Oregon Ducks Football: Ducks Heating Up Just in Time for Pac-12 Play

Darron Thomas is ready to lead the high-flying Oregon Ducks to big wins at the right time.

After suffering a tough 40-27 loss to LSU at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington to open the season, the Ducks bounced back.

They absolutely decimated the Nevada Wolf Pack in Autzen Stadium in front of a delighted crowd. The final score was 69-20 with Thomas completing 13 of 19 attempts, six of which went for touchdowns.

Oregon should use upcoming Missouri State as a warmup as they prepare for Arizona, Cal, Arizona State, Colorado, Washington State, Washington, Stanford, USC and Oregon State to close out their season.

Their toughest matchups are going to be against Arizona State, Stanford and Oregon State.

ASU is newly ranked at No. 22, which should help the Ducks, who are on BCS life support, to climb back up into contention with a win.

Their marquee matchup is against Stanford on Nov. 12th. I believe the winner of this is going to bring home the Pac-12 North title and compete in the first-ever Pac-12 championship game.

The Pac-12 North is much more competitive than the South this year, especially with USC ineligible for postseason play.

That leaves Arizona State as easily the best team in the South with the University of Arizona having a down year.

On the North side, Cal, Stanford, Washington State and Washington are all undefeated so far, and it could get ugly.

I expect Stanford to come out on top as of right now, but if the Ducks keep rolling the way they did against Nevada, they could surprise some people with a berth in the championship game.

Look for the Ducks to blow Missouri State out of the water to get ready for intense conference play the rest of the season.

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