The Oregon Ducks are one month into the 2022 college football season, sitting pretty with a 3-1 record and a top-15 ranking despite a disastrous season opener against Georgia in Week 1.
Wins against the Cougars – BYU and Washington State – have this team back in the conversation for a Pac-12 championship, and the Ducks are entering what national media will call the easy part of their schedule, starting with a home game against the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday evening.
Of course, any Duck fan will tell you Stanford is far from an easy game. It has played spoiler to Oregon’s hopes and dreams in the past, and you can bet they want to do it again.
In order for Dan Lanning’s squad to avoid its first home loss of the season, here are three keys to victory against David Shaw’s squad:
Take Care of the Football
Oregon fans will be quite happy if Bo Pix remains on the sideline Saturday evening. Stanford has one interception this season (through three games) and it struggles to generate a pass rush.
This should allow Nix to move the ball relatively effortlessly, and if he can avoid costly turnovers this should be another solid game for the Oregon offense.
Stanford has allowed just over 400 yards per game so far this season, and if Oregon can eclipse that it’s hard to imagine a loss in Eugene, even if Stanford has played spoiler before.