Six days ago, the Oregon Ducks suffered their first loss of 2023, and it was a painful one. On Saturday, they’ll try to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive by beating the Washington State Cougars, who got off to a hot start this season, but have lost their last two games.
A lot like last weekend, the story for this game could be a tale of two quarterbacks. Before the Cougars’ struggles began, their QB, Cameron Ward, had made his way into Heisman conversations across the country, despite being on virtually no one’s radar in the preseason. On the other sideline, Bo Nix will try to keep his run of quality play going to lead the Ducks to 6-1.
Washington State is a fun, fast, and talented team, so despite their losing streak, this won’t be a team that rolls over for Oregon. In order for the Ducks to beat the Cougars, there are three things I think the Ducks need to do that I’ve listed below.
Control Cameron Ward
The Cougars offense starts and ends with Cameron Ward. The reason Washington State has been beaten in their last two games is because opposing defenses have been able to neutralize, or at least slow down Ward, both in the air and on the ground. The Ducks failed to do this for most of the game in 2022 and it almost cost them the victory. But, I have no doubt that keeping Ward in check will have been an emphasis in this week’s game plan.
A true West Coast offense
Washington State has a solid defense against the run but they have some shaky CBs in their secondary. With the depth and talent of Oregon’s receiving corps — as well as the obvious skill of Bo Nix — Oregon’s passing game should be on full display this week. Usually, we talk about Oregon’s run game opening up the pass for them, but this week we might see the inverse.
Lockdown coverage
Besides Ward, Washington State doesn’t have an elite rusher, so most of their offense comes from their wideouts, Kyle Williams, Josh Kelly, and Lincoln Victor. With Oregon’s secondary getting a little banged up against Washington, it will be important for whoever is matched up with Cougars’ WRs to lock them down, which could stifel WSU’s offense.
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