By Pete Fiutak | September 21, 2017 1:12 am

Oregon vs. Arizona State Fearless Prediction & Game Preview

Check out the Oregon vs. Arizona State fearless prediction and game preview.

Oregon (3-0) vs. Arizona State (1-2) Game Preview

Broadcast, TV, Game Time

Date: Saturday, Sept. 23rd
Game Time: 10:00 pm ET
Venue: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ
Network: Pac-12 Network

– Week 4 TV Schedule, Lines, Fearless Picks
– Week 4 Expert Picks & Predictions

It hasn’t been smooth, and there are issues that need fixing, but there’s no complaining about a 3-0 start to the Willie Taggart era in Oregon.

However, considering Nebraska isn’t the Nebraska everyone knows and loves, and Southern Utah and Wyoming are Southern Utah and Wyoming, the Ducks are in need of a push from a strong team.

They might get that shove, but Arizona State isn’t anything special.

The Sun Devils showed heart in an ill-fated comeback attempt against Texas Tech, and now at 1-2 with a trip to Stanford up next, followed up by Washington, and then a date at Utah, and then USC, they have to quickly prove they can beat someone decent.

It might seem overdramatic to say that Arizona State needs to beat Oregon or else, but … Arizona State needs to beat Oregon, or else.

One Reason Why Oregon Will Win

The ASU offensive line has been awful.

The special teams have a whole slew of issues, and the defense is still miserable after a horrible 2016, but the offense needs to be able to keep up the pace. That’s been a problem when opposing defenses are so busy campaign out in the backfield.

The Sun Devils have allowed 15 sacks in the first three games and almost twice that many tackles for loss.

Oregon’s defense might be still be in need of a great test, but it can get into the backfield. There’s a good pass rush, a steady stream of plays behind the line, and a whole slew of stops on third downs.

Give defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt and the new staff credit – they turned around the D in a hurry when it comes to creating big stops. Oregon is allowing teams to convert just 21% of their third down chances.

One Reason Why Arizona State Will Win

The explosion was there against Texas Tech – the defense couldn’t do its part, though.

Forget about that other side of the ball for a moment. ASU perked up offensively with Manny Wilkins bombing away, getting several big plays from their star targets.

N’Keal Harry caught 13 passes for 148 yards, taking a quick slant for a 28-yard score. Kyle Williams caught 111 yards worth of passes with two scores – and now they’re all going to have to do even more.

Oregon isn’t above turning the ball over – it’s given it up seven times so far – and the defense hasn’t been nearly consistent enough. There will be lulls when the Ducks aren’t dominating, and ASU has to take advantage.

At home, this has to be when the offense goes to a whole other level, and the defense has to keep the pass rush rolling after starting out with 13 sacks in the first three games.

What’s Going To Happen

Oregon’s offense is about to go ballistic.

It’s like the Arizona State defense plays well in spurts, and then it remembers it’s supposed to be bad and gets lit up. It just so happened to be bad from the start against Texas Tech, but it’ll come out playing well against the Ducks for about a quarter.

Oregon QB Justin Herbert was fantastic against Wyoming last week – hitting 18-of-29 passes for 251 yards – but it was the running of Royce Freeman that took over early on.

ASU will never find any sort of a groove as the Duck ground attack controls the tempo and – at least for this offense – the clock early on.

The two teams will combine for over 1,000 yards, but Oregon will have a lot more of them.