5 Storylines To Watch: Civil War

EUGENE, Ore. — A week after seeing their College Football Playoff dreams take a hit, the Oregon football team will look to get back on track Saturday when the No. 14 Ducks host the Civil War in Autzen Stadium at 1 p.m.

Oregon (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12) has a chance to re-establish momentum before playing next week in the Pac-12 Championship game. Oregon State (5-6, 4-4) can become bowl-eligible by upsetting the Ducks, which would require the Beavers' first win in Autzen Stadium since 2007.

The Pac-12 Network will televise the Civil War, with Ted Robinson providing play by play, Yogi Roth handling analysis in the booth and Jill Savage on the sidelines with reporting. The Oregon Sports Network radio team will include Jerry Allen with play by play, Mike Jorgensen in the booth with analysis and UO senior volleyball student-athlete Ronika Stone, a journalism major, providing sideline reporting.

Some storylines to watch Saturday …

1. College athletics is not an all-or-nothing endeavor. Oregon certainly couldn't afford to act as though that's the case this week.

Yes, last week's loss at Arizona State had stark consequences. Barring chaos around the nation, the Ducks won't make the College Football Playoff. But that's not to say there's nothing left on the table.

Entering any given season, the highest goal completely within Oregon's control — no playoff committee ranking necessary — is a Pac-12 title and a Rose Bowl berth. Each is still attainable; the Ducks will play for the conference title on Dec. 6, against either Utah or USC, and a win in that game would more likely than not propel the UO football team into the Rose Bowl, for just the seventh time ever.

That would be a huge accomplishment. The Rose Bowl remains on the table. The Ducks need to play in the Civil War like a time still striving for historic goals.

2. If rebounding from defeat isn't motivation enough, the Ducks will be sending off an unforgettable senior class Saturday.

Despite the best efforts of freshmen like Justin Herbert, Troy Dye, Shane Lemieux and Calvin Throckmorton, the 2016 Ducks went just 4-8. Now, those players are seniors, and they've presided over an impressive run of incremental improvement over their careers, up to seven wins in 2017, nine victories including a bowl game in 2018, and potentially even more this season.

In the era of freshman eligibility in college football — meaning since 1972 — the Oregon football team has only had three senior classes that could say the team improved in each of their last three seasons. On Saturday, this senior class has an opportunity to become the fourth.

3. Another member of that senior class, center Jake Hanson, is looking to return from injury Saturday.

Hanson started last week at Arizona State but was unable to finish the game. Throckmorton took over snapping duties, and though he was generally accurate, Throckmorton's snaps had a different pace to them, a midgame adjustment for the offense.

This week the Ducks were hopeful Hanson could make it back to face the Beavers, and also that receiver Jaylon Redd would be back after missing the Arizona State game completely. Hanson and Redd might be the two most underrated players on the entire UO roster the last couple years, and their return would be most welcome.

4. To win Saturday, the Ducks will need to contain two of the most outstanding individual players in the Pac-12 this season, one on each side of the ball for the Beavers.

OSU receiver Isaiah Hodgins leads the conference with 13 receiving touchdowns, is second with 78 receptions and is third in receiving yards with 1,086. And Oregon State outside linebacker Hamilcar Rashed Jr. leads the Pac-12 in both sacks (14.0) and tackles for loss (22.5).

The UO secondary looking to contain Hodgins is trying to rebound after giving up too many big plays at Arizona State. Rashed presents his own challenges, for a UO offenisve line that was in flux last week without Hanson.

5. As of Friday, it looked like weather wouldn't be much of a factor in the Civil War.

Earlier in the week, rain and even light snow were forecast, but projections grew more mild as the week went on. The Ducks held their walk-through in cold but dry conditions late Friday morning, and it should be more of the same Saturday, with perhaps a few more clouds covering Eugene.

Over the years, the Civil War has been played in torrential rains, bitter cold and dense fog. But at least as of late Friday, nothing so extreme was in Saturday's forecast.