Oregon might already be a lock for the College Football Playoff

After knocking off Ohio State in The Shoe, the Oregon Ducks are clearly on the fast track to a spot in the College Football Playoff. 

Mario Cristobal’s Oregon Ducks put any potential candidacy for the College Football Playoff into question in their season-opener as they needed a late Anthony Brown 30-yard touchdown run to get past Fresno State. All it took was one game to completely turn those fortunes around, albeit a game against a top-three team in the country, Ohio State.

Tabbed as more than two-touchdown underdogs on the road in Columbus, Oregon came out and made a statement with a 35-28 win over Ryan Day’s team, a group many picked to win the National Championship entering the year.

Playing at a raucous Ohio Stadium on Saturday, the Ducks answered every question. Not only did running back C.J. Verdell scamper all over the Buckeyes defense while quarterback Anthony Brown took care of the ball and made numerous plays, but the Oregon defense consistently came up with big stops against one of the most talented offensive groups in the country.

What was more impressive from Oregon in the victory was that they picked up the win and stifled the OSU offense while being down two of the best defenders, edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux and linebacker Justin Flowe. That didn’t deter them from a dominant performance.

Signature win in tow, Oregon has to be a favorite now to make the College Football Playoff

Having a win over Ohio State is certainly a big-time résumé builder for the Ducks in its own right. That should help propel Oregon into the College Football Playoff picture immediately.

More than that, though, the win makes it even more evident that the Ducks are the premier team in the Pac-12 this season, at least from what we’ve seen. They also avoid USC on the conference schedule as a cross-divisional foe and their toughest game on the remaining slate might be a road trip to play UCLA.

Based on what we’ve seen — and given that they should have the likes of Thibodeaux and Flowe back soon enough — Oregon can’t be matched in terms of talent in the conference. So with the Ohio State box emphatically checked, all paths lead to the College Football Playoff now and it would take a monumental slip-up to derail that.

Since Cristobal took over in Eugene, the Pac-12 has been disappointing as a whole, especially in relation to the Playoff. But the Ducks have consistently been bringing in top-end recruiting classes to try and close the gap between at least their program and the top programs in the country. On Saturday in The Shoe, it looked like that mission has finally been accomplished.

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