Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
5 Storylines To Watch: Oregon-WSU
10/26/19 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The Ducks host Washington State in Autzen Stadium on Saturday (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon football team is back home in Autzen Stadium on Saturday night, when the No. 11 Ducks host Washington State at 7:30 p.m.
The Ducks (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) are unbeaten since their season-opening loss to Auburn, and coming off a 35-31, come-from-behind win at Washington. The Cougars (4-3, 1-3) ended a three-game losing streak with a win at home over Colorado last week.
The game will be televised by ESPN, with Steve Levy on play by play, Brian Griese providing analysis from the booth, Todd McShay on the field with further analysis and Molly McGrath with reporting from the sidelines.
Some storylines to watch:
1. After four straight losses, the Ducks need to prove they can figure out the Cougars.
Oregon's last win over Washington State was in 2014, and even that required a ridiculous effort from Marcus Mariota. On his way to the Heisman Trophy, Mariota was 21-of-25 with five touchdowns in a 38-31 victory on the road.
Since then WSU has won five straight in the series, including a double-overtime victory in Eugene in 2015, and another win in Autzen Stadium two years later that UO quarterback Justin Herbert missed after injuring his shoulder in the Ducks' previous game.
In between those performances, the Ducks lost at WSU in 2016 — the game that featured the first collegiate touchdown drive orchestrated by Herbert. Saturday he'll look to orchestrate a UO victory, against a team that has confounded the Ducks in recent years.
2. The win over UW last week was monumental, and the Ducks can't have a letdown today.
Not only is Oregon coming off an emotional comeback win over a rival, the UO football team plays next week at USC. That will be a homecoming for a significant chunk of the roster, given Oregon's success recruiting in southern California of late.
But today, the focus can't be on last week's win, or next week's game. It was just last year that Oregon was coming off a dramatic win over UW, played WSU the next week and looked flat in falling behind 27-0 at halftime.
The Ducks don't want to let history repeat itself this evening.
3. The Cougars underwent a coordinator change earlier this month, and are playing just their third game under new leadership on defense.
Former coordinator Tracy Claeys stepped down after WSU suffered back-to-back losses to UCLA and Utah, in which the Cougars allowed 105 total points. The loss to the Bruins was a 67-63 defeat that remains one of the wildest Pac-12 Conference games so far this season.
In place of Claeys, assistants Roc Bellantoni and Darcel McBath were named co-coordinators. Under their leadership, WSU came out of a bye week and lost on a late touchdown at Arizona State but bounced back by holding Colorado to 10 points last week.
Oregon players said this week WSU's defense looks largely similar since the change. One player did say it appeared the Cougars are stemming on defense — moving the defensive linemen left or right just before the snap — slightly less frequently.
4. Oregon's own defense is looking for a bit of a bounceback this week.
The Ducks were elated after clinching the comeback victory last week at UW. And the defense played no small part, with huge plays in the fourth quarter including Jevon Holland and Jordon Scott making a stop on third-and-short to set up the game-winning touchdown, and Mykael Wright denying the Huskies a first down on their final pass play of the day.
But the first half and the opening possession after halftime didn't feature as many highlights, and UO defensive coordinator Andy Avalos — usually a fairly easygoing guy — has been burning with intensity from the moment he walked off the field last week. This is a defense — and a defensive coordinator — looking to prove this week that the first half in Seattle was an anomaly.
5. A win Saturday would keep Oregon in very strong position to win the Pac-12 North, and play for the conference title.
The Ducks are the only Pac-12 team still unbeaten in conference play; they're also one of just two Pac-12 North teams with less than three losses already, the other being two-loss Oregon State, which is off this week. So a win Saturday puts Oregon not only three games ahead of the other four Pac-12 North teams, but also holding the tiebreaker over all four based on head-to-head results.
That requires a win Saturday, of course. And exorcising the demon WSU has been to the Ducks in the recent history of their series.
