#7 Michigan State @ #3 Oregon

[Phenom]

Very pumped for this. LET'S GO DUCKS!

[QuackininBama]

I see a lot of "They beat Stanford" comments when talking about this game and while, yes, they did, we are so much different then Stanford its not a good comparison. Honestly, Stanford was Tailor-made for Michigan State. Stanford like to line up the biggest, fattest, strongest guys and just punch you in the mouth 55 times a game and that is exactly what the Spartans were build to stop. Their defensive line is crazy good and the linebackers smart as *$(%.
Stanford is more like Mike Tyson and Oregon is more like Muhammad Ali. "Float like a butterfly sting like a bee". We like to duck and dodge using our speed and conditioning to outsmart the other teams. Its really difficult to tell how this one will come out. I think the key to the game is their linebackers and defensive backs. They haven't seen speed like Oregon has pretty much..............EVER.

*Will they be able to keep up?
*Were they a one hit wonder? Remember, they were terrible just a year prior going 7-6.
*How much of last years defense was due to having great senior leadership
*How good is their offense? If Oregon gets up quick, say, 14-0, are they able to score in bunches?
Not to be rude, but Conner Cook is more like a poor mans AJ Mccarron. He is a good, not great game manager but I don't fear him at all. He isn't going to put the game on his shoulders and beat you.

This one is a total mystery to me but a couple things stand out.
*Their offense doesn't scare me in the least and
*Their defense has never seen team speed like Oregon has.
*And unlike Stanford, they haven't had the advantage of playing us year in and year out.

My prediction:
They keep it close for the first quarter, 7-7
Late second Oregon scores before the half to make it 17-7.
Middle of the 3rd the Ducks blow it open with 3 quick scores back to back to make it 38-10.
Start of 4th the Spartans score to make it 38-17
And Oregon scores one more time. Final score, 45-17

[SuperDuck]

I'm nervous about our defense vs their offense. We didn't look good defensively against South Dakota, but neither did Michigan State against Jacksonville State. They only gave up 22 rushing yards, but they gave up over 200 passing yards and their #1 defense gave up the 7 points. They also had some of their first and second teams still in the game in the second half, whereas we played a lot of guys.

I predict that MSU will simply try to control the ball and keep our offense off the field. I think we'll see a heavy dose of the MSU running backs, featuring Jeremy Langford. Like us, they go 3-deep at RB, but they're not as good overall as Oregon's.

We absolutely MUST win the 3rd down conversion battles! We've lost those in the past vs good teams, because they were either able to win the line of scrimmage and give the QB plenty of time in the pocket, OR they had a mobile QB that could either extend the play to find an open receiver or run for the first down. Stanford's Kevin Hogan has given the Ducks fits the last two years by extending plays on 3rd down.

One advantage we may have against MSU is that their QB, Conner Cook, has a knee injury and although he'll play, his mobility is questionable. He was already wearing a knee brace in Friday's game and took a direct hit on it. He sat out the second half, but they already had the game in hand.

I think we have to sell out to stop the run and let Ifo, Mathis and company deal with the MSU receivers. If we can't at least slow down their running game, or if we allow them to keep converting on 3rd down, we're in trouble. Although our starting D-line is talented and experienced, the guys behind them are young and not very deep.

At this point it's hard to say what will happen. I can't imagine Helfrich saying how unhappy he was with the defense at halftime for no reason. There's obviously reason for concern.

I'm looking forward to watching Moseley and Andy Mcnamara break down the game, probably tomorrow.

[Greydrake]

Rightfully we may have concern, but there was a marked improvement in the second half. This defense is finding itself and I must say they showed great determination in those waning moments keeping the Coyotes out of the end zone on that final series.

I will put this game down to 2 key factors. The offense must play error free with no turnovers and the defense must find 3rd down stops, which means that linebacker corp must find its identity of potential very quickly.

I sincerely hope the defense was playing a vanilla form Saturday not intending to show their hand.

[Lightning Strikes]

Before Saturday I was worried about two things; who would step up at WR and how bad are the LBs?

Well, at least I am really excited about the WR position. Stanford and Carrington looked ready to go, and have great size for the position. Marshall was incredible. I hope his steady hands were not an anomaly and he continues to be an elite pass catching threat.

The LBs... That's going to be a problem. Any coach with half of a clue must scheme to exploit our mediocre-at-best LBs, specifically inside linebackers. If Dantonio and his staff focus on getting mismatches with Malone and Hardrick, it could be a long day for the Ducks defense and a lot of points for Sparty.

