Does Oregon Need a Statement Win vs. Indiana After Penn State's Collapse?

Penn State’s unexpected loss to UCLA didn’t just hurt the Nittany Lions, it rippled across the College Football Playoff landscape. Most notably, it chipped away at one of Oregon’s top wins to date, raising questions about the strength of the Ducks’ résumé through the opening six weeks of the season.

Now, Oregon heads into Saturday’s Big Ten showdown against Indiana knowing a simple win might not be enough. If the Ducks beat Indiana in impressive fashion, they’ll cement themselves as legitimate national title contenders.

FOX Sports college football writers RJ Young and Michael Cohen discuss how Penn State’s stumble changes the calculus for Oregon, and what it means for the Ducks in this weekend's matchup and beyond.

RJ Young: With Dan Lanning in charge, Oregon has shown it can be the best team in the country when given an opportunity — unlike Penn State under James Franklin. The Ducks are the defending Big Ten champions. The Ducks became the No. 1 team in the country with a win against a top-10 opponent at Autzen last year (Ohio State), and that team (OSU) ended up winning the national title.

If the committee is reasonable, it will see these facts as representative of what Oregon is capable of. But I think it’s more interesting to think about what a win for Indiana might mean for Oregon. There’s not a single ranked opponent left on the schedule for the Ducks after they play the No. 7-ranked Hoosiers. This game is more about Oregon having a clear and velvety soft path to the Big Ten title game. With a win over the Hoosiers, Oregon will become the most likely team to run the table the rest of the season, including Ohio State, who still must prove it can beat Michigan.

The idea of Oregon running the table in the regular