EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon begins the most challenging part of its schedule today.
Oregon, ranked No. 3 in the Bowl Championship Series standings, faces No. 12 UCLA today and plays at No. 6 Stanford on Nov. 7.
The outcome of the 12-day stretch is crucial for the Ducks to have a shot at the national championship, considering it is stuck behind No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Florida State, both of which are undefeated.
While victories over both the Bruins and the Cardinal are considered essential for Oregon, the Ducks aren’t looking past UCLA (5-1, 2-1 Pacific-12) this afternoon at Autzen Stadium.
“They’re a pretty good team, and they have a lot of athletes on that team,” said Oregon running back De’Anthony Thomas, who is expected to return after missing three games with a right ankle injury. “They’re going to give us their best shot, and it should be a good game.”
Ranked No. 21 by The Associated Press in the preseason, the Bruins shot up the AP poll with a 41-21 victory over No. 23 Nebraska in Lincoln in the second week.
They fell out of the top 10 when the first BCS rankings were released after last weekend’s 24-10 loss at Stanford. Quarterback Brett Hundley threw for 192 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw two interceptions, including one with just over 2 minutes remaining that led to a Cardinal touchdown.
“You want to win these games so bad, so bad. So, you know, we just have to get in the film room,” Hundley said afterward. “We’ll have another opportunity.”
It was the fewest points the Bruins had scored all season.
They’ll get their chance for redemption against the Ducks, although UCLA hasn’t won at Autzen since 2004. Oregon is favored by 23 ½ points.
The Ducks have shown little vulnerability, but their lone victory over a ranked team was 45-24 over then-No. 16 Washington at Husky Stadium on Oct. 12. The Ducks are averaging just more than 643 yards in total offense and 57.6 points per game, second among FBS-level teams in both categories.
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota has emerged as a leading Heisman candidate, averaging 363.4 yards of offense per game. The sophomore has passed for 19 touchdowns with no interceptions, and he’s run for nine more scores.
Mariota hasn’t thrown an interception in 265 consecutive pass attempts, a Pac-12 record that dates to last season, but his concern this week has been fumbles after his first two turnovers of the season came last weekend in Oregon’s 62-38 victory over Washington State.
One of his fumbles was returned for a score, and the other led to one.
“I have to take care of the ball a lot better,” he said. “Lucky for us we were able to come out with a win after that, but in these next games we can’t have that.”
Stanford (6-1, 4-1) is in Corvallis this weekend to face Oregon State, which is undefeated after an upset loss to Eastern Washington in the opener. The Beavers (6-1, 4-0) appeared in the BCS rankings at No. 25 on Saturday.
This weekend will no doubt answer a lot of questions in the conference. Last season the Cardinal defeated the Ducks in Eugene and went on to claim the Pac-12 North before downing the Bruins in the league championship game.
The Ducks’ loss to Stanford - their only loss last season - effectively derailed the team’s shot at the national championship last year.
A second consecutive victory over Oregon could help the Cardinal re-establish their standing after a 27-21 upset loss at Utah prior to the victory over the Bruins.
The Cardinal weren’t looking ahead, either.
“We’re just looking to go 1-0 every week, so our focus will be on the Beavers this week,” linebacker Trent Murphy said.
At a glance
NO. 12 UCLA AT NO. 3 OREGON
WHERE Autzen Field, Eugene, Ore.
WHEN 6 p.m. Central TV ESPN
Sports, Pages 22 on 10/26/2013