[SuperDuck]

Rightfully we may have concern, but there was a marked improvement in the second half. This defense is finding itself and I must say they showed great determination in those waning moments keeping the Coyotes out of the end zone on that final series.

I will put this game down to 2 key factors. The offense must play error free with no turnovers and the defense must find 3rd down stops, which means that linebacker corp must find its identity of potential very quickly.

I sincerely hope the defense was playing a vanilla form Saturday not intending to show their hand.

They were. I also read over at GoDucks.com that they played 70 players in the game, including 10 true freshman. Yes, they gave up 13 points, 7 of which were against the ones and twos, but they were also extremely rusty. Michigan State's first string defense gave up a TD Friday night and some of their starters played into the second half. I saw their All-American DE Calhoun playing in the 3rd Qtr, so they were obviously rusty, too.

The experts say that you make the most improvement between week one and week too. We'll soon find out.

[buckmarkduck]

UW and Utah beat Stanford also, how did that work out for them?

[SuperDuck]

UW and Utah beat Stanford also, how did that work out for them?

When did UW beat them? They won in Seattle 2 years ago(?) before Kevin Hogan was named the starter, but not since.

[Greenblood]

Always love the GameDay atmosphere in Eugene, especially when the weather cooperates (as it usually does). Current forecast calls for highs in the 85-90 range on Saturday.

I guess I'll be worried about the Duck D unless and until they can answer the call vs. an elite team. But I suppose if the offense is as good as it looks like it could be, then, really, maybe the defense can get by with being about average.

I wonder how helpful comparing the Duck game vs. South Dakota with the MSU-Jacksonville St. game is. Isn't Jacksonville St. a much better FCS program than SDU, the former having finished ranked 12th in the final FCS rankings last season?

Finally -- and I realize I might be bordering on blasphemy here since this is directed at MM -- I'm not sure we can afford too many misfires intended for wide-open receivers, especially on third down, like that one pass of Mariota's that was way overthrown and so stopped one of the Ducks' first half drives.

[greenyellow]

Moseley is reporting a couple of number changes for some starters: Devon Allen to #5 since him and Troy Hill are on kickoff coverage together and Tanner Carew to #58. Also, the team is adding a few familiar walk-ons along with a new one: K Eric Solis, S Bronson Yim, RB J.J. Jones, RB Lane Roseberry, WR Chris Tewhill, RB Jarret LaCoste, LS Connor Johnson, and TE Will Genske.

[buckmarkduck]

Whoever 8 is on D needs to change also. Hate seeing two 8 when the one is a possible #1 pick possibly the best player in UO history.

[DuckedonQuack]

Whoever 8 is on D needs to change also. Hate seeing two 8 when the one is a possible #1 pick possibly the best player in UO history.

That would be Reggie Daniels.

[greenyellow]

Whoever 8 is on D needs to change also. Hate seeing two 8 when the one is a possible #1 pick possibly the best player in UO history.

Why is that even a problem? Sounds more like a dumb nitpick than anything serious.

[buckmarkduck]

UW and Utah beat Stanford also, how did that work out for them?

When did UW beat them? They won in Seattle 2 years ago(?) before Kevin Hogan was named the starter, but not since.

Sorry the stupid commercial for sankey had me thinking it was from last year.

Anyways, it's funny how everyone points out Stanford, yet they forget that SC two years Ifo came in with a similar D and we trashed them. UW had pretty good numbers vs the run, again we ran all over them, UCLA and OS over the last few years. Teams we run all over people conveniently forget about and only point out Stanford or auburn or osu.

[pezsez1]

Anyways, it's funny how everyone points out Stanford, yet they forget that SC two years Ifo came in with a similar D and we trashed them. UW had pretty good numbers vs the run, again we ran all over them, UCLA and OS over the last few years. Teams we run all over people conveniently forget about and only point out Stanford or auburn or osu.

People also keep forgetting that we absolutely stuffed the power run game against Texas at the end of last season.

The Stanford loss was NA being stubborn... it was also a matter of a few bonehead plays in which our players simply blew easy tackles... after that, the team just wasn't as motivated down the stretch of the regular season. Once the team had a few weeks to reflect and get hungry again, though, our defense put a choke hold on Texas.

I'm just not as worried as others here are.