Photo by: GoDucks.com
5 Things To Watch: Oregon-MSU
10/03/24 | Football
The No. 6 Ducks will host Michigan State in Autzen Stadium on Friday (6 p.m., FOX).
EUGENE, Ore. — Autzen Stadium will host some history Friday night, when the Oregon football team for the first time plays a conference home game as members of the Big Ten.
The No. 6 Ducks will host Michigan State under Friday night lights. The game between the Spartans and Ducks is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m.
Oregon is off to a 4-0 start this season, including 1-0 in the Big Ten after winning at UCLA on Saturday night. The Spartans are 3-2, having split two conference games so far — a win at Maryland, and a loss last week to Ohio State.
The UO football team leads the all-time series between the two, 4-3. The Ducks beat the Spartans in the 2018 Red Box Bowl; prior to that, the teams played home-and-home series in 1979-80, 1998-99 and 2014-15, with the host team winning all six matchups.
Friday's game will be televised by FOX, with Jason Benetti handling play-by-play, Brock Huard providing analysis and Allison Williams reporting from the sidelines.
Some storylines to watch once the game kicks off …
1. After playing a late game at UCLA on Saturday, the Ducks arrived home in Eugene in the early hours of Sunday morning. They then began a short week of preparation for a Friday night game this week.
The practice schedule was condensed, with the team in full pads just once — on Tuesday — rather than twice. All the adjustments were made with the goal of having the Ducks take the field Friday feeling as prepared as they do any other week.
"Generally I would always say success points back to preparation," UO coach Dan Lanning said on Monday. "They're obviously on a short week; we're on a short week as well. But our guys came out there again to work today and did a really good job. But it's about stacking the next few days as well, continue to improve."
2. There will be a familiar face on the opposing sideline Friday. Michigan State's new head coach is former Oregon State quarterback and head coach Jonathan Smith.
Smith had the Spartans off to a 3-0 start before losses at Boston College and at home to Ohio State. When the Ducks watched film of those games, they saw shades of what Smith did with the Beavers.
"There's definitely some similar pieces," Lanning said. "I think they always do a good job of challenging you in the run game, creating different pictures than maybe what you see across college football — they always do a great job of that. Defensively (they're) a little bit different than what they were last year at Oregon State, but still really, really sound and do some things that challenge you as well."
3. Will the Ducks dig back into their bag of tricks this week?
At UCLA they ran a double pass on offense, and had tight end Kenyon Sadiq throw a pass on a two-point conversion. And in a goal-line situation, the Ducks rushed for a touchdown with two fullbacks on the field — one of them a defensive tackle, sophomore A'Mauri Washington.
"He's big, he's fast, he likes to hit," Lanning said. "All those things I think are fun to see out there on the field. So, obviously fun to see him out there and help us."
4. Oregon will wear a new uniform Friday night, and it's one replete with special meaning.
The latest "Stomp Out Cancer" uniform is dedicated to "Heroes," and contains design touches suggested by Lanning, his wife, Sauphia, and each of their three sons.
"It was really cool that Nike reached out about maybe being able to create something," Lanning said. "I know it was really important to my wife that it was something that really honored all forms of cancer and the people that are surrounded by it. I think every single one of us have all been affected by that. So they took a really cool idea and turned into something really neat. And I think it'll bring great awareness and some much-needed attention to a terrible disease."
5. Friday's game will be the first for the Ducks since fall classes began at the University of Oregon.
Some other schools have been in class for several weeks. That gave Oregon some extra time in the day up until this week, but it also means the Ducks are having to make a midseason adjustment to this new routine.
"We're all here as student-athletes first," Lanning said. "Getting that degree is extremely important, and doing a great job in the classroom is really important. So we had a lot of conversations about that (Monday). Different challenge to be able to do it kind of within the season, but a lot of teams have been doing it for a lot longer in the season. It can certainly can be an advantage for us, but something that challenges as well."
The No. 6 Ducks will host Michigan State under Friday night lights. The game between the Spartans and Ducks is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m.
Oregon is off to a 4-0 start this season, including 1-0 in the Big Ten after winning at UCLA on Saturday night. The Spartans are 3-2, having split two conference games so far — a win at Maryland, and a loss last week to Ohio State.
The UO football team leads the all-time series between the two, 4-3. The Ducks beat the Spartans in the 2018 Red Box Bowl; prior to that, the teams played home-and-home series in 1979-80, 1998-99 and 2014-15, with the host team winning all six matchups.
Friday's game will be televised by FOX, with Jason Benetti handling play-by-play, Brock Huard providing analysis and Allison Williams reporting from the sidelines.
Some storylines to watch once the game kicks off …
1. After playing a late game at UCLA on Saturday, the Ducks arrived home in Eugene in the early hours of Sunday morning. They then began a short week of preparation for a Friday night game this week.
The practice schedule was condensed, with the team in full pads just once — on Tuesday — rather than twice. All the adjustments were made with the goal of having the Ducks take the field Friday feeling as prepared as they do any other week.
"Generally I would always say success points back to preparation," UO coach Dan Lanning said on Monday. "They're obviously on a short week; we're on a short week as well. But our guys came out there again to work today and did a really good job. But it's about stacking the next few days as well, continue to improve."
2. There will be a familiar face on the opposing sideline Friday. Michigan State's new head coach is former Oregon State quarterback and head coach Jonathan Smith.
Smith had the Spartans off to a 3-0 start before losses at Boston College and at home to Ohio State. When the Ducks watched film of those games, they saw shades of what Smith did with the Beavers.
"There's definitely some similar pieces," Lanning said. "I think they always do a good job of challenging you in the run game, creating different pictures than maybe what you see across college football — they always do a great job of that. Defensively (they're) a little bit different than what they were last year at Oregon State, but still really, really sound and do some things that challenge you as well."
3. Will the Ducks dig back into their bag of tricks this week?
At UCLA they ran a double pass on offense, and had tight end Kenyon Sadiq throw a pass on a two-point conversion. And in a goal-line situation, the Ducks rushed for a touchdown with two fullbacks on the field — one of them a defensive tackle, sophomore A'Mauri Washington.
"He's big, he's fast, he likes to hit," Lanning said. "All those things I think are fun to see out there on the field. So, obviously fun to see him out there and help us."
4. Oregon will wear a new uniform Friday night, and it's one replete with special meaning.
The latest "Stomp Out Cancer" uniform is dedicated to "Heroes," and contains design touches suggested by Lanning, his wife, Sauphia, and each of their three sons.
"It was really cool that Nike reached out about maybe being able to create something," Lanning said. "I know it was really important to my wife that it was something that really honored all forms of cancer and the people that are surrounded by it. I think every single one of us have all been affected by that. So they took a really cool idea and turned into something really neat. And I think it'll bring great awareness and some much-needed attention to a terrible disease."
5. Friday's game will be the first for the Ducks since fall classes began at the University of Oregon.
Some other schools have been in class for several weeks. That gave Oregon some extra time in the day up until this week, but it also means the Ducks are having to make a midseason adjustment to this new routine.
"We're all here as student-athletes first," Lanning said. "Getting that degree is extremely important, and doing a great job in the classroom is really important. So we had a lot of conversations about that (Monday). Different challenge to be able to do it kind of within the season, but a lot of teams have been doing it for a lot longer in the season. It can certainly can be an advantage for us, but something that challenges as well."
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