It’s easy to get homesick — many college students experience it in their first year away from their hometown. But for the Oregon football team, it’s more than a feeling. Following a 38-24 win over Washington State in Autzen Stadium, preceded by an away loss to the No. 5Washington Huskies the week prior, head coach Dan Lanning and his team must solve their struggles on the road if they want to sustain their Pac-12 Championship push (and College Football Playoff hopes).
Road trips haven’t been dreamy for Lanning’s team so far this year, with its visits to Texas Tech and Washington leaving the Ducks with a combined scoreline of 74-68, narrowly favoring Oregon. For reference, its home margin against Portland State, Hawaii, Colorado and Washington State is 216-47. While some of that can be chalked up to the varying quality of their opponents, a huge part of it is the difficulty of going on the road – a challenge that Oregon will face in its trip to Rice-Eccles Stadium this Saturday.
For many experts, it’s at the very least a should-win, if not a must-win for a team with its eyes still on the College Football Playoff. Even in the wake of Week 7’s loss to the Huskies, the team’s mentality remains unwavering; when asked about the possibility of losing control of their fate, Lanning shot back, saying that, “If we take care of business [in] the rest of our wins…we absolutely control our destiny.”
Going on the road — especially in the desert — has always been a nagging issue for an Oregon group that has little issue winning at home. In its visit to Lubbock, Texas, stranded in the desert between Phoenix and Dallas, Oregon continually let Texas Tech back into the game. While the Ducks pulled it out, courtesy of a Camden Lewis field goal and a Jeffrey Bassa pick-six, it remains the closest Oregon has come to defeat, save its loss against Washington.
In Seattle, the impact of away fans was more evident than at any other point. Husky Stadium was shaking with the force of over 70,000 Washington-supporting —and Oregon-booing — fans. At multiple points, Bo Nix had to give each of his linemen instructions, shouting into their ears from mere inches away. That impact can’t be underestimated, but it’s a built-in part of sports, and one that Oregon will face every week, including in its visit to Utah.
When the Ducks are at Autzen Stadium, they thrive. The truth is, like many teams, they struggle away from home. It’s not something that can ever be perfect, but the ability to execute on the road is one that looms in the background. Next year, excluding a visit to UCLA, Oregon won’t play an away game closer than 1,900 miles from its home stadium, and without home support, the duty to push through falls even more squarely on the players’ shoulders.
The opportunity to compound that mentality begins this week with a chance to secure a victory in its second-to-last away game of the regular season (Arizona State in mid-November). It’s not as far as Ann Arbor or Honolulu, both of which are locations on Oregon’s 2024 schedule, but it’s a challenge all the same.
For the Ducks, it’s time to prove the stats wrong by grabbing a win on the road this weekend. It’s near-impossible to overstate the importance of each of Oregon’s remaining games, but this one ranks high amongst them. It’s got all of the narrative a fan could want — Utah essentially curtailed the Ducks’ season in 2021 — and as Oregon once again meets the Utes at the crossroads between acceptable and spectacular seasons, it’ll have the opportunity to take the next step towards defining its destiny.
