If the Oregon Ducks discover some offense, maybe the Utah game is winnable: Issues & Answers

The good news for the Oregon Ducks, if there is any, is that Utah isn't playing much better than they are.

The punchless Ducks lost their third consecutive game yesterday, 31-14 to UCLA. They return home to play Utah Saturday in a 2:45 p.m. game in Autzen Stadium.

The Utes also have lost three consecutive games.They didn't put up much of a fight on either side of the ball while falling at home yesterday to Arizona State, 30-10.

Utah brought in former Eastern Washington offensive coordinator Troy Taylor in the offseason to galvanize the offense. Taylor has been handicapped by some injury issues at quarterback. Even so, the offense doesn't look galvanized.

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But coach Kyle Whittingham always has prided himself on defense and special teams.

The Sun Devils rushed for 205 yards against Utah and averaged 4.5 yards per carry.

Whether Oregon can take advantage is an open question.

Oregon's offense has a running game built around record-setting Royce Freeman, and not much else.

The O's John Canzano believes Freeman, who came back for his senior season, deserves a better fate.

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And here is the thing: if there ever was a team vulnerable defensively, it was UCLA. The Bruins were at the bottom of the Pac-12 statistically in most defensive categories.

Freshman quarterback Braxton Burmeister couldn't take advantage. It's hard to win in the Pac-12 when you can't crack the 100-yard passing barrier. Burmeister finished with 74.

He is pretty good with his feet. But if the Ducks continue to run Burmeister as much as they did against UCLA, I'm not sure he will remain upright until injured starter Justin Herbert gets back.

Well, who thought the Ducks would be world-beaters this year? Coaching transitions are difficult. First-year head coach Willie Taggart brought in a new culture. It takes time. The Ducks still can get to 6-6 and a bottom-feeder bowl game by winning two of their last four. Three --  including Utah -- are at home.

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That would be a step up from last season. But Oregon needs to break out offensively at some point, with or without Herbert.

That top-shelf UO recruiting class is made up verbal commitments. Verbal commitments aren't binding.

As the R-G's Austin Meek writes, Oregon needs to avoid having the season turn into a death spiral, for recruiting reasons if nothing else.

OK, more links:

Aaron Fentress of NBCNW.com: Desperate Ducks are running out of time to find answers.

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Ken Woody for the R-G: Reality is becoming apparent for Oregon, and it's not pretty.

Jeff Miller of the Orange County Register: The battered Bruins needed that one.

Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times: Walk-on receiver Christian Pabico tortures the UO defense.

The slumping Ducks show progress is fleeting while losing to UCLA.

Sputtering Ducks lose again.

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Freeman's record-setting afternoon gets overshadowed by another Oregon loss.

Ducks are unable to keep pace with UCLA.

UCLA gets defensive to knock off one-dimensional Oregon.

The Bruins' defense steps up to throttle Oregon.

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Injuries ravage UCLA, but the Bruins beat Oregon anyway.

The Ducks can't overcome their own mistakes.

Burmeister's shows growing pains.

Re-shuffled UO defense, same result.

High-flying UCLA running back Bolu Olorunfunmi soars into the end zone.

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Royce rolls into the record book.

Freeman breaks LaMichael James' school career rushing record.

Oregon State linebacker Manase Hungalu rallies his teammates.

Receiver Timmy Hernandez steps up for the Beavers.

Larry Krueger for the San Jose Mercury News: Is this the year the Heisman returns to Stanford?

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The Merc's Jon Wilner: Washington is the Pac-12's only remaining playoff hope. Arizona State is for real.

Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News: USC isn't improving, and coach Clay Helton no longer can hide from the obvious.

David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times: Notre Dame runs over USC and keeps running.

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com: Irish stamp themselves a playoff contender by eliminating USC.

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USC goes down without much of a fight at Notre Dame.

Trojans suffer a humiliating defeat, dashing their playoff hopes.

The Irish pick on USC's depleted secondary.

Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune: Drubbing by Arizona State shows Utah has a lot to fix and not much time to do it.

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Amy Donaldson of the Deseret News: What happened to Utah's defense?

Nothing fluky about the way Arizona State and the Sun Devils' resurgent defense crushed Utah.

ASU spoils Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley's return by stomping Utah.

Sun Devils trample the once formidable Utah defense.

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Huntley comes back, the Utah offense doesn't.

If that was a text, Utah failed it.

Former tight end Jay Jay Wilson sparkles on the ASU defense.

Whittingham is frustrated after two of his players are ejected for targeting. They will miss the first half of next weekend's game at Oregon.

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Arizona hangs on in double-overtime to beat Cal in another wild finish.

Cal drops a two-overtime heartbreaker to Arizona.

Cal coach Justin Wilcox loses in a go-for-broke gamble, and says he would do it again.

Backups step up for the targeting-depleted Wildcats.

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John Blanchette for the Spokesman-Review: Washington State caps a weird week by winning with defense.

Vince Grippi for the Spokesman-Review: Some important firsts for the Cougars in the victory over Colorado.

Stefanie Loh of the Seattle Times: A big night for the Wazzu defense, but what's going on with the Air Raid?

Three TD passes and a strong defense are enough for WSU to thump the Buffaloes.

Freshmen step up for the Cougs against Colorado.

After Colorado gets blanked by WSU, CU coach Mike MacIntyre throws open the QB job.

Has the Sam Noyer era begun in Boulder?

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Fans in Lubbock mostly ignore WSU coach Mike Leach's plea to rally in his support of his demand for back pay.

Portland State Vikings can't keep up with Idaho State, fall to 0-7.

Bengals rewrite the record book while clobbering PSU.

Idaho State running backs lead the Bengals over PSU.

The links from Duck Sports Now.

The links from Beaver Sports Now.

-- Ken Goe

kgoe@oregonian.com | @KenGoe

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