The Ducks (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) are unbeaten since their season-opening loss to Auburn, and coming off a 35-31, come-from-behind win at Washington. The Cougars (4-3, 1-3) ended a three-game losing streak with a win at home over Colorado last week.
The game will be televised by ESPN, with Steve Levy on play by play, Brian Griese providing analysis from the booth, Todd McShay on the field with further analysis and Molly McGrath with reporting from the sidelines.
Some storylines to watch:
1. After four straight losses, the Ducks need to prove they can figure out the Cougars.
Oregon's last win over Washington State was in 2014, and even that required a ridiculous effort from Marcus Mariota. On his way to the Heisman Trophy, Mariota was 21-of-25 with five touchdowns in a 38-31 victory on the road.
Since then WSU has won five straight in the series, including a double-overtime victory in Eugene in 2015, and another win in Autzen Stadium two years later that UO quarterback Justin Herbert missed after injuring his shoulder in the Ducks' previous game.
In between those performances, the Ducks lost at WSU in 2016 — the game that featured the first collegiate touchdown drive orchestrated by Herbert. Saturday he'll look to orchestrate a UO victory, against a team that has confounded the Ducks in recent years.
2. The win over UW last week was monumental, and the Ducks can't have a letdown today.
Not only is Oregon coming off an emotional comeback win over a rival, the UO football team plays next week at USC. That will be a homecoming for a significant chunk of the roster, given Oregon's success recruiting in southern California of late.
But today, the focus can't be on last week's win, or next week's game. It was just last year that Oregon was coming off a dramatic win over UW, played WSU the next week and looked flat in falling behind 27-0 at halftime.
The Ducks don't want to let history repeat itself this evening.
3. The Cougars underwent a coordinator change earlier this month, and are playing just their third game under new leadership on defense.
Former coordinator Tracy Claeys stepped down after WSU suffered back-to-back losses to UCLA and Utah, in which the Cougars allowed 105 total points. The loss to the Bruins was a 67-63 defeat that remains one of the wildest Pac-12 Conference games so far this season.
In place of Claeys, assistants Roc Bellantoni and Darcel McBath were named co-coordinators. Under their leadership, WSU came out of a bye week and lost on a late touchdown at Arizona State but bounced back by holding Colorado to 10 points last week.
Oregon players said this week WSU's defense looks largely similar since the change. One player did say it appeared the Cougars are stemming on defense — moving the defensive linemen left or right just before the snap — slightly less frequently.
4. Oregon's own defense is looking for a bit of a bounceback this week.
The Ducks were elated after clinching the comeback victory last week at UW. And the defense played no small part, with huge plays in the fourth quarter including Jevon Holland and Jordon Scott making a stop on third-and-short to set up the game-winning touchdown, and Mykael Wright denying the Huskies a first down on their final pass play of the day.
But the first half and the opening possession after halftime didn't feature as many highlights, and UO defensive coordinator Andy Avalos — usually a fairly easygoing guy — has been burning with intensity from the moment he walked off the field last week. This is a defense — and a defensive coordinator — looking to prove this week that the first half in Seattle was an anomaly.
5. A win Saturday would keep Oregon in very strong position to win the Pac-12 North, and play for the conference title.
The Ducks are the only Pac-12 team still unbeaten in conference play; they're also one of just two Pac-12 North teams with less than three losses already, the other being two-loss Oregon State, which is off this week. So a win Saturday puts Oregon not only three games ahead of the other four Pac-12 North teams, but also holding the tiebreaker over all four based on head-to-head results.
That requires a win Saturday, of course. And exorcising the demon WSU has been to the Ducks in the recent history of their series.
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
S
/ Football
DT
/ Football
CB
/ FootballDan Lanning | Postgame vs Iowa
Sunday, November 09
2025 Oregon Football Uniform Reveal | Iowa
Thursday, November 06
Matayo Uiagalelei: "Just do my job."
Wednesday, November 05
Dan Lanning: "This league's got more variety than people realize."
Wednesday, November 05
