5 Storylines To Watch: Oregon-Arizona

EUGENE, Ore. — After a weekend off for the second bye of the season, the No. 6 Oregon football team returns to action Saturday when the Ducks host Arizona in Autzen Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

The Ducks are riding an eight-game winning streak since their season-opening loss to Auburn on a neutral field. The Wildcats also were off last weekend, giving them a chance to regroup as they look to end a four-game losing streak when they play Oregon.

Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN, with Dave Pasch handling play by play, Greg McElroy providing analysis in the booth and Tom Luginbill with reporting from the sidelines.

Some storylines to watch as the game between the Ducks and Wildcats plays out …

1. Entering Saturday, Oregon's magic number to win the Pac-12 North and play in the conference championship game was one.

The Ducks are alone atop the North Division at 6-0 in conference play, three games ahead of second-place Oregon State. Were OSU to win its remaining three Pac-12 games, and were Oregon to lose its remaining three, the Beavers would win the division and play in the Pac-12 title game owing to their hypothetical win in the Civil War under those circumstances.

But if OSU loses just one more time, or if Oregon wins once more, the Ducks win the North. The Beavers host Arizona State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., meaning the Ducks could clinch the North in the first half of their game against Arizona, should ASU beat OSU.

2. In interviews this week, both UO coach Mario Cristobal and senior QB Justin Herbert acknowledged that the timing of last week's bye was a double-edged sword.

On one hand, the Ducks had a chance to rest up and recover from injuries. Running backs CJ Verdell and Cyrus Habibi-Likio and offensive lineman Dallas Warmack in particular benefitted from the bye, after being limited by injuries during Oregon's win at USC two weeks ago.

But the Ducks also had good momentum going, which has been interrupted. They spent the past two weeks in practice doing significant amounts of "good on good" work, with starters facing off against each other to stay sharp.

3. Offensively, the Ducks want to take care of the ball better than they did after their previous bye.

After taking a week off from game action in late September, Oregon returned to the field against California on Oct. 5 and turned it over three times. Herbert threw his first interception of the season, and the Ducks also lost two fumbles.

Against Arizona, Oregon is a heavy favorite, but turnovers can quickly negate a perceived edge for one team over another. The UO offense also will be contending with some uncertainty regarding Arizona's defense, which has a new coordinator as of three weeks ago, and had the chance to make schematic tweaks over the bye week.

4. Defensively, Oregon also has to deal with some uncertainty today, given Arizona's use of two quarterbacks the last few weeks.

Dual-threat Khalil Tate has explosive running ability, and is a savvy enough thrower to have had three TD passes against the Ducks in Arizona's win last season. Freshman Grant Gunnell may not be the home run hitter Tate is as a runner, but he is a threat to keep the ball in the option too, and he's completing about two-thirds of his passing attempts.

Oregon's secondary will feature a new look in the first half Saturday, as starting boundary safety Nick Pickett serves a one-half suspension after his ejection for targeting in the second half at USC. Brady Breeze will get the start against Arizona, looking to build off a game at USC in which he led the Ducks with seven tackles, had a pick-six and also recovered a fumble.

5. There's no denying that the College Football Playoff rankings loom large over this Oregon game, and will for the rest of the season as long as the Ducks keep winning.

With undefeated LSU, Ohio State and Clemson in the catbird seat for playoff spots, the race for the final semifinal berth is on. It's a muddled race for the last spot, between Oregon and Utah of the Pac-12, Oklahoma and Baylor of the Big 12, Alabama, Auburn and Georgia of the SEC and perhaps Minnesota of the Big Ten.

Conventional wisdom says it's not enough to win at this point; teams also need to accrue "style points" that separate them from the rest of the pack. Do the Ducks score any style points Saturday?