Get ready for the first heavyweight battle of the new college football season when No. 7 Oregon faces off with No. 5 Michigan State in East Lansing. The Ducks offense looked like its usual high-scoring self in its first game without Marcus Mariota, while the Spartans also handled their business on the road in Week 1.
New Ducks quarterback Vernon Adams, however, will face a huge test as he goes up against the Spartans’ formidable defense on the road. Can he lift Oregon to a potentially season-defining win in East Lansing?
Get a full breakdown of this early showdown between two top 10 teams in the nation. And for more Week 2 action, check out our previews of No. 11 Notre Dame vs. Virginia and Oklahoma vs. Tennessee.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Oregon Ducks vs. Michigan State Spartans Preview
Where: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing
When: Saturday, September 12, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Oregon Ducks (+3.5) at Michigan State Spartans (-3.5) – view all NCAA Football lines
Betting on the Oregon Ducks
The good news for Oregon: even without Marcus Mariota, it can still put up monster stats. The Ducks produced 731 yards of total offense in their 61-42 home win over Eastern Washington. The ground game accounted for 485 yards and six touchdowns, with sophomore Royce Freeman going for 180 rushing yards on 8.6 yards per carry and three TDs.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]Meanwhile, new starting quarterback Vernon Adams made a stellar debut against his former team. He accounted for 350 total yards (94 on the ground) with two passing TDs.
Here’s the bad news, though: the Ducks’ Achilles heel – the defense – simply could not stop the Eagles’ offense, particularly the passing game. Cooper Kupp dominated the Ducks secondary to the tune of 246 receiving yards and three TDs.
The 42 points they gave up is the most they’ve allowed at home since surrendering 38 points to Washington State in 2013. As a result, they had no chance of covering as 35-point favorites.
The Ducks, who will be rare underdogs at East Lansing, have historically been very good on the road, though, going 17-3 (15-5 against the spread) in their last 20 games outside Eugene. However, most of those were with Mariota under center.
Oregon’s talented collection of receivers should be able to come up with a couple of big plays against a Spartans secondary that has its own issues. But it remains to be seen whether Adams, who has spent all of one month on campus thus far, has enough of a grasp on the offense to lead his team against a top defense like Michigan State on the road, especially if the Ducks defense continues to falter.
Betting on the Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State passed its opening test on the road against Western Michigan, 37-24. Although the Spartans weren’t quite able to cover the 16-point spread, and Connor Cook – 15 of 31 for 256 yards and two touchdowns – wasn’t at his very best, they still displayed their strength along both lines.
Their dominant defensive line sacked quarterback Zach Terrell seven times and helped limit the Broncos running game to a pitiful 18 yards (which included the yards lost after those seven sacks).
Meanwhile, their equally impressive O-line opened up running lanes, which the freshman running back duo of LJ Scott and Madre London took advantage of. The two combined for 136 rushing yards on 26 carries and London scored two of the team’s three rushing scores.
Oregon has historically had problems with teams that can dominate in the trenches (see: their losses to Stanford and to Ohio State in last year’s championship game) so the Spartans should be well-equipped to exploit those deficiencies in the Ducks team.
Speaking of deficiencies, look for Cook to challenge Oregon’s secondary. Cook threw for 343 yards with two TDs and two INTs in last year’s loss to Oregon, and he could have even more impressive numbers this time around as he goes against the young and inexperienced Ducks defensive backs that were consistently exposed by Eastern Washington.
Senior Aaron Burbridge stepped up with 117 receiving yards, including a big 56-yard catch against Western Michigan, and could be a big-play threat against Oregon.
Michigan State is 14-1 in its last 15 home games, and 9-6 against the spread.
Writer’s Prediction
The Spartans beat up the Ducks on both sides of the ball and come away a 32-27 home win. Create a betting account now and cash in on all the great action between the top college football teams in the country.
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