A6 — BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2021
SPORTS
Pac-12 division races taking
shape headed into fi nal month
By JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
The calendar has fl ipped to No-
vember, signifying the fi nal stretch of
college football’s regular season.
The Pac-12 has started to sort
itself out, with several teams in con-
tention in each division and others
already out of the mix.
Both divisions have frontrunners,
but with this wild season there’s no
telling how it might play out.
A look at the division races head-
ing into the fi nal month:
North Division
No. 7 Oregon has been the class
of the conference and is the Pac-12’s
lone chance to earn a spot in the Col-
lege Football Playoff.
The Ducks (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) shook
off an overtime loss to Stanford to
beat California, UCLA and Colorado
in successive weeks. Oregon lost
early enough in the season that if it
runs the table and wins the Pac-12
Championship, it could earn the
conference’s fi rst CFP invite since
Washington in 2017.
The Ducks were No. 4 in the
initial CFP rankings, so they’re in a
good position.
Oregon plays at Washington on
Saturday, Nov. 6 with games against
Washington State, Utah and Oregon
State closing out the regular season.
“There’s going to be hype and pro-
jections out there nonstop,” Oregon
coach Mario Cristobal said. “I think
what you do is you take a step back
and you make sure that you ac-
knowledge that the players will come
across that. They’ll acknowledge that.
Then you make it as simple as if you
don’t take care of your business on a
day-by-day basis and then a week-by-
week basis, what does it matter?”
All it will take is one Oregon
slipup and a tight North race will get
even tighter.
Washington State (5-4, 4-2) is just
a half-game back of the Ducks and is
coming off a lopsided win at Arizona
State. The Nov. 13 game at Oregon
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard-TNS
Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, center, and Noah Sewell, right, play against Colorado on Saturday Oct.
30, 2021.
could be a huge determiner of the
North title.
Oregon State (5-3, 3-2), one of the
Pac-12’s biggest surprises, is a game
back of Oregon. The regular-season
fi nale against the rival Ducks could
be more massive than usual if the
Beavers are still within reach of
the North.
Washington (4-4, 3-2) has overcome
some early-season struggles to remain
in the North race, also a game back.
The Huskies can take a huge step
with a win at home against Oregon on
Saturday.
South Division
The South has been a bit of a wild
ride, with Utah, UCLA and Arizona
State all looking like they would take
charge of the division.
Right now, it’s the Utes (5-3, 4-1) in
the driver’s seat, a game up on Arizona
State and 1½ games ahead of UCLA
and USC. They’ve done it despite play-
ing with heavy hearts after sophomore
defensive back Aaron Lowe was shot
and killed at a party after their game
against Washington State on Sept. 26.
Utah has wins over all three teams
directly behind it in the standings
and plays at Stanford on Friday. The
Utes close out the season with games
against Arizona, Oregon and Colorado.
“Hopefully, we’re able to keep some
of this momentum we’ve had,” Utes
coach Kyle Whittingham said.
The Utes can’t afford many slipups
if they’re going to play in the Pac-12
Championship game for the second
time in three years.
Arizona State (5-3, 3-2) is right be-
hind Utah in the standings but a long
way off in the momentum department.
Once in control of the Pac-12 South,
the Sun Devils are reeling after con-
secutive ugly performances. Arizona
State was outscored 28-0 in the second
half of a 35-21 loss to Utah, then came
out of its bye week and allowed Wash-
ington State to score the fi rst 28 points
in a 34-21 loss.
“Every week you have an oppor-
tunity to win a game,” Arizona State
coach Herm Edwards said. “The joy
you feel, the accomplishment you
feel as a football team to win. And we
haven’t felt that.”
UCLA (5-4, 3-3) was in a similar
position to the Sun Devils before fall-
ing down the standings with consecu-
tive losses.
More Coverage
Oregon at Washington
• Saturday, Nov. 6 at 4:30 p.m.
• TV on ABC
Oregon State at Colorado
• Saturday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m.
• TV on Pac-12 Network
The Bruins had a chance to track
down Oregon in the closing seconds
on Oct. 23, but threw an intercep-
tion in the Ducks’ end of the fi eld
with 48 seconds left. UCLA lost
44-24 to Utah last week with quar-
terback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
out with an injury.
The Bruins host Colorado on
Saturday before closing out against
USC and Cal.
USC (4-4, 3-3) has managed to
keep itself in the South race despite
coach Clay Helton’s fi ring two
games into the season. The Trojans
had a stretch of three losses in
four games before beating Arizona
last week. They play at Arizona
State before closing out the regular
season against Cal, UCLA and No.
17 BYU.
Timbers
clinch
home
fi eld for
playoffs
SANDY, Utah (AP)
— Sebastian Blanco
scored two goals and
the Portland Timbers
beat Real Salt Lake 3-1
on Wednesday night,
Nov. 3, to clinch home
fi eld for the fi rst round
of the playoffs.
Blanco put in a
header in the 17th
minute and scored on a
give-and-go with Jaro-
slaw Niezgoda to fi nish
a counter attack just
before halftime. In be-
tween, Blanco centered
the ball with pace that
went off Aaron Herrera
for an own goal.
With the season end-
ing Sunday, Portland
(16-13-4) is locked into
the fourth seed in the
Western Conference.
Salt Lake (13-14-6)
could have clinched a
playoff spot, but only
managed a penalty-
kick goal by Albert
Rusnak, his career-high
11th, in the closing
minutes.
Portland swept all
three games this sea-
son by a combined 12-4
margin.
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