The quicker Oregon can put last week’s loss to Georgia behind them, the better.
Eastern Washington comes into Autzen Stadium tonight (5:44 pm, Pac-12 Network) to face an angry Duck football team as Oregon looks to flush last week and officially move on with the 2022 college football season.
The last time, and the only time, the school out of Cheney, Wash. visited Eugene, the Eagles featured a little-known receiver named Cooper Kupp. He proceeded to set an Autzen Stadium record of 246 receiving yards and then a few years later, become the MVP of the Super Bowl.
Unfortunately for EWU, they don’t feature a receiver Kupp’s caliber.
According to Sam Adams, a local morning host for KHQ out of Spokane and former sports director of KEZI in Eugene, these Eagles might be in big trouble.
“I think the talk before the season was ‘Boy, this is going to be a rough game for EWU.’ You could pretty much count on at least 40 points from the Eagles against Washington, Washington State, and Oregon State a few years back,” Adams said.
“But that was with Cooper Kupp and Vernon Adams on offense, and that was some generational talent. I’m not sensing that same level of optimism against Oregon right now, despite the Ducks’ struggles against Georgia. If anything, I’d be a little concerned about Oregon now taking its frustrations out on Eastern.”
Taking out some frustrations is exactly what the Ducks need.
They weren’t able to show how good they were capable of being.
Quarterback Bo Nix is looking to get on track and try to find the endzone on a consistent basis and stay away from interceptions that plagued him in Atlanta.
But this Eastern Washington defense is not the Georgia defense, although they do feature one of the best linebackers on the FCS level in Mitchell Johnson out of West Linn, Oregon. Coming into this season, Johnson had 154 tackles, including 27.5 tackles for loss, 14.5 sacks, and five interceptions.
Oregon’s defense also wasn’t able to show how good it can be.
And, while Eastern Washington does have a solid and talented offense and should score some points, the Ducks should be able to impose their will.
EWU will bring in six-year senior Gunner Talkington as QB, but this will be just his third career start and the Autzen Stadium atmosphere will be a very different experience than being on the red turf facing Tennessee State.
When it’s all said and done, the Ducks will cruise and get the season back on track.
With a good BYU team coming into Autzen next week, this is a must-win.
Oregon 55, Eastern Washington 17