Oregon Football Preview Week 3

If the spread offense continues to click as it has the first two weeks Oregon has the ability to outscore almost any team in the country. Dennis Dixon seems to have recovered the confidence he lost after the Cal catastrophe last season, having yet to throw an interception and looking excellent on the long ball against the Wolverines. No doubt the Ducks receiving corps will look to stretch the field again, especially if big target Jaison Williams can get over his case of the “dropsies” that flared up again in Ann Arbor. But if last week was a showcase for Oregon’s quarterback, this week might be the week for their tailbacks to shine. Fresno St. had trouble with Texas A&M’s running game last week, giving up a total of 318 yards to speedster Goodson, power man Lane, and mobile thrower McGee.

The respective running games could well end up the deciding factor this Saturday. Though the Bulldogs have improved their passing behind second year starter Tom Brandstater and aptly named tight end “Bear” Pascoe, Pat Hill is still a fan of smash mouth football and Oregon’s run defense has continued to struggle this season, surrendering a staggering amount of yardage to Houston and over a hundred yards to Mike Hart in only a little over two quarters of action. Expect the Bulldogs to try and grind it out to keep the ball out of the hands of Oregon’s high octane spread offense. The Ducks can’t afford a drop off in intensity after their win at Michigan (and they won’t even have their fighting mascot to keep their spirits up), because the Bulldogs will be raring to go as always against big time opponents. It should be close, but with their record in the series and the Autzen edge, Oregon should be able to battle through for the win.

The Call: Oregon Ducks 38—Fresno State Bulldogs 37

Conference Calls

Ohio State at Washington

Are the Huskies really that good? Is the Big-10 really that bad? Did Notre Dame screw up royally when they fired Tyrone Willingham? We’ll find out all that and more when the Buckeyes come to Seattle. This will be the biggest challenge so far for talented redshirt freshman Jake Locker, OSU’s defense has carried the team so far this season. If Chris “Beanie” Wells can move the chains for the Buckeyes, I don’t see the Huskies pulling it out, but it should be close.

UCLA at Utah

The Bruin’s survived a close call at home against BYU, but managed to finish off the Cougars in the fourth quarter. Though this game is in hostile territory, the Utes have not looked as good as there arch-rivals so far. UCLA’s defense ought to hold Utah in check, if the Bruins balanced but blah offense manages to get into the mid twenties I’ll take the “other” LA school in this one.

Louisiana Tech at California

Cal’s offense has carried it so far this season and should be up to the challenge against the WAC’s other Bulldogs. Tech showed they had some weapons in the shootout against Hawaii, but I don’t see them having the same success against Cal’s attacking defense in Berkeley. If the Bears don’t fall asleep like they did against Colorado State it should be one more W for Tightwad Hill to enjoy.

Idaho State at Oregon State

The Beavers look to recover against an FCS foe after being smacked down in Cincinnati. Really the only interesting thing here should be to see if the Beavers can get their quarterbacks in synch. Then again, after Applachian State does anyone get “easy” games any more? Look for Yvenson Bernard to get back in gear after a disappointing outing last Thursday.

San Diego State at Arizona State

Dennis Erickson’s team has looked good so far, and they get one more “warm-up” match before they hit the conference part of their schedule. The offense should put up over thirty again, but what happens if the defense looks more like a Sun Devil defense instead of the Dennis Erickson defense it has resembled so far? Against the Aztecs I don’t think it will happen that way (now watch as it happens that way…)

San Jose State at Stanford

SJSU edged the Cardinal last year, but the Silicon Valley Spartans are reloading. Then again, this is Stanford. I’ll give Harbaugh’s motivational skills the benefit of the doubt. This is a big game for Stanford, if they can’t beat a “middle of the pack” WAC team, who can they beat?

New Mexico at Arizona

Which offense is showing up in the Desert, the one that fizzled against BYU or the one that actually put up a shotgun like score against NAU? If the latter, it won’t even be close, if the former, the Wildcats defense should still be too much for the Lobos to overcome.

Idaho at Washington State

Another very winnable game for WSU, they should be good enough to take down their neighbors across the border. Look for Alex Brink and his fleet receivers to put up some big numbers.

Southern California at Nebraska

The leagues marquee match up of the weekend, this should tell us whether the pre-season pundits were on target or if the bleacherreport.com voters got it right and LSU is number one. “Big Red” had trouble with the Demon Deacon’s defense last week, and with two weeks of preparation I don’t see Sam Keller having much more luck against the Trojans hyper talented unit. We’re still waiting on a workhorse running back to stake a claim in SoCal, and if Booty wants that Heisman people keep thinking he has a shot at he and his receivers need to show more than they did against the Vandals. Nebraska could come closer than they did last year, but I’ll stick with the Trojans.