By Joe Bachman

The Oregon Ducks will be hosting the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday night for a prime time matchup this weekend in Autzen Stadium. Last week, The Ducks pulled off a huge victory in Pullman versus the Washington State Cougars, while the Stanford Cardinal came off a tough loss to the Washington Huskies. Oregon (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) comes into this game ranked #13 in the country and Stanford (1-2, 0-2) is going to need a lot of firepower to be able to pull off this upset.

 Oregon Offense:

The Ducks are being led by the talented Bo Nix who is playing some of his best football ever! In Nix’s last game, against the Cougars, he threw for a career high of 428 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Nix also achieved a career best in passing yards as well as wide receiver Troy Franklin. Franklin also had a career high in receiving yards with 137 yards receiving on 5 receptions. Franklin also scored the go ahead touchdown late in the 4th quarter to help secure the victory for the Ducks. 

Oregon Defense: 

The Oregon defense is going to have to step up huge against Tanner McKee. McKee is very solid in the pocket but the Oregon pass rush is going to need to step up in order to keep the Cardinal offense out of the endzone. Oregon will be without starting EDGE rusher D.J. Johnson for the first half due to last week’s targeting call. This will be a tough matchup for the Oregon secondary, but starting cornerback Christain Gonzalez says he’s ready for the challenge.

Stanford Offense: 

Starting quarterback, Tanner McKee is very good and has NFL scouts believing he can play at the next level. While McKee is not nearly a mobile quarterback he still has the ability to light up any defense. Michael Wilson, Stanford star wide receiver, has been playing excellent football recently. Through 3 games, Wilson has 288 receiving yards on 13 catches. Stanford’s offense is very questionable at the moment. Stanford is coming into this game all banged up. EJ Smith, Stanford’s starting running back, has been ruled out for the rest of the year with an undisclosed injury. Stanford’s two starting tackles are questionable for the game, which could result in another long day for the Cardinal offense, who just came off of a 8 sack game against Washington. The Stanford offense continues to struggle as well, and has turned the ball over 12 times so far in their first 3 games. 

Stanford Defense: 

Stanford is a very well coached team, and on the defense side they’re being led by their linebackers and safeties. Stanford’s defense is smart and experienced, and almost all of their starters are upperclassmen. Stanford through their first 3 games have allowed teams to score nearly an average of 30 points per game (PPG). This could be a huge challenge for them against a high scoring powered Oregon offense.

Predictions for the game 

I believe the outcome of this game will come down to Stanford’s turnover margin. If they can keep the turnovers low I believe Stanford will lose by a few scores. I believe Bo Nix is going to have another great game and will throw for 300 yards, 3 passing touchdowns and 1 rushing touchdown. 

Oregon 45 Stanford 24