College Football 2018: 3 reasons to be excited for Week 8

2. Oregon at Washington State

The Oregon Ducks travel to Pullman, Wash., to take on the Washington State Cougars at 7:30 ET on FOX. The Ducks are 5-1 and ranked 34th per the S&P+ while the Cougars are 5-1 and ranked 29th overall. This is a battle of the schemes as Mike Leach’s Air Raid faces off against Jim Leavitt’s 4-3 defense and Tracy Claeys’ 4-3 defense will meet the Mario Cristobal pistol offense.

The Ducks are led by quarterback Justin Herbert. Herbert has averaged 9.6 yards per passing attempt and has thrown 17 touchdowns with only five interceptions. In the upcoming 2019 NFL Draft Herbert is expected to be a first round draft pick if he declares early. The Ducks have a strong running game behind Tony Brooks-James and CJ Verdell as well.

The Cougars are quarterbacked by Gardner Minshew, a transfer from Eastern Carolina University. Minshew has thrown 19 touchdowns with only four interceptions while averaging 7.7 yards per passing attempt. Cougs linebacker Peyton Pelluer is back and better than ever. Pelluer has 50 tackles with 4.5 coming as tackles for loss.

Pullman was the site of a major upset in 2017 when the Cougars knocked off the USC Trojans 30-27 behind Luke Falk‘s 340 yards passing. Mike Leach loves the role of underdog and would like nothing more than to throw a wrench in Cristobal and the Ducks plans for the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Prediction: Oregon by 3