Arizona hasn’t been much of a football program over the past 10 years or so, but for some reason, when Oregon travels down to Tucson, the Wildcats seem to put it together to upset the Ducks.
The last time Oregon rolled into the desert and came out on top with a victory was in 2011 with a 56-21 win.
But if there’s one thing this Oregon team has shown this season, it doesn’t pay much attention to history and it’s out to pave its own historical path.
The Ducks (4-1) are looking to continue their winning streak (6 pm PST, Pac-12 Network), but although Arizona was picked to finish 11th in the Pac-12, the 3-2 Wildcats are not playing like a low-level conference team.
A large portion of the credit for the surprising season belongs to quarterback Jayden de Laura, the transfer from Washington State. He has completely turned around the Arizona offense. In 2021, the Cats averaged just over 17 points a game and they finished the season 1-11. But now, Arizona is scoring almost double the points and they’ve already tripled that win total.
De Laura is completing 63 percent of his passes, airing it out for 327 yards per game and has found the end zone 14 times. Although he has thrown six interceptions, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning says the Wildcat quarterback is dangerous.
“I think this quarterback really can play well. He throws lasers. He throws the ball on rhythm on a dart and he doesn’t need a big window to be able to attack,” Lanning said. “He’s able to extend play with his feet. This is a really good challenge for us. There haven’t been a lot of teams that have really slowed them down offensively, they’ve only maybe hurt themselves a couple of times to be honest. They’ve done a really good job. They get the ball downfield. They take long shots. This will be a really good challenge.”
Oregon’s defense gives up 270 yards passing, so de Laura should be able to move the ball downfield, but the Ducks haven’t given up that big explosion play, which could wind up being Arizona’s detriment. They count on those big plays.
Nothing much has changed with the Wildcats’ defense with the stats being virtually the same from last season. It’s a defense the Ducks were able to score 41 points with an ultra-conservative offense. There’s nothing conservative about this Oregon offense with the new coaching staff.
Arizona will score some, but the bottom line is the Ducks are just a lot better than the Wildcats. Oregon will roll into the desert and roll over the Wildcats for an easy win heading into its bye week.
Ducks 52, Arizona 20