The season started off with a bang for the Oregon Ducks a week ago as they defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs at home, but the win left fans wanting to see a bit more from their team.
While it was nice to watch a live football game take place in Autzen Stadium once again, the real main event comes this weekend in Columbus, Ohio. The No. 12 Ducks are traveling to take on the No. 3 Buckeyes in the FOX Big Noon Kickoff game, which will arguably the marquee game of the weekend.
Heading into the game, we’ve tried to give you everything that you need to know about where Oregon currently stands with the health of Kayvon Thibodeaux, how dominant both the offense and defense for Ohio State can be, and what we want to see from the Ducks this week around.
Now one of the only things left to do is actually make our predictions.
As will happen every week of the season, the managing editor of Ducks Wire, Zachary Neel, will convene with staff writers Don Smalley and Andy Patton to preview the game, set expectations, and ultimately make a final prediction.
Here’s what Ducks Wire thinks about the game against Ohio State:
The Rushing Attack
Question: It took a while for Oregon’s running game to get rolling against Fresno State, but we saw Minnesota have major success against Ohio State in that department last week. How much of an impact will CJ Verdell and Travis Dye have on Saturday? What do you think their stat-lines will be?
Zachary Neel: I do think that the Ducks are going to be able to find some success in this game, and it’s going to come off of the backs of both CJ Verdell and Travis Dye. They struggled to get going against Fresno, but Verdell got into a groove in the 4th quarter and helped put the game away for the Ducks. I think we can expect Oregon to come out and rely heavily on the rush early on, hoping to jump on Ohio State early and keep the ball away from the offense. In the end, I could see Verdell eclipsing 100-yards with 2 TDs, while Dye adds maybe 50-yards on the ground, with another 40-50 in receiving out of the backfield
Don Smalley: Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim managed to run for 163 yards and two touchdowns, so the Buckeyes’ run defense isn’t incredible. Oregon’s offensive line is going to have to play better this week. If they assume they can just wear down the Buckeyes defensive line and wait to create holes in the fourth quarter, it’ll be way too late. The Ducks need to establish some kind of run game that tOSU respects to keep them off balance. If the upset occurs, Verdell goes for 120 and a couple of scores, and Dye goes for 80-90 yards with a score.
Andy Patton: How Verdell and Dye perform on Saturday will be, in my mind, the biggest x-factor between a win and a loss. Ohio State was vulnerable against the run last week, but Oregon will need to establish their running game early in the contest to get the Buckeyes on their heels. That will ease the pressure to perform off Brown in the early going while controlling the time of possession for the Ducks.
If the two backs can combine for three touchdowns and 200 or so rushing yards, this could be an upset. Anything less than that and things get a lot trickier.