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5 Things To Know: UO-WSU
10/19/18 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon plays at Washington State on Saturday (4:30 p.m., FOX), a game with significant conference and even national implications.
PULLMAN, Wash. — The No. 12 Oregon football team was scheduled to arrive on the Palouse on Friday evening, and stay in Moscow, Idaho, before bussing Saturday to the campus of Washington State to face the No. 25 Cougars at 4:30 p.m.
Oregon enters the game 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Pac-12 play, after the dramatic overtime win over Washington at Autzen Stadium the week before. Washington State has an identical record (5-1, 2-1), and is coming into Saturday's game off a bye weekend.
The game will be televised by FOX, with Tim Brando handling play by play, Spencer Tillman as the analyst and Holly Sonders providing reports from the sideline.
1. As UO coach Mario Cristobal stressed this week, sometimes it can be as hard or harder to bounce back from a big win as it is a tough loss. The Ducks rallied themselves back from the disappointment of an overtime loss to Stanford by winning on the road at California, and now look to go on the road again needing to put an emotional result in the rear-view mirror.
As was the case last season, the Ducks in 2018 are taking Mondays off and practicing each Sunday. That meant Cristobal got to gauge his team's mentality less than 24 hours after the win over UW. "Really good practice yesterday," Cristobal said Monday morning at his weekly press conference. "Guys were sharp, understanding the importance of getting refocused, dialed in and locked in to Washington State."
2. A week after Oregon's front seven was able to hound UW quarterback Jake Browning throughout that game, the quick-release Air Raid offense of Washington State will try and minimize the impact of the UO pass rush. That will put a premium on the Ducks' coverage skills, and their ability to tackle.
Cristobal said safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Keith Heyward played a big role in helping minimize the impact of the UW passing attack; no Husky wide receiver had more than two receptions. Heyward "has really brought some new wrinkles to our defense in terms of coverage," Cristobal said.
No matter how good Oregon's coverage is, WSU figures to complete some passes; the Cougars are averaging 37 completions per game. It will be incumbent upon the Ducks to keep short completions from turning into big gains, through sure tackling. Freshman safety Jevon Holland in particular said tackling has been a focus for him this week, a point of emphasis he took from his experience making his first career start last week.
3. Oregon is looking to snap a three-game losing streak to the Cougars, their longest win streak in the series since 1981-84. The Ducks lost in double overtime in Autzen Stadium in 2015, dropped a 51-33 decision in Pullman in 2016, then lost 33-10 last season.
All three featured quirks for Oregon at the quarterback position. The Ducks' primary starter in 2015 was Vernon Adams Jr., but he didn't play against the Cougars due to injury. The 2016 game was the last before Justin Herbert was named the Ducks' starting quarterback for the remainder of that season, and Herbert missed last year's WSU game with the shoulder injury that sidelined him for a month.
4. The Ducks lead the Pac-12 and are eighth nationally in third-down conversions offensively, successfully moving the chains 51.7 percent of the time. Some of that success owes to being in manageable situations due to positive plays on first down, something Cristobal hopes will continue this week — and which WSU could complicate.
The WSU defensive line is among the most active in the conference, a challenge for the rushing attack that fuels Oregon's first-down success. It will often shift to the right or left just before the snap, confusing the pre-snap reads an opposing offense has made. And the Cougars rely heavily on stunts that further sow confusion up front. All of that movement can sometimes cause the offensive line to commit false starts; that makes it first-and-15, a situation in which offenses nationally have a 98 percent failure rate, Cristobal noted.
5. Saturday's game and others around the conference have massive implications on the Pac-12 North division — and thus the conference title race — but also the College Football Playoff.
Every Pac-12 team has one loss at this point, putting those that do have just one — Oregon, Washington State and Colorado — in the best position to enter the playoff discussion should they keep winning. Colorado plays Saturday at Washington, a major test of the Buffaloes' viability in that discussion.
