5 Storylines To Watch: Oregon-Montana

EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 15 Oregon football team wraps up the nonconference portion of its 2019 schedule when the Ducks host Montana on Saturday for a 7:45p.m. PT kickoff.

The Ducks (1-1) rebounded from a season-opening loss to Auburn in emphatic fashion last week, pounding Nevada 77-6 in their first game this season in Autzen Stadium. Montana (2-0), a member of the Football Championship Subdivision, has wins over South Dakota and North Alabama.

Saturday night's game will be televised by Pac-12 Network, with Roxy Bernstein providing play by play, Anthony Herron contributing analysis and Jill Savage with reporting from the sidelines.

1. Oregon lit up the scoreboard largely through the air last week, and the Ducks will look to get similar fireworks in the run game this week.

Take away the 62-yard touchdown run by Darrian Felix in the fourth quarter, and the Ducks averaged not quite 4.2 yards per rush against Nevada. For a team that returned over 150 career offensive line starts this season, led by all-America candidates Shane Lemieux and Calvin Throckmorton, the Ducks expect more production from their ground game.

Who carries the load in that run game against Montana? CJ Verdell has been the workhorse, and Travis Dye is looking for his breakout game this season. Felix had his explosive moment last week and could merit more touches, and freshman Sean Dollars also is in the mix after making his debut against Nevada. And bruiser Cyrus Habibi-Likio remains an option as well. Decisions, decisions.

2. Can the Ducks continue to spread the wealth offensively to the extent they have through two games?

Entering this week's action around the nation, Oregon was tied with Baylor and Maryland for the FBS lead with 14 different players having scored a touchdown already this season. That included 11 different Ducks scoring Oregon's 11 touchdowns in the win over Nevada.

Who might add to that total Saturday? Dye has yet to find the end zone this season, and neither has starting receiver Johnny Johnson III. Later this season Oregon will be able to further pad its total with the return to health of Juwan Johnson, Cam McCormick, Brenden Schooler and Mycah Pittman.

3. Scoring all those touchdowns is great, but also, it would be nice to see Camden Lewis get a field goal under his belt before Pac-12 play.

Lewis has only attempted one field goal through two games, missing a short kick against Auburn. The Pac-12 opener at Stanford figures to be a slugfest, and if the Ducks need to win a tight, low-scoring game on a late field goal, it would be preferable if Lewis still wasn't looking for his first college conversion.

There's a little more pressure on the true freshman, too, given the lack of experienced depth behind him. Oregon is without both Adam Stack (transfer) and Zach Emerson (personal issues) for the foreseeable future, making walk-on Henry Katleman the backup behind Lewis.

4. The Ducks will have their hands full with Montana quarterback Dalton Sneed.

A junior who began his career at UNLV, Sneed is 61-of-90 passing for 696 yards and four touchdowns through two games, with two interceptions. He's also the second-leading rusher for Montana, with 19 carries for 38 yards and two touchdowns.

Oregon's defense has been creating havoc through two games, forcing six turnovers and recording 20 tackles for loss, including six sacks. More of the same would be welcome, but could be difficult against a player of Sneed's ability.

5. A couple of high-profile freshmen will be tasked with helping contain Sneed.

Through two games, edge players Kayvon Thibodeaux and Mase Funa have been very productive, with Funa leading all FBS freshmen in sacks with two. If possible, the Ducks would like to get a longer look at some more young freshmen in the front seven.

Keyon Ware-Hudson, Kristian Williams, Brandon Dorlus and Sua'ava Poti all made their UO debuts last week, and this game could be a good barometer for how much they'll play the rest of the season — will they play in four games then redshirt, or be parts of the regular rotation?