No. 17 Oregon extended its winning run to five games with an emphatic 48-28 victory over then-No. 22 USC on Saturday. The Ducks will look to sustain the momentum of that huge win when they take on bitter rivals Oregon State in a marquee clash at Autzen Stadium this coming Friday.
Betting on the Oregon State Beavers (2-9, 0-8 Pac-12)
Oregon State’s losing woes show no sign of abating as the Beavers crashed to their eighth consecutive defeat with a humiliating 52-7 loss to Washington on Saturday. The Beavers simply had no answer for Washington quarterback Jake Browning who threw four touchdown passes on the night. It was a disappointing result for the Beavers who are still without a win in conference play this season.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]It won’t get any easier for head coach Gary Andersen and the rest of the struggling Beavers as standing in their way this coming weekend are the Oregon Ducks. The Beavers have lost their last seven meetings against their arch-rivals. For Oregon State to snap its losing skid against Oregon, it needs to improve on its play on the offensive end. The Beavers were limited to just seven points and 255 total yards in the loss to Washington. The Beavers are averaging just 16.9 points per game this season, eighth-worst in the entire FBS.
It didn’t help matters that Oregon State grappled with a group of inexperienced quarterbacks in this game. Nick Mitchell missed his first seven passes against the Huskies and was replaced by Marcus McMaryion, who threw for 109 yards and a touchdown. The good news for the Beavers is that freshman Seth Collins might make a shock return for the Civil War game against Oregon. Collins, who didn’t play in the last four games because of a knee injury, has thrown for 891 yards and six touchdowns in seven games, but also has four interceptions for Oregon State.
The Beavers are 0-5 SU and 1-4 ATS on the road this season.
The Oregon Ducks will head to their showdown with Oregon State with momentum on their side after trouncing the USC Trojans, 48-28, on Saturday. It was another impressive victory for the Ducks who are now in the midst of a five-game winning streak.
Key to Oregon’s resurgence has been their phenomenal offense. The Ducks are averaging a whopping 43.4 points during their current unbeaten run. Helping them in that regard is quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. In the five games since he’s been back, Adams has thrown for 300 or more yards and four or more touchdowns in three games. He was superb in the game against USC, passing for 407 yards and six touchdowns, the most ever thrown against the Trojans by an opposing quarterback.
Apart from the play of Adams, running back Royce Freeman also took center stage in the win against USC. His 147-yard performance against the Trojans was the seventh straight game in which he has gone over 100 yards for the Ducks. He will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing an Oregon State defensive line that has surrendered a whopping 215.9 yards per game on the ground this season, 114th in the entire FBS.
The Ducks are 4-2 SU and 2-4 ATS at home this season.
Writer’s Prediction
Oregon (-35.0) stretches their unbeaten run to six games with a 48-10 victory.
