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Up in the rafters of Autzen Stadium, Jerry Allen saw Tom Hackett make his move.

As the Utah punter tucked the football and rolled to his left on fourth down for a long-shot try at a first down, Allen, the longtime radio voice of the Ducks, remembered thinking: "Well that's going to work."

Everything worked for Utah on that September evening in Eugene, a memorable 62-20 butt-kicking of an Oregon program that was then seen as a high-scoring, unflappable national championship contender. The Ducks, favored by double digits that night, were coming off a runner-up finish in the College Football Playoff, and had hopes of going to the final four again. Until — surprise!

Fox Sports columnist Stewart Mandel recalls: "I remember that being a real shocker at the time."

Key phrase: at the time. Because when No. 12 Utah (8-2, 5-2) hosts Oregon (3-7, 1-6) on Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the roles will be altered. The Utes are the ones fighting for a Pac-12 Championship, favored by 14 points over the Ducks, who have lost seven of their past eight.

At the time, Utah's victory in Eugene was seen as a program-defining game. But the result really may have redefined Oregon. Whether Utah broke the program or merely foreshadowed what was to come, one thing is agreed — the Ducks haven't inspired the same fear or awe that they did before Sept. 26, 2015.

"That was the one where the floodgates opened," ESPN commentator Rod Gilmore said. "You watched and went, 'Wow, this is different.' "

The surprise of the result was enhanced by how the game was framed leading in: Utah was a scrappy underdog, ranked No. 18 and looking to prove it could hang with the Oregon team that had beaten it by 24 points the year before. While the Ducks had lost quarterback Marcus Mariota, the Utes were uncertain at quarterback themselves, with Travis Wilson having missed the start the week before.

It turned out Wilson never had a finer game as a Ute, throwing four touchdown passes, rushing for 100 yards and another score. Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams' finger injury turned out to be underestimated, and Jeff Lockie struggled closing the game.

But the lasting memories came on special teams: Boobie Hobbs executed a punt return play for a touchdown as return ace Britain Covey acted as a decoy, looking at empty sky to draw the coverage unit. It was a highlight that would be looped on SportsCenter for days to come.

"No one thought that was going to work as perfectly as it did, myself included," said Hobbs, who accounted for one of the eight touchdowns Utah scored that night. "It was surreal. I knew we were gonna get them, but not like that."

Everything worked: quarterback runs off the read-option; a halfback pass; Hackett's punt fake conversion. Hobbs said the pervasive feeling on the sideline was that Utah could not be stopped.

Allen, who has called Oregon games for 29 years, is inclined to agree: "It was about how well Utah had played that day. I think they would've beaten anyone they played."

In the aftermath, Utah vaulted up the rankings before falling back to earth later in the season to finish with 10 wins, and another trip to the Las Vegas Bowl. Oregon did bounce back to win nine games before an epic collapse in the Alamo Bowl.

Allen said he doesn't think the game itself sent Oregon on a downward spiral, pointing to the Ducks' overall results that season. But others said the game portended some cracks in Oregon's previously impenetrable facade.

For Mandel, when Adams went out, it was the first time he realized that Oregon hadn't developed a quarterback within the program waiting to take over for Mariota. For Gilmore, he saw some defensive issues that he had expected after longtime defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti retired following the 2013 season.

"The public caught up to it at that game, but those of us that pay attention to college football and the Pac-12 had our doubts about Oregon and how they would survive," Gilmore said. "Nobody saw this falloff they've had this year, but that was a game in which you saw them get exposed for the first time."

Oregon has been exposed plenty this season, and Oregon coach Mark Helfrich — who entered last year's Utah game with a 26-5 record but who has gone 10-10 since — is on the hot seat. Utah's 42-point win which was the worst Oregon had suffered in 12 years was eclipsed by a 70-21 whopping at Washington this season. They've also lost to Washington State, USC and Stanford by 18 points or more.

Regardless of what happens on Saturday, Mandel doesn't think Chip Kelly's successor will make it past this season.

"There's no recovering at this point," he said. "Starting with that Utah game, it's been too many embarrassing losses. Letting Stanford score 52, it shows just how far they've fallen and just what a mess things are there."

But Pac-12 analyst Yogi Roth sees Oregon a little differently: The Ducks defense has struggled this year, but in part because of youth and injuries. The foundation Oregon has built could bounce back next season — or maybe even soon as this week.

Roth will be doing color commentary on the Pac-12 Networks this weekend, and he said his film review hasn't showed that Oregon has quit, only that it lacks the experience and physicality to make plays. He called Oregon's downturn this season a "perfect storm," one he doesn't attribute to how Utah exposed the Ducks a year ago.

"Utah's going up against an Oregon team clearly has a lot of pride," Pac-12 analyst Yogi Roth said. "They're not going to roll in against the MUSS and lay down. This has become a really fun, interesting, creative game over the last few years."

This year, the Ducks are playing the spoiler for the season Utah has built. And coach Kyle Whittingham knows as well as anyone what it's like to be in that role — and the caution he should exercise against a hungry team.

"What I tell our guys is they're going to be wanting to avenge that loss," he said. "We're going to get their best shot."

Twitter: @kylegoon —

Duck for cover

At the time, the Utes 62-20 boatracing of the Oregon Ducks sent a ripple across college football that altered the perception of Oregon's program. Some analysts who spoke to The Tribune for this story talk about their reaction to the game:

Jerry Allen, Oregon radio play-by-play • "It was one of those games where you don't look at any one thing, because there's not much you want to remember about it. That's kind of the way we felt after that ballgame. I just remember how quickly and easily Utah was able to score. Utah played great that day."

Rod Gilmore, ESPN color analyst • "Oh yeah, I remember that game. It was a serious beatdown. Things just totally got away from them in the third quarter."

Stewart Mandel, FOX Sports columnist • "It was strange because Oregon had been doing exactly that to other teams: They blew them off the field. To see somebody else going into Autzen and doing that to Oregon was shocking."

Yogi Roth, Pac-12 color analyst • "They got beat. That definitely happened. The way Travis [Wilson] played was phenomenal. I remember that huge run against them. Special teams got a ton of play after that, too." —

Oregon at No. 11 Utah

P Saturday, noon

TV • Pac-12 Network