I'm not a moral victory guy. To me, saying a loss is actually a win is like saying an elephant is a actually a rhinoceros. It's just not true.

So, I won't say Oregon's 38-31 overtime loss to No. 7 Stanford is somehow really a victory, but I will say, it showed just how good this Oregon team is and can be. I think more the latter.

I left Autzen Stadium believing that this Oregon team is as good as any team in the Pac-12. I even said on last night's DuckTerritory podcast, that I think Oregon may have the league's most talented team.

The Ducks have the conference's best quarterback. If you watched Saturday's game and don't believe Justin Herbert is the best the league has to offer, then I don't know what to tell you. He was as sharp and consistently sharp as any quarterback we've seen in a while. In regulation he was 25-for-27 for 311 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers are eye-popping. With Herbert at the helm, this Oregon offense will be able to move the ball on anyone. Let's remember, the 31 points they scored on Saturday, is eight more than opponents had scored on Stanford in its first three games combined.

And the young Oregon skill guys stepped up too. How about Dillon Mitchell? When was the last time you felt Oregon had a guy out wide capable of a 14-catch, 239 yard night? The receiving group deserves a ton of credit. It's a group that had been maligned for its inability to catch passes, but on Saturday, the caught everything thrown their way, and many weren't of them weren't easy.

The Ducks are also as stout up front as any team you'll see in this league. I said it last week, and I think Saturday further solidified it, but this is the best front-seven Oregon has had since 2011. Jordon Scott is a force in the middle, and the Ducks have the luxury of brining in pass rush experts Jalen Jelks and Justin Hollins off the edge to make Saturdays miserable for opposing quarterbacks. And, we haven't even mentioned the team's leading tackler Troy Dye. Saturday also showed that this group had depth. Drayton Carlberg entered for Austin Faoliu after the sophomore was dinged up, and stuffed a critical third down run play. The Ducks are deeper and better up front than they've been in years.

So how does Oregon have the more talented team and still lose the game? Well, I think the answer to that lies between the ears. This remains a young football team. For nearly every player I've mentioned above, Saturday was the first game they'd played where both teams had been ranked. It was truly the first time they'd played on a stage like that, and I think they buckled under the pressure. The high snaps and fumbles, to me feel symptomatic of a team trying to be great that isn't quite ready to be. They know they're good enough to win that game, but they can't quite find a way to ensure they will.

I also think we'll learn a ton about this group this week. The Cal game has acted as an afterthought for a long time. Sandwiched between games with Stanford and Washington, it's been easy to look past. That's not the case anymore. It's a sports cliche, but you can't allow one loss to beat you twice. That's what this group is up against. Saturday's game leaves little doubt of who the more talented team will be, but again, the loss was more mental than physical, and that's what next week will be as well. Can they move on? Or will one loss turn into two with Washington coming to town in three weeks?

I'll finish with this. I think Oregon can still win the Pac-12 North. Since conference expansion in 2011, no team has run the table. Not one. That means the odds say Stanford will lose at least one game, and so will Washington. Every game remaining on Oregon's schedule is winnable. There isn't a game they aren't capable of dominating like they last night. Now, it's a matter of learning how to finish them.