LAS VEGAS — So much chatter of how Utah “earned” the victory in Salt Lake City. So much talk about Oregon “earning” a chance at redemption in Friday night’s conference championship.
But on a day when Oregon and its coach could have tightened their vice grip on the conference, and Utah was poised for its first ever Pac-12 Championship, a different topic swirled throughout the afternoon: How much will Mario Cristobal earn? Better yet, where will the prized coach, the apple of Miami’s eye who turned around the Ducks’ program, be next fall?
If Oregon’s loss in Salt Lake City was an embarrassment, what do you call Friday’s performance in Allegiant Stadium?
Utah looked like the team seeking revenge. Oregon looked distracted, just like its coach.
The Ducks spent 13 days trying to prove to us that their rematch with Utah would be different. That they had learned. They’d studied. They would be more prepared.
Nope, 38-10 and a heap of red and white confetti in the Oregon endzone. The Ducks got bullied… again.
“When you go through something like that, you have to look in the mirror,” Cristobal said last week.
When you look at this Ducks team, it’s hard to make out the team that beat Ohio State in Columbus. I certainly don’t see a team that should have been mentioned in the College Football Playoff discussion. Then again, winning masks adversity.
Oregon’s 9-1 start clouded its faulty quarterback, a sixth-year player who makes freshman-like decisions and extinguished the Ducks’ chances in both matchups against this Utes team. It covered up this defense: talented, yet undisciplined at all levels. It camouflaged the less than desirable in-game coaching too.
With the game well in hand, ESPN’s crew spent the third quarter harping on the coaching carousel rumors tied to Cristobal. Then the fourth talking about how disappointing Oregon’s chance at “redemption” was.
The moments which followed the game resembled the hours preceding. Cristobal fielded four straight questions about his future at Oregon to open his press conference.
Do you intend to sign a contract extension with Oregon or will you accept the Miami job if offered?
What do you say to the program’s supporters when there’s uncertainty of your future?
Do you think the reports could have been a distraction?
Would you listen to outside offers?
Each one shot down, just as his team was against the Utes, twice.
“I haven’t talked to anybody so let’s not create narratives…” he said. “Oregon is working on some stuff for me and that’s what I have right now.”
“I don’t know what to tell you…” he added.
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals.”
Center Alex Forsyth said the team blocked out the outside noise. That 100% of the team’s focus was on this game. That Utah was simply the better team.
The usually outspoken safety Verone McKinley III gave a blunt “no” when asked if the rumors were a distraction.
So why did the Ducks look so unprepared? Why did nothing seem to improve after the 38-7 loss while some facets of the Ducks’ approach even took a step backwards in the 38-10 drubbing on Friday?
I’d be distracted. Wouldn’t you?
McKinley III credited Cristobal for re-igniting the team after the loss in Salt Lake City. Cristobal said he delivered a powerful message to his team after the first loss. That he shot ‘‘right between the eyes” because, at Oregon, they don’t “fire from the hip.”
I’m left wondering what Cristobal’s message was in lieu of Friday’s rumors? His message after the second flat performance against this Utah team? What the hottest name on the coaching carousel will tell his team in the weeks to come as the murmurs continue?