When one looks at the game notes provided by the Stanford Athletic Department, the No. 1 key to the season opener is that they won’t have to deal with the loudest stadium in college football.
Noise or no noise, the Cardinal will have to deal with one of the best, if not the best, defense in the Pac-12 when Oregon and Stanford get together Saturday night for the ABC Primetime Game of the Week.
Kickoff is scheduled for 4:44 pm in front of a national television audience.
“Part of me is going to miss that,” said Cardinal head coach David Shaw.
“Going into that stadium, you love that feeling. They play White Stripes, that gets you fired up. You hear the crowd, the fans …
“But the other 80 percent of me is excited that our quarterback will actually be able to communicate and that our offense will be able to hear each other.”
That quarterback is senior Davis Mills, a 6-4, 225-pounder from Duluth, Ga. He was a highly-touted recruit, but injuries set him back some. He did play a lot last season and is looking forwarded to finally having one healthy year under center.
In 2019, Mills played in eight games, starting six of those contests where he went 158 of 241 (65 percent) for 1,960 yards (245 ypg) and 11 touchdowns.
But for some reason, Autzen hasn’t been much of a factor when Stanford comes to Eugene lately.
The two teams have split the last four games in Autzen, including the last time Stanford came to town in 2018 when the Cardinal came out on top in a 38-31 overtime win.
However, the Cardinal will come into this game a little shorthanded as the injury bug has already hit Stanford.
Thankfully, the coronavirus hasn’t penetrated its program yet, but projected starters Gabe Reid, an outside linebacker, and cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly will likely be out for the game, as well as outside linebacker Tangaloa Kaufusi.
OREGON CENTER ALEX FORSYTH DISCUSSES FACING STANFORD
That’s good news for the Oregon offense as the Ducks will be trotting out a new quarterback, either Tyler Shough or Anthony Brown, as well as a brand new offensive line.
Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal would surely like to have their new signal caller and offensive line work out whatever kinks they may have against a lesser opponent and not Stanford.
Shough/Brown will have the luxury, however, of being able to hand off to experienced running backs (CJ Verdell, TRavis Dye, Cyrus Hibibi-Likio) and throw to receivers such as Johnny Johnson III, Mycah Pittman, Jaylon Redd along with a whole host of tight ends at the Ducks’ disposal.
On defense, the Ducks will run out a unit that promises to be a quarterback’s nightmare with Kayvon Thibodeaux at defensive end and a secondary that has Deommodore Lenoir and Mychal Wright at the corner spots with Nick Pickett and Verone McKinley III at the safety positions.
Injuries haven’t affected the Ducks quite yet, but they’ll be feeling the loss of safeties Brady Breeze and Jevon Holland, as well as offensive lineman Penei Sewell, as all three have opted out because of the pandemic.
Missing Sewell, who will be a Top 5 NFL draft pick in a few months, will be instantly felt along that line, but Oregon coach Mario Cristobal thinks the nine offensive linemen the Ducks will be rotating in and out is up to the task.
Overall, it’s going to be a strange experience for everyone involved to play a meaningful game with zero fans in the stands.
Oregon event staff will try to keep everything else the same such as public address announcements, a scoreboard, and playing ‘Shout’ at the end of the third quarter.
NEW OREGON SCOREBOARD
The University of Oregon and Oregon athletics will debut its new scoreboard during Saturday’s Stanford game at Autzen Stadium.
The dimensions of the new entertainment board are ‘186’ x ’66’ and is located in the east end zone where the former sound system and smaller scoreboard have now been removed. The cost of the new system is an estimated $12 million.
