Stacking up Oregon's Offense vs. Washington State Defense

It'll be a matchup of two big-time units out in Pullman on Saturday.

Author:
Mark Wang
Publish date:
Sep 24, 2022 11:13 AM EDT

In this story:

Oregon Ducks

You've probably heard the old saying, an unstoppable force, and an immovable object. Usually in sports we hear this a lot in football, with an unstoppable offense meeting a highly immovable defense. This weekend, this adage will play out for the Ducks and Cougars on the Palouse.

Oregon's offense, with the exception of that three-point game against Georgia, has been rolling, putting up 70 and 41 points against Eastern Washington and BYU respectively.

Quarterback Bo Nix has found his groove with the Oregon offense. He's getting the ball out quickly, spreading it around to different receivers, and showing why this staff brought him in. He's also developed quite a connection with Troy Franklin, who's caught 15 passes and racked up 202 yards through three games, just seven yards shy of his 2021 total.

Finally, you have a running back by committee approach that's been working remarkably well for Oregon. Led by Mar'Keise 'Bucky' Irving, along with Noah Whittington and Jordan James, the Ducks have multiple options to run the ball.

Looking to slow them down is a WSU defense that's allowed 17, 14, and 7 points respectively through three games. The Cougars' defense is a physical unit that's been tested and proven itself, specifically beating Wisconsin by three and holding them to 14 points in Madison. Sounds like a typical Big Ten game if you ask me.

The Cougars lead Oregon in two of the most important statistics for defense. Tackles (209-172) and interceptions (4-2). If they're to have a chance to beat Oregon they need to capitalize in those areas.

Washington State also has another advantage over Oregon in one other critical category. While both teams played a ranked opponent, WSU won. Granted BYU was ranked 12th, but they certainly didn't look like it when they played in Autzen. Oregon has also played Georgia (ranked three and now one) and got absolutely crushed.

The Cougars beat a good Wisconsin team in Madison, showing they can go out and win big games against tough opponents.

Keys for both:

If you're Oregon it's simple. Keep the offense on the field and keep Nix upright. That shouldn't be a problem for an offensive line that hasn't allowed a sack all year. They also need to get momentum going fast. Keep the Cougars off their game and take the crowd out of it.

If they do those they'll have a good shot at winning. Pullman isn't an easy place to play but if they stick to the basics they'll win.

If you're WSU you have to get Nix on the ground, disrupt Oregon's rhythm and force turnovers. Keeping Oregon's offense off the field is critical so they don't get consistent and score. The Ducks have been starting fast the last two games. If that trend continues it could be a tough game for the Cougs.

Oregon's secondary has been suspect at times this year, so Cameron Ward and his receivers will look to keep the pressure on them as well.

Finally, the crowd.

Pullman is a heck of a place to play. The Cougs are going to look to keep the crowd in it and keep Oregon off balance. This game is a sellout, meaning there will be a capacity crowd for a ranked Ducks team coming on the road to Pullman. The last time that happened, it didn't go well for Oregon.