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Oregon wins by three touchdowns on the road, drops in the AP Poll two spots

ByDale Bliss|
The Ducks emptied the bench at Northwestern and gave up two late touchdowns while winning 34-14. It cost them two slots in the AP poll, dropping from NO. 4 to No. 6.
The Ducks emptied the bench at Northwestern and gave up two late touchdowns while winning 34-14. It cost them two slots in the AP poll, dropping from NO. 4 to No. 6. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Oregon fell to No. 6 in the AP Poll Sunday morning, dropping behind Miami and Georgia after beating Northwestern 34-14.

Third- and fourth-string quarterbacks played the fourth quarter for the Ducks, and they made wholesale substitutions on defense. They led 31-0 after three quarters, outscored 14-3 over the final minutes to win 34-14.

It was a convincing victory, the outcome never in doubt, but the line score and the highlights weren't flashy enough for poll points.

Dan Lanning said after the game, "We've got to create critical moments for everybody on our team. We talk about strength in numbers and if you touch the field, we have an expectation and a standard. For us, it's continuing to find out how many guys can play winning football for us because you never know when you're going to have to count on somebody in those situations."

Georgia went to overtime to beat Tennesse, 44-41 and Miami struggled a bit with unranked South Florida before winning 49-12 at Hard Rock Stadium. AP voters thought those wins were more impressive than Oregon's "struggle" against the Wildcats.

Largely it's a problem that will take care of itself in the coming weeks. Results matter most. Oregon will rise if they can pull off the upset against Penn State, hold serve against Indiana, ward off USC, Minnesota and Washington.

The top four spots in the College Football Playoff Committee's rankings in December get a first-round bye, the closer a team is to No. 12 in the ranking, the more vulnerable they are to falling out of the playoff if they suffer a loss.

The SEC currently has 11 teams ranked in the Top 25. That helps insulate the conference powers against a loss in league play. The narrative fulfills itself. "We beat four ranked teams; both of our losses were to ranked teams." It's a fix, a power grab.

The Ducks face three currently ranked teams over their next nine games. To stay in the playoff hunt, they'll probably have to win at least two of those three.

Some coaches, knowing how the poll works, succumb to the temptation of pouring it on and padding their scores against weaker opponents. Had Lanning left in the first team offense and defense against Northwestern, he could have made the final something like 51-0. Instead, he chose development.

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