Oregon vs Washington State: Preview, prediction, live stream and more

Fresh off of their upset of USC, Washington State will face the Oregon Ducks. Here is our preview of the matchup and how you can watch the game.

Talk about a great upset win. Washington State was on its ‘A’ game and showed the world that the Cougars are for real. We knew the Cougars had an offense but most impressive in the win over USC was their defense.

To see his defense get the best of a potential NFL first-rounder in Sam Darnold was a good thing to see for WSU fans. Now the Cougars just have to deal with their success. It will be up to the Cougars to put the win behind them and focus on this next game; otherwise they could get surprised by Oregon.

Oregon got a win over Cal, but it came at a price. A total of five players were injured in the game. Most notably amongst them were starting quarterback Justin Herbert and starting running back Royce Freeman, and linebacker Kaulana Apelu. Herbert is out for a few weeks due to a broken collarbone and Apelu is out for the year with a fractured ankle.

Freeman, along with backup quarterback Taylor Alie and wide receiver Dillion Mitchel should all be back for the game against Washington State. Needless to say, losing Herbert at quarterback is a tough knock for the Ducks. The remaining talent at quarterback might be enough for Oregon to hold their own on Saturday.

Here is how you can watch this Pac-12 North showdown:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 7
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Eugene, Ore.
Venue: Autzen Stadium
TV: Fox
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go 

Keys to Victory

If Washington State is going to win this game then they need to play exactly the way they played last Friday. Washington State can prove that last week wasn’t a fluke by not getting caught in a trap game at Oregon. Oregon’s defense is improved and can present challenges for Luke Falk. Falk will have to be on his top game against the Ducks.

The defense, if they play the way they played last week will be fine. The Cougars get a break in that they don’t have to face Justin Herbert. This will allow the Cougar defense to dial up blitzes and keep the pressure on an inexperienced quarterback. The defense cannot allow Royce Freeman to run wild, if that happens it could be a long night. In short, Falk has to be ready, defense has to keep constant pressure and contain Freeman.

Oregon is unlucky in that they won’t have Justin Herbert for this game. Luckily, Royce Freeman should be back and that’ll help take some of the pressure off of Taylor Alie (should he also be back from injury). Oregon has a good enough line to go toe to toe with WSU, but after the way the Cougar line played against USC, there’s pause for concern. The Ducks have to get Royce Freeman going, meaning the offensive line has to play well. Not to mention the fact that they have to give the quarterback time to throw.

Alie or Braxton Burmeister will need time to throw and i’d expect that the coaches will ease the starter in with some quick “motivation” throws, to get them into a rhythm. The Ducks defense has to get pressure on Falk to slow the WSU offense. The defense can handle themselves, it’s the offense that will really be essential to victory for Oregon.

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Prediction

This has all the looks of a trap game for Washington State. The Cougars beat fifth ranked USC and are now ranked 11th and have to deal with success. Oregon on the other hand is looking to play spoiler but the loss of Herbert will hurt them. Without that steady hand at quarterback I really don’t see the Ducks pulling this off. With that said I also wouldn’t be shocked to see Oregon pull of the upset. But as of now, I’m going with Washington State.

Final Score: Washington State 34, Oregon 21