Pac-12 play opens for the Oregon football team Saturday afternoon when the Ducks play at Washington State.
The No. 15 Ducks (2-1) have won two straight since dropping their opener, and are fresh off a win over Brigham Young in a battle of top-25 teams. The Cougars are somewhat surprisingly unranked despite getting off to a 3-0 start that includes a win at Wisconsin.
Oregon leads the all-time series 52-40-7 and is 26-21-2 all-time in Pullman, Wash. The Ducks have won three straight, after dropping four in a row to WSU between 2015-18.
The game will kick off at 1 p.m. and is slated for a FOX telecast, with Tim Brando on play by play and Spencer Tillman providing analysis.
Some factors to watch when the Ducks face the Cougars. …
1. Something’s got to give at the line of scrimmage when the Ducks have the ball. Washington State is tied for the Pac-12 lead and second in the country with 14 sacks, while Oregon’s offensive line has yet to allow a sack through three games – despite some lineup shuffling by position coach Adrian Klemm due to injuries.
The odds are, Oregon won’t go all season without allowing a sack. But as long as the Ducks keep consistently buying time for Bo Nix and clearing lanes for running backs, they’re getting the job done regardless.
“I’ll say this: We don’t want to give up sacks, but on the same note our goal isn’t how many sacks we give up a game, our goal is to win,” UO coach Dan Lanning said. “It’s a really good job by our offensive staff, coach Klemm and those guys up front, but it’s not the only measuring stick for us offensively.”
2. Along with Oregon, the Cougars also are benefiting from the addition of a transfer at quarterback. In WSU’s case it’s Cameron Ward, a national player of the year finalist at the FCS level last fall while playing for Incarnate Word.
After employing the “Air Raid” system under former coach Mike Leach, now it’s the “Coug Raid,” which can spread the ball around in the passing game while also capitalizing on the athleticism of Ward and also some dynamic running backs.
“They’re more balanced,” Lanning said. “It’s unique; when I’ve played teams like this in the past, you kind of carry one defense, and it’s what you have to play the entire week and it’s usually a little bit unique for that. That being said they still have 11 personnel; they have 12 personnel. They use the tight end. So it’s more to prepare for and they do a lot more, but they still can create some of those issues that…
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