When the Ducks got on the plane to head home after an upset loss in Tempe, Arizona, last Saturday, they were almost dead silent.
“That’s as quiet of a plane ride as I’ve ever been on, and not by a little,” head coach Mario Cristobal said in a press conference Monday. “And you know what, it should be that way.”
The unranked Arizona State Sun Devils — led by a monster game from freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels — had just defeated the then-No. 6 ranked Oregon Ducks, crushing any chance that Oregon had of reaching the College Football Playoff. The loss also meant the Ducks would fail to become the first undefeated team in conference play in Pac-12 football history. This feeling of defeat was something the Ducks hadn’t felt since the heartbreaking loss to Auburn in the opening week of the season, and that feeling took full effect on Saturday night.
“After a game like that, you’re going to be upset. You’re going to be down,” Cristobal said. “If it wasn’t that way, I would be really disappointed and I’d say we got the wrong guys. That was the mood.”
While the 9-2 Ducks haven’t had much experience bouncing back from losses this year, they haven’t had much trouble refocusing in preparation for the Civil War. The team’s mentality has been rooted in ignoring distractions all season, and it’s no different this week.
That being said, the Ducks will have to make some adjustments on the field if they want to avoid another upset loss.
Oregon State is second in the Pac-12 North with a 4-4 conference record this season, which is significantly improved from its 1-8 conference record from last season. The Beavers even beat ASU two weeks ago and lost in a 54-53 shootout to a Washington State team that the Ducks beat on a last-second field goal.
The Beavers have a high-powered offense featuring the lethal combination of quarterback Jake Luton and wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins.
Hodgins will be matched up against a secondary that allowed 408 yards through the air last week, including two passing touchdowns of over 50 yards.
“We feel confident in our guys back there,” Cristobal said of his secondary. “We feel real confident in being able to correct and schematically enhance those things.”
Per usual, Oregon is trying to get healthy this week. The Ducks have a number of injuries heading into the Civil War. Wide receiver Jaylon Redd made the trip to Tempe and suited up for the game but didn’t see the field due to a rib injury he suffered in the game against the Arizona Wildcats. However, Cristobal said Redd was healing well and is “probably going to play” this Saturday. Mycah Pittman is still out with a broken arm, so the Ducks need Redd to add depth to the receiving corps.
Cristobal said he also felt confident about the health of center Jake Hanson, who left the game in the first half on Saturday. Senior right tackle Calvin Throckmorton moved to center in Hanson’s absence and provided an array of precarious snaps in the second quarter. Having Hanson back will anchor an offensive line that is currently a bit banged up.
CJ Verdell was injured after the game due to his physicality in the pass-blocking game, but Cristobal is expecting him to play Saturday. Freshman Kayvon Thibodeaux went down late in the game and is also expected to play.
In their preparations for the Civil War, the Ducks don’t need any extra motivation. They’re coming off an upset loss, facing their significantly improved arch rivals, and for many of them, it will be their last game at Autzen Stadium.
“You only have a certain amount of snaps in your career, and you’d like it to be that with every snap, you show that this thing means more to you than the people you are playing against,” Cristobal said. “And that’s the way this senior class is defined.”
It’s already been established that the 2019 Ducks know how to win, but their newest test is bouncing back from a loss. They bounced back from the loss against Auburn with nine wins, and they hope to harvest the same energy out of the loss to ASU. Thankfully for the Ducks, they get to return to Autzen Stadium one last time on Saturday, where the silence from the plane ride is sure to be broken.
