. The loss of Brown is a huge blow to an offense that has been rolling over the past six weeks.

With Marcus Mariota running the show, the Ducks should be able to knock off lowly Colorado and disappointing Oregon State. Mariota once again had a Heisman-worthy game. On the night, Mariota was 17-of-29 for 239 yards and three touchdowns. Perhaps more noteworthy, Mariota ran the ball 18 times, a career high, for 114 yards and a touchdown.

The Ducks offense is averaging 48.4 points per game since their loss to Arizona on Oct. 2. Moreover, the Ducks running game shone again as the team rushed for 269 yards on 50 attempts—including a 15-carry, 99-yard performance from true freshman Royce Freeman.

When asked about Oregon's performance against Utah, head coach Mark Helfrich said he was really proud of the effort by his players, especially considering the injuries that were sustained. "Just really, really proud of our effort," Helfrich said, according to Matt Piper and Kyle Goon of The Salt Lake Tribune. "We had a bunch of guys in and out of the lineup all over the place. Definitely not a garden-variety 51-27 win, but a big, big win for a lot of reasons."

If the Ducks offense continues to roll as they have over the past five games and the defense is able to force turnovers at this rate, Oregon may be able to survive the potential losses of Ekpre-Olomu, Grasu and Brown.

However, there’s no doubt that the cost of victory was high against Utah. Those three players are key to Oregon’s success on both sides of the ball.

Oregon’s path to the inaugural College Football Playoff was supposed to be clearer after a victory against Utah. However, due to the injuries sustained by Ekpre-Olomu, Grasu and Brown, the road to the playoff may be a bit bumpier than previously anticipated.

Statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise stated. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.

Jason Gold is Bleacher Report’s lead Oregon writer. Follow Jason on Twitter @TheSportsGuy33.