After Oregon was embarrassed in Atlanta at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs, the Ducks have rebounded nicely with wins over FCS Eastern Washington and a highly ranked BYU team.
At 2-1 and the Pac-12 Conference opener staring them in the face, it feels like the season could go one way or the other according to the outcome of Saturday’s matchup with Washington State.
The 40-21 win against BYU set a lot of minds at ease and now Oregon ventures out on the road again, but the Cougars are not even in Georgia’s class (who is?) and the final score, one way or the other, should be vastly different.
But unlike in recent years, Washington State’s strength is on the defensive end of the ball.
The Cougars are 3-0 and among those wins is a marquee 17-14 road victory over Wisconsin. Going to Madison and holding the Badgers to just two touchdowns is significant.
Oregon’s offense will certainly get tested.
“They’re one of the few teams on film that you see all 11 guys sprint to the ball,” said Oregon offensive lineman Alex Forsyth.
“They’ve always been that way since I’ve been in college. It’ll be a really good challenge.”
Their defense has been bolstered by the transfer portal with linebacker Diayan Henley via Nevada.
Henley leads WSU with 30 tackles, 7.5 for loss, and four sacks.
Although he’s off to a slow start, defensive end Ron Stone is a First Team All-Conference performer and he’ll have his sights sets on Oregon quarterback Bo Nix. Oregon’s streak over three consecutive games of not allowing a sack is definitely on the line.
The transfer portal has also been kind to the Cougars as former Incarnate Word quarterback Cameron Ward is continuing his success in Pullman. Ward is completing 65 percent of his passes and has eight touchdowns.
“He’s a good quarterback,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said of Ward.
“Good football is good football and he’s got a fast delivery. We’ve talked as a defensive staff that he’s like a shortstop with the way he’s able to get the ball out really quick.”
With a win, the Ducks trajectory will keep going up and they can pretty much forget about that season-opening defeat.
But a defeat would certainly reinforce some external doubts about the season and those questions about this team’s overall ability will be raised yet again.
Oregon should be able to come back home with a win.
Washington State’s offense is fairly one-dimensional and the defense is good, not great.
Ducks 28, WSU 17
MEDIA BRIEFING; DAN LANNING DISCUSSES ROAD TRIP TO WSU