Saturday’s Oregon vs Nebraska game will be one of the best in Week 2. Here’s everything you need to know for the matchup.
Head coach Willie Taggart didn’t need to sprinkle any fairy dust on his Oregon Ducks team for them to play well in their season opener. Running back Tony Brooks-James ran back the game’s opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and the rout was on.
The Ducks beat the Southern Utah Thunderbirds 77-21 to get the 2017 season off to a 1-0 start.
Quarterback Justin Herbert went 17-of-21 (81.0 percent) with 281 passing yards and a touchdown but the real story of last week’s game was the run game.
The backfield was led running back Royce Freeman who looks prime for a run at the Heisman Trophy. He ran for 150 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the Ducks’ season opener.
Kani Benoit ran for 107 rushing yards and three touchdowns on seven carries to emerge as another weapon alongside Royce Freeman.
Linebacker Troy Dye was all over the field for the Oregon Ducks defense. He had 10 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, a sack and an interception against Southern Utah.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers largely struggled in their season opener against the Arkansas State Red Wolves. The Cornhuskers won 43-36 but their pass defense struggled.
They gave up 415 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, although they did force two interceptions. The Red Wolves also had 32 first downs in the game. Against a faster and much better team like Oregon, there could be issues.
Here’s how you can watch the Oregon vs. Nebraska game:
Date: Saturday, Sept. 9
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Location: Eugene, OR
Venue: Autzen Stadium
TV: FOX
Live Stream: FoxSportsGo
Keys to victory
The Oregon Ducks have an opportunity to get a victory this week, but they’ll need to play with the same intensity as last week. They have a strong stable of running backs at their disposal and a good quarterback in Justin Herbert. If they can keep the turnovers to a minimum, they shouldn’t have a problem winning the game.
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Prediction
The Nebraska Cornhuskers struggled with a team in the Sun Belt last week. This week, they’ll face a team that has potential to make a run at the Pac-12 title. Their offense didn’t play bad at all in the season opener. Quarterback Tanner Lee threw for 238 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.
Quarterback Tanner Lee threw for 238 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. Running back Tre Bryant had 31 carries for 192 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
However, the Ducks aren’t a team Nebraska wants to get in shootout with. If it does turn into one, look for Oregon to shine.
Final Score: Oregon 52, Nebraska 41