Stanford's win Thursday at Arizona State put the Cardinal at 3-1 in the Pac-12, a record the Cardinal share with the Huskies. The Ducks and Cougars are both 2-1, meaning just one of the two has a chance to keep pace with Stanford, and possibly also UW, this weekend in the race for the Pac-12 North title and a spot in the conference championship game.
Oregon enters the game 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Pac-12 play, after the dramatic overtime win over Washington at Autzen Stadium the week before. Washington State has an identical record (5-1, 2-1), and is coming into Saturday's game off a bye weekend.
The game will be televised by FOX, with Tim Brando handling play by play, Spencer Tillman as the analyst and Holly Sonders providing reports from the sideline.
1. As UO coach Mario Cristobal stressed this week, sometimes it can be as hard or harder to bounce back from a big win as it is a tough loss. The Ducks rallied themselves back from the disappointment of an overtime loss to Stanford by winning on the road at California, and now look to go on the road again needing to put an emotional result in the rear-view mirror.
As was the case last season, the Ducks in 2018 are taking Mondays off and practicing each Sunday. That meant Cristobal got to gauge his team's mentality less than 24 hours after the win over UW. "Really good practice yesterday," Cristobal said Monday morning at his weekly press conference. "Guys were sharp, understanding the importance of getting refocused, dialed in and locked in to Washington State."
2. A week after Oregon's front seven was able to hound UW quarterback Jake Browning throughout that game, the quick-release Air Raid offense of Washington State will try and minimize the impact of the UO pass rush. That will put a premium on the Ducks' coverage skills, and their ability to tackle.
Cristobal said safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Keith Heyward played a big role in helping minimize the impact of the UW passing attack; no Husky wide receiver had more than two receptions. Heyward "has really brought some new wrinkles to our defense in terms of coverage," Cristobal said.
No matter how good Oregon's coverage is, WSU figures to complete some passes; the Cougars are averaging 37 completions per game. It will be incumbent upon the Ducks to keep short completions from turning into big gains, through sure tackling. Freshman safety Jevon Holland in particular said tackling has been a focus for him this week, a point of emphasis he took from his experience making his first career start last week.
3. Oregon is looking to snap a three-game losing streak to the Cougars, their longest win streak in the series since 1981-84. The Ducks lost in double overtime in Autzen Stadium in 2015, dropped a 51-33 decision in Pullman in 2016, then lost 33-10 last season.
All three featured quirks for Oregon at the quarterback position. The Ducks' primary starter in 2015 was Vernon Adams Jr., but he didn't play against the Cougars due to injury. The 2016 game was the last before Justin Herbert was named the Ducks' starting quarterback for the remainder of that season, and Herbert missed last year's WSU game with the shoulder injury that sidelined him for a month.
4. The Ducks lead the Pac-12 and are eighth nationally in third-down conversions offensively, successfully moving the chains 51.7 percent of the time. Some of that success owes to being in manageable situations due to positive plays on first down, something Cristobal hopes will continue this week — and which WSU could complicate.
The WSU defensive line is among the most active in the conference, a challenge for the rushing attack that fuels Oregon's first-down success. It will often shift to the right or left just before the snap, confusing the pre-snap reads an opposing offense has made. And the Cougars rely heavily on stunts that further sow confusion up front. All of that movement can sometimes cause the offensive line to commit false starts; that makes it first-and-15, a situation in which offenses nationally have a 98 percent failure rate, Cristobal noted.
5. Saturday's game and others around the conference have massive implications on the Pac-12 North division — and thus the conference title race — but also the College Football Playoff.
Every Pac-12 team has one loss at this point, putting those that do have just one — Oregon, Washington State and Colorado — in the best position to enter the playoff discussion should they keep winning. Colorado plays Saturday at Washington, a major test of the Buffaloes' viability in that discussion.
Stanford's win Thursday at Arizona State put the Cardinal at 3-1 in the Pac-12, a record the Cardinal share with the Huskies. The Ducks and Cougars are both 2-1, meaning just one of the two has a chance to keep pace with Stanford, and possibly also UW, this weekend in the race for the Pac-12 North title and a spot in the conference championship game.
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