Oregon vs. Washington State Fearless Prediction, Game Preview

By Pete Fiutak | October 24, 2019 2:32 am

Oregon vs. Washington State fearless prediction and game preview.

Oregon vs. Washington State Broadcast

Date: Saturday, October 26
Game Time: 10:30 ET
Venue: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR
Network: ESPN

Oregon (6-1) vs. Washington State (4-3) Game Preview

Why Washington State Will Win

Has anyone really given it an honest shot to bomb away on the Oregon secondary?

Auburn’s Bo Nix struggled, but he came through when he had to in the win to open up the season. Jacob Eason threw for 289 yards and three scores in Washington’s loss to the Ducks last week, and but no one else on the slate so far – including a banged up Colorado – had the chops to give the Ducks a push.

It’s Washington State. It’s going to throw and keep on throwing. Duh.

Everyone is gushing on LSU’s Joe Burrow and giving him the Heisman, but if it’s about the stats, Anthony Gordon is still the star of stars this season with close to 3,000 passing yards and 29 touchdowns. He might be throwing it a million times a game, but the attack is still effective.

This is a very fast, very aggressive Oregon defense that generates pressure and relies on being disruptive in key spots. That doesn’t matter against this O – Gordon gets it out of his hands too quickly.

Oregon can’t go into a shell. Conservative – like the Ducks have been at times this year – won’t fly.

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Why Oregon Will Win

Washington State’s pass defense was doing just fine up until there were 19 minutes to go in the UCLA game, and then it took a bit of a break.

It showed up against Colorado’s puzzlingly-weird O that’s skidding along right now, but Utah – who prefers to operate on the ground – and Arizona State were able to fire away at will.

If Wazzu isn’t coming up with picks, it’s in big trouble. Justin Herbert doesn’t give up picks.

Oregon is doing a great job of staying in control of games, but last week it had to press a bit, and Herbert came through with 280 yards and four scores in the win over Washington …

And no picks. He has thrown one all year.

Yes, the Oregon D hasn’t faced any truly killer passing games yet, but even when it had to hold up late against Eason, it did its job thanks to the incredible pass rush. The Ducks allowed three scores last week, two to Bo Nix in the opener, and just one to everyone else.

The defense should be able to shine against the one-dimensional Cougars, but …

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What’s Going To Happen

Mike Leach got the Ducks last year. There was a little Minshew magic happening with Gardner in the 34-20 win, but the 2017 Cougars came up with a blowout win, too.

Washington State has won four straight in the series, but this is a different year with a different makeup. Gordon will put up his yards, but the Wazzu D won’t be able to handle the Oregon offensive balance as the game goes on.

When it absolutely has to, the Oregon pass rush will make a difference.

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