Campus Clash

(12) BYU Cougars at (25) Oregon Ducks

BYU: What a game that was on Saturday night against the Baylor Bears. They needed two overtimes, but they got the job done and walked away with an impressive win against a team many have some high expectations for. One thing about analyzing the sport is being able to watch tape on guys and after that, you can watch them in live game action. I like this quarterback for the BYU Cougars, Jaren Hall. When I broke down their game last week on the site, I admitted to seeing his dual-threat capabilities on the field. He can take the game over from the pocket and whenever an opportunity presents itself, he can run the ball. I also said he’s similar to Kyler Murray in a way as both quarterbacks have some similarities in their games. This Cougars offensive line is strong up front as last week, they only allowed a total of two sacks. Football is a game of guys stepping up when others are out. With top receivers Gunner Romney and Puka Nacua out, Chase Roberts stepped up and became Jaren’s top target against Baylor. The defense truly set the tone for the game and stifled one of the best offenses in the country. On Saturday, they will travel to Eugene for a battle with the Ducks of Oregon.

Oregon: When I watched them in week one, I left that game scratching my head because here I am thinking they would’ve at least made things interesting. They didn’t show up one bit and were absolutely bullied by the Georgia Bulldogs. After all, they are the defending champs and won’t just lay down for anyone. After the 46-point loss, they dropped out of the rankings for week two. I was also wondering how they would show up after being embarrassed in week one. They looked like a completely different team in week two. It was key for the Oregon Ducks to not fall back into another vulnerable position, and in the first half of their game against Eastern Washington, the Ducks scored on all six of their first-half drives. It was as close to a perfect day at the office that you could ask for. They outgained Eastern in total yards with 604 to Eastern’s 187 and were so efficient on third down which I refer to as the “money down”. The first win for new head coach Dan Lanning was a blow out and here they are back in the top-25. They’ll welcome a tough BYU team to town for week three.

BYU X-Factor: Chase Roberts– With the status of their top two receivers uncertain, I’ll be looking to see what Chase does again. He’s a 6’4 receiver with nice speed, the wide catch radius and he’s that mismatch all over the field that creates problems for a secondary. Chase plays with excellent body control and poise. He can position himself to make the best play possible.

Oregon X-Factor: Sean Dollars– He was a highly sought out recruit coming out of high school. Watching his first two games, he’s getting more comfortable within the offensive system. Sean is that dual-threat running back that run the football consistently and catch the ball as an additional receiver for the quarterback. BYU struggles to stop the run for the most part so I’d exploit that weakness.

Final Thoughts: This will be the Cougars first time playing in Eugene since 1990. That’s the same year when Ty Detmer won the Heisman. Oregon also upset BYU in that game and the Cougars were ranked fourth nationally. All these years later, here we are. This will be a very hostile environment for BYU. I would take a page out of Georgia’s offensive playbook and move Jaren around because the Ducks had a tough time limiting Stetson Bennett in the pocket. Why not attack that? For Oregon, this will be a test. This is an offense that can move the football up and down the field. I don’t trust the Ducks defense and BYU should take advantage of broken coverage in Oregon’s secondary.

Prediction: BYU 30, Oregon 27