5 Storylines To Watch: Oregon-Stanford
09/21/19 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The Ducks open Pac-12 play on the road against the Cardinal this evening (4 p.m. PT, ESPN).
STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 16 Oregon football team opens Pac-12 play on Saturday night, when the Ducks go on the road to face Stanford at 4 p.m.
The teams are on opposing trajectories so far this season. The Ducks opened the season with a loss to Auburn in Arlington, Texas, but rebounded with wins at home over Nevada and Montana. The Cardinal beat Northwestern at home to open the year, then lost at Southern California in a game QB K.J. Costello missed due to injury, before losing again last week at Central Florida.
Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN, with Sean McDonough handling play by play, Todd Blackledge as the analyst in the booth and Holly Rowe providing reporting from the sidelines.
1. Given Oregon's own injury issues at receiver, running back and offensive line, the Ducks aren't going to feel sorry for an opponent dealing with injury issues of its own. And as the Ducks themselves showed last week, fighting through myriad injuries for a 35-3 win over Montana, a wounded team is still a dangerous team – so, how will injuries affect Stanford's offense, if at all?
The Cardinal have spent more than a decade firming up a reputation as one of the most physical teams in the conference, and that doesn't figure to change Saturday, despite injuries that forced Stanford to start two freshmen at offensive tackle last week.
"Those guys are going to battle – they're going to battle and battle," UO defensive coordinator Andy Avalos said Wednesday. "We fully expect them to come out with a physical mindset, and work very hard to establish that run game."
From Toby Gerhart to Stepfan Taylor, from Tyler Gaffney to Christian McCaffrey, and most recently Bryce Love, Stanford has thrived over the last 10 years with bell-cow running backs grinding out yards behind NFL-caliber offensive linemen. Cameron Scarlett is the latest bell cow, and Stanford has more NFL-caliber linemen, led by Walker Little – but he's one of the injured tackles being replaced of late by a freshman.
2. After holding Nevada and Montana without a touchdown, Oregon's defense enters conference play on a hot streak.
By holding the Grizzlies to three points, the UO defense went back-to-back games without allowing a touchdown for the first time in more than 30 years. You have to go all the way back to the 1987 Civil War and the 1988 opener against Long Beach State to find the last instance of such dominance in consecutive performances by Oregon's defense.
And the last time it happened in the same season? Now you're going back almost 50 years, to 1972, against San Jose State and Oregon State.
Given the talent of Stanford's quarterback Costello, who returned from injury last week, and the skill positions around him, another stifling performance by the UO defense on Saturday sounds like a tall order. But Avalos' defense has exceeded expectations every step of the way so far this season.
3. Oregon's offensive line could have a new look given the uncertain status of center Jake Hanson.
The Ducks played the second half against Montana without their fourth-year starter in the middle of the line. Throughout this week he remained under the observation of UO medical staff, to assess Hanson's availability against the Cardinal.
Nobody on the entire roster may be more underrated than Hanson, who plays in the shadow of uber-talented tackle Penei Sewell, and Hanson's own classmates, preseason all-Americans Shane Lemieux and Calvin Throckmorton. But a recent mock draft by CBS Sports had Hanson as a first-round pick in next spring's draft.
Needless to say, the Ducks would prefer to have him available for Saturday's game. That said, the contingency plan is solid – Throckmorton slides inside to center, and Brady Aiello can play right tackle. Aiello has been summoned from the bench each of the last three years to assume a starting role in the wake of injuries, so he's quite comfortable doing so again if necessary.
4. As conference plays begins, the Ducks have some things to prove on special teams.
First and foremost, Oregon has attempted only one field goal all season. Freshman Camden Lewis missed that attempt in the opener against Auburn, and is still looking for his first college field goal three weeks later.
Another point of emphasis will be the punt return unit. Sophomore safety Jevon Holland has been a revelation once he fields a punt – he leads the FBS in both punt return average (29.4) and total punt return yards (147).
But when Holland isn't able to field a kick, the return unit as a whole can do a better job communicating. Against Nevada, a punt hit another member of the return team, resulting in a turnover. And there have been a couple other instances in which it looked like the Ducks were in danger of having that happen again. Best to get that cleaned up, ASAP.
5. Can the Ducks maintain momentum entering a bye week, and keep their biggest goals in play?
Oregon doesn't play next week, meaning the thrill of victory or agony of defeat experienced Saturday will have extra time to marinate. Better to go into the bye with a win, still looking to clean up deficiencies but having taken a positive first step in the Pac-12 championship race.
Also, a narrow loss to Auburn hasn't completely eliminated Oregon from the College Football Playoff race. There's still chatter nationally that the Ducks can be a factor in the race for the four playoff spots come December – if they're able to maintain momentum.
