Taking care of Utah on the road means that there is only one more away game left for Oregon in 2023. Two ranked opponents are still set to visit Autzen Stadium, but this week it's Cal that comes to town.

More simply put, this needs to be a take-care-of-business game for a Ducks team (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) slotted No. 6 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings this week.

The Golden Bears (3-5, 1-4) are on a three-game losing streak, with their most recent being a 1-point loss to USC in the final minute on a failed two-point conversion attempt.

Despite its troubles this year, Cal has been very consistent on offense. A promising run game has helped the Golden Bears average 32.3 points per game (5th in the Pac-12), while redshirt freshman Fernando Mendoza has emerged as the starting quarterback in recent weeks while coming off the best game of his young career (292 passing yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT plus 48 yards and 2 TDs rushing vs. USC).

The Ducks have a clear road to playing in the final Pac-12 championship game, but before thinking too far ahead, they will have to continue their dominance at home against a tricky Cal team.

Here are our top storylines for Saturday -- 2:30 p.m. PT kickoff from Autzen Stadium (on Pac-12 Network) -- and the key comments from coach Dan Lanning and players.

The Ducks entered the first CFP ranking at No. 6 and will likely be in the hunt for the remainder of the season. Their offensive success from last season has carried over nicely, but the biggest improvements can be seen on the defensive side.

The defense has picked up pivotal turnovers to spur that big step forward, with most of those takeaways coming from newcomers, as transfers Khyree Jackson and Tysheem Johnson lead the team with 2 interceptions each.

“It’s really just opportunity, honestly,” Jackson said. “Coach Lanning, coach Tosh [Lupoi], and Coach Meat (DBs coach Demetrice Martin) just putting me into the right positions to make plays and just executing.”

The Ducks offense, on the other hand, almost doesn’t turn the ball over at all. Oregon’s 2 turnovers are the fewest in the country and its +7 turnover margin is tied for 13th best.

“Well, good quarterback play, good play calling, guys that are conscientious of taking care of the ball in practice,” Lanning said. “We work on [ball security] every single week, but I think every team in the nation works it every week. Some of it’s probably good fortune. And some of it’s about us continuing to focus on it and making it a big detail.

Quarterback Bo Nix accounted one of those with an interception in Week 4, while Bucky Irving’s uncharacteristic fumble in Salt Lake City accounted for the second.

“You know, when you don’t turn the ball over, you have a chance to win,” Lanning said. “That’s something we want to continue emphasizing.”

Cal’s offense has scored over 30 points against Oregon State, USC and Washington. Even when playing some of the conference’s best, the Golden Bears’ RPO offense seems to find a way to be successful.

Out of those options, running the ball has been the better bet. Cal comes into this game ranked 19th in the country in rushing (200.5 YPG) while star sophomore Jaydn Ott ranks 9th nationally with 108 rushing yards per game.

Ott was sidelined in the second half after a dominant start vs. USC last week (21 carries for 153 yards and 3 TDs overall), but the word out of Berkeley is that he is expected to play.

“I feel like the gameplan this week really is stop the run, get them in second-and-long, and make them throw the ball,” Brandon Dorlus said. “That’s what we did at Utah. We stopped the run and made them play left-handed. We knew they couldn’t throw the ball downfield to beat us and that’s what we made them do.”

The Ducks’ defense should be up for the challenge, already having faced off against a handful of good rushing offenses this season. They come into this game only allowing 95.6 yards on the ground a game (12th in the country).