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Oregon Football: 3 reasons the Ducks will beat UCLA in Week 8

By Connor Muldowney

Oregon Ducks running back Travis Dye (26) looks for yardage against UCLA in the third quarter of the Pac12 Conference game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon on November, 21, 2020.Eug Oregon Ucla Football 11
Oregon Ducks running back Travis Dye (26) looks for yardage against UCLA in the third quarter of the Pac12 Conference game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon on November, 21, 2020.Eug Oregon Ucla Football 11 /
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Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal, center, leads a warmup drill before the game against California.Eug 101521 Oregonfb 04
Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal, center, leads a warmup drill before the game against California.Eug 101521 Oregonfb 04 /

1. Can’t “play down” to an opponent as an underdog

If you’ve followed Oregon football this year — or even for the past few years — you’d know that the Ducks have a tendency to play down to opponents.

Well, as an underdog on Saturday afternoon (according to WynnBET), the Ducks don’t have to worry about “playing down” to an opponent. In fact, they’ll be forced to play up to UCLA because Vegas believes the Bruins are going to win this one. I think Oregon plays better as an underdog (see the Ohio State game) than the favorite (Fresno State, Cal, Arizona, Stanford games).

Needing to add some style points and big wins to the resume just over a week before we see the first College Football Playoff rankings of the year, Mario Cristobal will have Oregon playing at a high level, coming out hot on Saturday.

We all remember what happened the last time Oregon was a road dog — the Ducks went out and handled Ohio State in Columbus.

This is expected to be a really tough game, so I feel good about Oregon’s chances to remain focused and motivated here.

Next. 3 takeaways from Oregon's win over Cal. dark

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