A year after Stanford crushed Oregon’s Pac-12 and National Title hopes with a 17-14 OT win in Eugene, the No. 3 Ducks head down to Palo Alto on Thursday night seeking revenge against the No. 5 Cardinal. The Duck TV Sports staff preview the game and gives their analysis on what to expect.
Mariota, who’s lone loss as a starter came against Stanford, will be counted on to lead the Ducks to victory.
Travis Teich: Mariota is Mariota: I don’t mean he needs to be a superstar (though it wouldn’t hurt). He needs to be the leader, field general, and calming demeanor that he has been for this team nearly his entire career. If Mariota is rattled, the Ducks are rattled and in trouble.
Ryan Rouillard: For Oregon, there are two major keys in this game. For one, they have to start strong. Especially being on the road, they can’t afford to leave a hungry Stanford team in it too long or the Cardinal will take advantage. They also can’t beat themselves. Often times, the reason they have started so slow this year have been sloppy plays or turnovers. I’m not sure many teams in the nation can beat Oregon, but teams like Stanford get a chance when the Ducks are beating themselves.
Jonathan Style: The Ducks will have to be successful passing the ball. That’s not something Oregon did very well in this matchup last year. If they are able to do that, then it will open up their run game a little more, which in the end should lead to their victory.
What is one key matchup to watch?
Controlling wide receiver/return specialist Ty Montgomery will be a point of emphasis for the Oregon defense.
Rouillard: The key matchup for me is Ty Montgomery against the Oregon secondary. I would figure Ifo Ekpre-Olomu gets the assignment in this one. Regardless of who has Montgomery, he’s such an explosive playmaker that Oregon will have to contain him from the beginning. He reminds me a lot of Paul Richardson at Colorado, in that he may only come down with a couple catches, but they’ll all be big ones.
Style: I think the matchup I’m looking forward to watching are the Oregon wide receivers against Stanford’s physical secondary. Last year the Ducks were unable to put up great numbers passing the ball. It will be interesting to see if Oregon’s receivers can find open space for Mariota to pass them the ball and be able to block on the perimeter for the run game.
Teich: Besides the Stanford defense vs. the Oregon offense, it’s the Cardinal receiving core against the Oregon secondary. Primarily Montgomery. It’s just impossible to ignore the talent this guy has.
What kind of game are you expecting? Closer to 2012 close defensive battle (17-14 Cardinal win) or 2011 lopsided shootout (53-30 Oregon win)? Score prediction?
JS: Im expecting somewhere in between the two. I don’t see this game being low scoring, but I also don’t see either team blowing each other out. I think the game will be close into the fourth quarter and then Oregon will pull away.
Score Prediction: Oregon 38 – Stanford 24
TT: I’m expecting the score to be a compromise between the last two years. After half time I don’t think it’s crazy to think Stanford has a 17-10 or 17-14 lead. However, Oregon comes through in the end, exploding in the second half. The way this team, as well as past Oregon teams, make adjustments at half is impressive.
Oregon 34 – Stanford 24
RR: Last year, I predicted Oregon in a blowout and I was proven wrong. This year, I’ll stand by the idea of an Oregon blowout. I expect Oregon to come in at optimal focus and will storm away with this one early. The game will be out of reach by the middle of the 3rd quarter. Oregon will extend its road winning streak to 20 games and will do so in dominant fashion
Oregon 38 – Stanford 20