Oregon is closing the regular season with something of a gantlet -- three straight ranked opponents and massive stakes each week.

The No. 9-ranked Ducks (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12) went from the stinging loss to rival Washington to the gritty bounce-back win over Utah with QB Bo Nix playing through his ankle injury, and now it's a rivalry game at No. 21 Oregon State (8-3, 5-3) to close it out Saturday.

The setup is simple -- if Oregon can win in Corvallis then the Ducks are in the Pac-12 championship game against USC next Friday in Las Vegas, Nev.

The means of pulling that off -- not so simple.

Oregon State has won five of its last six games with the lone blemish in that stretch a 3-point loss to Washington on a last-second field goal. The Beavers are 4-1 at home this season with the lone defeat a 17-14 thriller that went down to the wire against USC.

Add in the rivalry element, Nix's less-than-100-percent status, a banged-up offensive line and the road for the Ducks certainly isn't getting any easier as they push toward some major remaining goals.

"It's a big game. The state's really divided over Oregon and Oregon State. Definitely a good rivalry so it will be fun on Saturday," offensive lineman Ryan Walk said.

With that, let's break down the key takeaways so far this week from interviews with Oregon's offensive players and head coach Dan Lanning.

Offensive lineman Ryan Walk, who filled in for Alex Forsyth at center against Utah, revealed that quarterback Bo Nix didn't get much practice in at all last week on his injured ankle and that it wasn't until last Friday that the Ducks really knew their offensive leader was going to be able to take the field Saturday.

"He totally embodies what you want in a college football player. He embodies what you want in a guy in your program," Walk said. "The toughness Bo had to be able to go out there on Saturday and play through what he was playing through, just unreal amount of toughness. He barely took any reps during the week healing that ankle up, and it was awesome to see him out there. I think that gave the whole team a morale boost and you saw us come out there early on fire."

Nix added to his Ducks lore in what has been an unforgettable season for the Auburn transfer. Clearly hobbled and unable to deliver his usual dual-threat contributions, Nix completed 25 of 37 passes for 287 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception in the pivotal 20-17 win over the Utes.

"I've done that before. In high school coming off of a broken ankle, kind of reminded me of that. Just wanting to be out there and play in those kind of games is just what it comes down to," Nix said Tuesday after practice. "You're standing, you're mobile enough, at the quarterback position can kind of get away with it just because you're not running or pushing every single play. ... If I was going to be able to play in that game just with the hype around it and how much it meant, I was going to do my best to get out there and play."

As for how he's feeling this week ...

"It's doing well. A lot better this Tuesday than what it was last Tuesday, so I'm very thankful. Our training staff is doing a great job. We're just monitoring it and should be good to go."

Nix had his 2021 season at Auburn end due to a broken ankle, and he said his history going through ankle injuries helped him know how to approach it last week and what he probably could and couldn't do.

"Thank goodness this one obviously is a lot better than the last one. Able to still get on it and play, go through some of the aches and pains of it because I've kind of been there and know what to expect with the ankle. I think that, to be honest, has kind of helped," he said.

Coach Dan Lanning, as usual, would not indulge any injury questions Monday night.

So that leaves the status of center Alex Forsyth and right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson (along with WR Chase Cota) unclear.

Powers-Johnson played only 14 snaps vs. Utah, but fortunately for the Ducks, veteran offensive guard Steven Jones made his return from a foot strain that had kept him out since Week 2. He logged 41 snaps Saturday, sliding back into that right guard role.

"It was fun to see him get back on the field. He's been coaching so hard on the sidelines these last few games. I know it was really important for him to get back out there and help his team, and he was able to help us," Lanning said. "... I know he's looking at that film saying 'What can I do better?' Which is good, it's what we want him to do. But it was nice to see him out there."

Jones shared perspective on the left foot injury and lengthy rehab he faced these last couple months.

"It was right before halftime vs. Eastern Washington, I went to pancake a dude and I just tweaked my foot. I felt two pops, I didn't know what that was, so I just kept on playing, finishing out the drive. And I came back out at halftime and my foot just flared up really hard and it was just hard for me to walk. I went in, got an X-ray, MRI. They said I just had mid-foot sprain, but I almost tore my Lisfranc, so I was just out rehabbing," Jones said.

"I thought I was going to get back a lot sooner than I did, but unfortunately things didn't work out as [I hoped.] ... They told me you can't push yourself, because I guess I've been known to push through a lot of injuries, so they told me this injury is something that you can't just toughen up and go step on the field. That was one the hardest things was just having to hold myself back."

Per PFF, Jones allowed just 1 QB hurry during his 41 snaps Saturday.

"Obviously, we needed it. We were a little thin this week, and it was really great timing," Walk said of Jones' return.

As Lanning noted, during his rehab, Jones stayed involved as an extra voice in the linemen's ears, helping where he saw opportunity.

"The coaching staff started calling me 'Coach Jones' out there because I couldn't do nothing but I was able to walk around and stuff. That really got me a little sense of how coaching might feel. That might be a pathway I might want to look into -- we'll see," he said.

As for his more immediate future, Jones said he has not made a determination on whether he'll return next season. He has one more season of eligibility due to the free Covid year.

"No, I haven't made my decision yet. My biggest emphasis was just to get back on the field. Being out for so long, it takes a lot on your mentals, so I just wanted to get back on the field, finish out the season, see how it goes and go from there," Jones said.

Walk, meanwhile, admitted he feared the worst when he got injured in the Washington game two weeks ago.

"I kind of thought my season might be over and just looking at the clip again I'm pretty fortunate I didn't do anything worse -- lucky not to have broken anything or torn any ligaments. So I'm just really glad I was able to get back out there this Saturday," he said.